Consequences of local culinary memorable experience: Evidence from TikTok influencers

Underpinned by integrating self-determination and source credibility theories (SCT), this paper investigates the focal roles of memorable local food experiences (MLX) and travel influencer endorsement (TIE) on revisit intention. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 513 TikTok influencers (individuals who frequently post videos on TikTok and have a large number of followers). A purposive sampling technique is used to collect data from TikTok influencers who create videos about food tourism in Pakistan. SmartPLS 4.4 was used with PLS-SEM. The empirical results suggest a positive and significant linkage of culinary memorable experience factors with MLX. The focal effects of MLX and TIE on revisit intention are significantly positive. Our findings further revealed that MLX partially mediated the linkage of culinary memorable experience factors with revisit intention, while TIE strengthened the positive relationship between MLX and revisit intention. The study's findings influence travel agents, local food providers, and marketing specialists who develop marketing strategies for local food tourism and online trip purchasing.