How ethnic congruence affects authenticity and perceived taste of traditional foods

Purpose: Food taste is essential for customer satisfaction and loyalty with food products and services. This study examines how ethnic cues influence taste perceptions in the growing traditional food sector. Design/methodology/approach: Two experiments were conducted among students, faculty and staff members of two Taiwanese universities. The first experiment manipulated congruence of three ethnic cues (chef, wait staff and atmosphere) in an ethnic food setting, the second manipulated local identity salience and cue congruence for chefs in a local traditional food setting. Findings: Ethnic congruities between food and chefs, wait staff and atmospherics increase perceived taste of traditional dishes, mediated by perceptions of authenticity and enhanced by consumer cosmopolitanism. In local traditional food settings, the indirect effect of ethnic congruence was found only when subjects perceived strong local identity. Cosmopolitanism played a negative role in the local traditional food setting. Practical implications: The findings of this research provide insights into the potential taste management for both ethnic and local traditional food products and services and aid in the development of marketing strategies based on ethnic cues. Originality/value: This research extends understanding of accessibility-diagnosticity theory to food judgments, empirically testing the implicit theory that ethnic food presented with ethnically congruent cues tastes better. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation distinguishing the different effects of ethnic cues on actual perceived taste for unfamiliar ethnic food and familiar local traditional food.