Journal of Hospitality Application and Research

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Consumer Imagery and Southern US Foods: a Preliminary Study


Affiliations
1 University of Western Sydney, School of Management., Australia
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


This study addresses the consumer's image of stereotypical Southern foods in the Southern United States (US), as well as their level of consumption, and sheds light on the trade-off that many consumers continue to make favouring taste over health when it comes to consumption. Data were collected in a South-eastern US town via direct questionnaire distribution; 500 questionnaires were distributed and 233 usable responses obtained. The findings indicate that the high calorie content or the 'unhealthy' nature of the foods, but at the same time the 'tasty' element are images consistently identified in respondents' comments. Thus, there appears to be an obvious recognition of the unhealthy aspect of stereotypical Southern cuisine in favour of indulgence, and to fulfil images of tasty 'comfort' foods. However, given the many possible variations of Southern foods and dishes, including healthier alternatives, the findings have very important implications for the region's food and beverage industry. In this regard, enhancing the image of these traditional foods or food cultures for instance could be very beneficial. Consumer education is therefore critical in assisting consumers in making more informed food choices. In this process, the role of different agencies and sectors (hospitality and tourism) in designing and executing food-education related strategies, including the promotion of the local cuisine could be invaluable.

Keywords

Southern Foods, Consumers, Stereotypical Foods, Images, Comfort Foods, South-Eastern United States
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Alabama Tourism Department (2005). The Year of Alabama Food. Retrieved August 13 2010 from http://www.alabama.travel/yof/main.cfm.

  • Arfini, F., Bertoli, E., & Donati, M. (2002). The wine routes: analysis of a rural development tool, Atti del Convegno SYAL (Systèmes Agroalimentaires Localises), Montpellier. Retrieved September 17 2010 from http://www.gis-syal.agropolis.fr/Syal2002/FR/ Atelier%204/ DONATI%20ARFINI.pdf.

  • Bessiere, J. (1998). Local development and heritage: traditional food and cuisine as tourist attractions in rural areas, Sociologia Ruralis, 38(1), 15-27.

  • Blue, G. (2008). Local food, regional identity, (Inter)national politics. Food, Culture and Society, 11(1), 69-85.

  • Boatright, S.R., & McKissick, J.C. (2010). 2009 Georgia farm gate vegetable report, The University of Georgia, Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. Retrieved November 15 2010 from http://www.caed.uga.edu /publications/2010/pdf/AR-10-02.pdf.

  • Bone, P.F., & Ellen, P.S. (1992). The generation and consequences of communication evoked imagery. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 93-103.

  • Bonnet, C., & Simioni, M. (2001). Assessing consumer response to Protected Designation of Origin labelling: a mixed multinomial logit approach. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 28(4), 433-449.

  • Dallman, M.F., Pecoraro, N.C., & la Fleur, S.E. (2005). Chronic stress and comfort foods: Self-medication and abdominal obesity. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 19, 275-280.

  • Dallman, M.F., Pecoraro, N., Akana, S.F., la Fleur, S.E., Gomez, F., Houshyar, H., Bell, M.E., Bhatnagar, S., Laugero, K.D., & Manalo, S. (2003). Chronic stress and obesity: A new view of comfort food.

  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 100(20), 11696-11701. Retrieved December 5 2010 from www.pnas.org_cgi_doi_10.1073_pnas.1934666100.

  • Dube, L., LeBel, J.L., & Lu, J. (2005). Affect asymmetry and comfort food consumption. Physiology and Behavior, 86, 559-567.

  • Dupree, N. (2004). Nathalie Dupree’s Southern memories, Athens, Georgia, USA: University of Georgia Press.

  • Ector, B. J., Magee, C. P., Hegwood, C.P., & Coign, M. J. (1996). Resveratrol concentration in muscadine berries, juice, pomace, purees, seeds, and wines. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 47, 57-62.

  • Egerton, J. (2002). Corn bread nation 1, University of Mississippi, Southern Foodways Alliance. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

  • Egerton, J. (1987). Southern food-At home, on the road, in history, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

  • Farr, S.S. (1995). Table talk – Appalachian meals and memories, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

  • FoodReference.com (2010). 2010-2011 California food events, Retrieved January 20 2011 from http://www.foodreference.com/html/california-food-festivals.html.

  • Frochot, I. (2003). An analysis of regional positioning and its associated food images in French tourism regional brochures. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 14(3), 77-96.

  • God, J.M., Tate, P., & Larcom, L.L. (2007). Anticancer effects of four varieties of muscadine grape. Journal of Medicinal Food, 10(1), 54-59.

  • Grossman, D. (2004). A trip down comfort food lane, USA Today online, Retrieved January 15 2011 from http://www.usatoday.com/ travel/columnist/grossman/2004-09-10-grossman_x.htm.

  • Henchion, M., & McIntyre, B. (2000). Regional imagery and quality products: the Irish experience. British Food Journal, 102(8), 630-644.

  • Hudson, T.S., Hartle, D.K., Hursting, S.D., Nunez, N.P., Wang, T.T.Y., Young, H.A., Arany, P., & Green, J.E. (2005). Inhibition of prostate cancer growth by muscadine grape skin extract and resveratrol through distinct mechanisms. Cancer Research, 67(17), 8396-8405.

  • Iijima, K., Yoshizumi, M., & Ouchi, Y. (2002). Effect of red wine polyphenols on vascular smooth muscle cell function- molecular mechanism of the ‘French paradox.’ Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 123, 1033-1039.

  • Kandiah, J., Yake, M., Jones, J., & Meyer, M. (2006). Stress influences appetite and comfort food preferences in college women. Nutrition Research, 6, 118-123.

  • Keyserling, T.C., Ammerman, A.S., Atwood, J.R., Hosking, J.D., Drasny, C., Zayed, H., & Worthy, B.H. (2002). A cholesterol intervention program for public health nurses in the rural southeast: Description of the intervention, study design, and baseline results. Public Health Nursing, 16(3), 156-167.

  • Kulkarni, K.D. (2004). Food, culture, and diabetes in the United States. Clinical Diabetes, 22(4), 190-192.

  • Lackland, D. T., & Moore, M. A. (1997). Hypertension-related mortality and morbidity in the southeast. Southern Medical Journal, 90(2), 191–198.

  • Latshaw, B.A. (2009). Food for thought – Race, region, identity, and foodways in the American South, Southern Cultures, 15(4), 106-128.

  • Lian, B., & Cherian, J. (2010). Cross-cultural differences in the effects of abstract and concrete thinking on imagery generation and ad persuasion. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 22(2), 187-198.

  • Locher, J.L., Yoels, W.C., Maurer, D., & Van Ells, J. (2005). Comfort foods: An exploratory journey into the social and emotional significance of food. Food and Foodways, 13, 273-297.

  • Loureiro, M.L., & McCluskey, J.J. (2000). Assessing consumer response to protected geographical identification labelling. Agribusiness, 16(3), 309-320.

  • McInnis, D.J., & Price, L.L. (1987). The role of imagery in informationprocessing: Review and extensions. Journal of Consumer Research, 13(4), 473-491.

  • Middleton, G. (2000). A preliminary study of chefs’ attitudes and knowledge of healthy eating in Edinburgh’s restaurants. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 19, 399-412.

  • Mudry, J. (2010). The French paradox, the healthy drinker, and the medicalization of virtue. Food, Culture and Society, 13(1), 91-114.

  • Neergaard, L. (2009). Pudgy baby boomers to tip scales on America’s medical spending, Thestar.com online. Retrieved February 2, 2011 from http://www.thestar.com/ news/world/article/659508

  • Olsen, S.M., & Santos, B. (2010). Vegetable Production Handbook of Florida University o f Florida, IFAS Extension . Re trieved February 2, 2011 from http://www.citrusandvegetable.com/Media/2010_VPG2010_VPG_.pdf

  • Ottenfeld, M., Bernstein, D., & Witte, C.L. (2008). An exploration of U.S. consumer perceptions and affect: Two forms of a soy-based food product, Journal of Food Products Marketing, 14(3), 49-76.

  • Paeratakul, S., Ferdinand, D.P., Champagne, C.M., Ryan, D.H., & Bray, G.A. (2003). Fast-food consumption among US adults and children: Dietary and nutrient intake profile. Journal of The American Dietetic Association, 103(10), 1332-1338.

  • Pastrana-Bonilla, E., Akoh, C.C., Sellappan, S., & Krewer, G. (2003). Phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of muscadine grapes. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 51, 5497-5503.

  • Quan, S., & Wang, N. (2004). Towards a structural model of the tourist experience: an illustration from food experiences in tourism. Tourism Management, 25, 297-305.

  • Renaud, S., & Lorgeril, M., (1992). Wine, alcohol, platelets, and the French paradox for coronary heart disease. Lancet, 339, 1523–1526.

  • Reuters (2009). Obesity causes 100,000 U.S. cancer cases a year. Retrieved February 3 2011 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33683092/ns/health-cancer.

  • Sassatelli, R., & Davolio, F. (2010). Consumption, pleasure and politics: slow food and the politico-aesthetic problematization of food. Journal of Consumer Culture, 10, 202-232.

  • Smith, S.L., Quandt, S.A., Arcury, T.A., Wetmore, L.K., Bell, R.A., & Vitolins, M.Z. (2006). Aging and eating in the rural, southern United States: Beliefs about salt and its effect on health. Social Science and Medicine, 62,189-198.

  • Stallcup, K. (2008). Alabama second in obesity, Opelika-Auburn News online. Retrieved February 14 2011 from http://www2.oanow.com/oan/news/local article/alabama_second_in_obesity/27818/.

  • Stanley, L.L., & Mazier, M.J.P. (1999). Potential explanations for the French Paradox’ Nutrition Research, 19(1), 3-15.

  • Stein, K. (2008). Contemporary comfort foods: bringing back old favourites. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 108(3), 412-414.

  • Tanner, L. (2010). US obesity high, but rate holding steady. The Sydney Morning Herald online. Retrieved December 12 2010 from http://news.smh.com.au/ breaking-newsworld/us-obesity-high-but-rate-holding-steady-20100114-m7bt.html

  • Terwilliger, H. (2008). You can have comfort food, with a caveat, USATODAY online. Retrieved February 9 2011 from http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/ weightloss/2008-02-24-comfort-food_N.htm.

  • Tiggemann, M., & Kemps, E. (2005). The phenomenology of food cravings: The role of mental imagery. Appetite, 45, 305-313.

  • Vida, I., & Reardon, J. (2008). Domestic consumption: rational, affective or normative choice? Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25(1), 34-44.

  • Walter, E. (1971). American cooking: Southern style. New York: Time-Life Books.

  • Wansink, B., Cheney, M.M., & Chan, N. (2003). Exploring comfort food preferencesacross age and gender. Physiology and Behavior, 79, 739-747.

  • Warshaw, H.S. (1993). America eats out: nutrition in the chain and family restaurant industry. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 93(1), 17-22.

  • WBIR.com. (2010). A list of the 19 most mouth-watering Southern guilty pleasure foods. Retrieved October 19 2010 from http://www.wbir.com/life /programming/local/liveatfive/story.aspx?storyid=124539&catid=8 Weber, R.P. (1990). Basic content analysis (2nd Ed). Sage Publications Inc., Newbury Park, California.

  • Wine Institute (2008). California Travel and Tourism Commission and Wine Institute launch National Land of Wine and Food Campaign. Retrieved December 3 2010 from http://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/pressroom/01302008

  • Yuille, J.C., & Catchpole, M.J. (1977). The role of imagery in models of Cognition. Journal of Mental Imagery, 1, 171-180.


Abstract Views: 352

PDF Views: 0




  • Consumer Imagery and Southern US Foods: a Preliminary Study

Abstract Views: 352  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Abel Duarte Alonso
University of Western Sydney, School of Management., Australia

Abstract


This study addresses the consumer's image of stereotypical Southern foods in the Southern United States (US), as well as their level of consumption, and sheds light on the trade-off that many consumers continue to make favouring taste over health when it comes to consumption. Data were collected in a South-eastern US town via direct questionnaire distribution; 500 questionnaires were distributed and 233 usable responses obtained. The findings indicate that the high calorie content or the 'unhealthy' nature of the foods, but at the same time the 'tasty' element are images consistently identified in respondents' comments. Thus, there appears to be an obvious recognition of the unhealthy aspect of stereotypical Southern cuisine in favour of indulgence, and to fulfil images of tasty 'comfort' foods. However, given the many possible variations of Southern foods and dishes, including healthier alternatives, the findings have very important implications for the region's food and beverage industry. In this regard, enhancing the image of these traditional foods or food cultures for instance could be very beneficial. Consumer education is therefore critical in assisting consumers in making more informed food choices. In this process, the role of different agencies and sectors (hospitality and tourism) in designing and executing food-education related strategies, including the promotion of the local cuisine could be invaluable.

Keywords


Southern Foods, Consumers, Stereotypical Foods, Images, Comfort Foods, South-Eastern United States

References