Adapting Palates

Abstract

This research explores how two different personality traits—neophilia and neophobia—affect people's eating habits and preferences in the context of sustainable gastronomy tourism. Neophilia, which indicates an openness to trying new culinary experiences, contrasts with neophobia, which is defined as a fear of new foods. Data was collected from 234 gastronomy tourists in Bangalore to examine these dynamics. Smart PLS-SEM 4 was utilized for data analysis. The survey investigated the attitudes and behaviours of participants regarding sustainable food practices that they encountered while engaging in gastronomy tourism. The results show that food neophobia significantly improves people's perceptions of food quality, which further had a statistically significant favourable influence on sustainable consumption; it had no significant effect on post-consumption behaviour. The study highlights how vital gastronomy is to improving experiences, preserving local identity, and drawing tourists—particularly in the rapidly growing category of culinary tourism.