Gastronomic image of Turkish baklava: analyzing user reviews on TripAdvisor

Abstract

This study aims to determine the gastronomic image of Turkish baklava based on user reviews on the TripAdvisor review website. In this context, the adequacy and quality of the products and services offered by the restaurants producing and selling baklava in Türkiye, as well as the salient positive and negative aspects, were evaluated using the content analysis method. The data are based on the reviews made by users on the TripAdvisor user review website about restaurants in 2022 and 2023. The results of the research are presented by visualizing them with the word cloud method. As a result of the research, it was found that domestic visitors rate Turkish baklava as excellent, delicious, and expensive. Foreign visitors mainly evaluated Turkish baklava as the best, most delicious, and most expensive compared to its counterparts. The study suggests that restaurants, especially those operating in Gaziantep, should increase their promotional activities for Turkish baklava at national and international levels show more sensitivity to service quality, and production standards, and maintain the balance between price and quality.