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Meal identity as practice: Towards an understanding of business travellers' meal practices
Department of Food, Nutrition and Culinary Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Örebro University, School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts & Meal Science. School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3875-6300
Department of Food, Nutrition and Culinary Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
2020 (English)In: International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, ISSN 1878-450X, E-ISSN 1878-4518, Vol. 22, article id 100237Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Business travellers make up a large part of the customer base for the Swedish hospitality industry, accounting for 54% of the occupancy rate of Swedish hotels in 2018. Yet, very little is known about their meal habits while being at the destination of a business trip. This, even though the handling of meals in an environment that is less known to the traveller could add to the complexity of everyday life. Therefore, this study is aimed to explore actions performed by business travellers at the destination of travel as part of their meal practice with the purpose of elucidating the meal habits of this group. The research is theoretically framed within the context of social identity theory and social practice theory. A questionnaire was filled out by 538 Swedish business travellers recruited by means of self-sampling; 77% of the respondents were men, and 77% were above 45 years of age. The majority of the respondents, 67%, travelled over 50 days per annum, and 59% were located in the highest income quartile. The analysis of the data generated a general overview of the actions performed in relation to the meal, while also showing differences in actions taken based on income and gender. Women were significantly more price conscious than men and to a larger extent used technical assistance to find somewhere to eat. When travelling alone they also reported eating faster than at home and bringing back food and eat at the hotel room more often than men did. Men, in contrast, exhibited an inclination towards seeking social contexts to insert themselves in during dinners when travelling alone, as to be able to eat together with other people. The, relatively, lower income group showed more price consciousness as well as used the help of technical assistance to find somewhere to eat.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2020. Vol. 22, article id 100237
Keywords [en]
Business travel, Meal habits, Meal science, Sociology of food
National Category
Social Work Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified
Research subject
Culinary Arts and Meal Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-85120DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgfs.2020.100237ISI: 000601297900009PubMedID: 32834884Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85089465426OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-85120DiVA, id: diva2:1464586
Note

Funding Agency:

Research and development fund of the Swedish hospitality industry (BFUF)  

Available from: 2020-09-07 Created: 2020-09-07 Last updated: 2022-02-09Bibliographically approved

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Walter, Ute

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