Tourists’ private social dining experiences

Abstract

While private social dining has emerged as a new activity in the sharing economy, associated research is limited. This study aims to conceptualize tourists’ private social dining experiences by incorporating the concept of the experience economy with the sharing economy. Thematic analysis of 29 interviews unveiled a hierarchical framework, beginning with a personalized experience and leading to sensory experience before ending with emotional experience in private social dining settings. Seven identified emotional experiential domains were then situated within a four-quadrant framework to address how private social dining can enrich the four original experiential domains of the experience economy (i.e. entertainment, education, esthetic, and escapism) to trigger tourists’ emotional pleasure. These results lay a theoretical foundation for future studies and provide practical implications for the development of food tourism.

Dining in the sharing economy: a comparison of private social dining and restaurants

“…Hong Kong was selected as the local study context for two reasons. First, the private kitchen sector, a predecessor of private social dining (Lin et al, 2021a), has been well-known in Hong Kong since 2003 when many workers lost their jobs and opened private kitchens during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Chui, 2010). Second, Hong Kong’s sterling reputation as a “food paradise” has long been a staple of local tourism promotion; however, the role of private social dining in the local tourism industry remains underexplored.…”

“…Belk (2010) highlighted that sharing food and beverage is not rare in human history, especially in a Chinese banquet when the hosts will welcome the guests by placing foods on their plates. Despite an emerging trend for private social dining to enter the global hospitality industry, the food and beverage sector has been overlooked in the literature studying the sharing economy (Lin et al, 2021a). This form of dining allows diners to enjoy a meal with locals in a local's private home (Lawler, 2014).…”

“…It has inspired scholars to investigate effective ways of developing memorable experiences in different hospitality contexts (Tung and Ritchie, 2011). The memorable dining experience has widely been recognized as one of the ultimate goals for catering service providers because people are now looking for a distinctive and memorable dining experience instead of the mere acquisition of food consumption (Lin et al, 2021a). It is also reflected by Williams et al (2019) concluded seven characteristics of a memorable dining experience.…”

“…Filling this research gap is timely needed when online sharing platforms have cooperated with sole food and beverage providers to provide a new product termed "private social dining" (Lin et al, 2021a). Its name implies the two main characteristics of private social dining.…”

An exploratory investigation of technology-assisted dining experiences from the consumer perspective

“…Against this backdrop, technologies are being adopted to reduce costs and gain advantages over competitors through service efficiency and management effectiveness (Nižetić et al , 2019). From the demand perspective, with increasing incomes and sociocultural diversity, consumers are pursuing more personalized dining services and experiences (Lin et al , 2021). Consumers’ preferences for smart technologies, which have formed in the mobile internet era, are driving restaurants to adopt more smart technologies (Leung and Loo, 2022).…”