Experiential festival attributes, perceived value, cultural exploration, and behavioral intentions to visit a food festival

Based on the expectation confirmation theory and the push and pull framework, this paper proposes that perceived value (PV) mediates the relationship between experiential food festival attributes (EXPECO) and attendees’ behavioral intentions (BIs). Further, this paper proposes that cultural exploration (CULEXP) moderates the causal relationships among EXPECO, PV, and BIs. A survey of 215 visitors who participated in the Slow Food Festival event in Northern Cyprus was used to statistically validate the proposed research framework and hypotheses. The results stemmed from the structural equation modeling show that PV partially mediated the effects of EXPECO (i.e., education, entertainment, and esthetic experience) on BIs. Moreover, as predicted, the results confirm that CULEXP moderates the casual relationships among EXPECO, PV, and BIs. Thus, the findings extend prior literature by highlighting the importance of EXPECO and CULEXP in enhancing attendees’ PV and consequent positive BIs.