Can purchasing food souvenirs be a gastronomic experience per se?

Purpose This study aims to determine if the process of purchasing food souvenirs constitutes a gastronomic experience concerning food souvenirs that have demonstrated their value in the tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach The current study used a qualitative research approach to achieve this goal and collected data from 24 domestic tourists through in-depth interviews. The data obtained were subjected to content analysis. Findings Five main themes arose from the content analysis: food souvenir attributes, motivational factors, gastronomic interest, cognitive and emotional evaluations and behavioral factors. It is noteworthy that among these factors, food souvenir attributes, motivational factors and gastronomic interest take place before purchasing these products, cognitive and emotional evaluations during the purchase and behavioral factors after the purchase. Originality/value As a result, with the findings obtained in the study, it has been proven with a theoretical model that the process of purchasing food souvenirs is equivalent to the gastronomic experience process, and it has been discovered that this purchasing process can be an experience in itself. The current research offers several practical implications in addition to this significant theoretical contribution.