CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter will give the readers on what the researchers want to find and investigate. The purpose and aims of the research are being explained. In this chapter too, the main purposes and the objective of this research are explained in details. Furthermore, these to get the insight on what the researcher want to search and investigate.

1.1 Introduction

Food is an essential thing for human to stay alive. For the purpose of living, human will search for food and this occasion has led to travel. Traveling for food has taken an entirely new meaning from what it used to when voyages were undertaken for spice trade, but voyagers still carried dried food, as the local cuisines were looked upon with suspicion (Tannahill, 1988). Tourists have some basic needs, whether they find themselves at home or whether they are travelling; the most basic of which is to eat (Lopez and Sanchez, 2011).

Despite the growing of food tourism in the world, Chang and Mak (2012), food consumption studies are predominantly concerned with understanding the determinants of various food-related behavior, most commonly liking, preference, choice and intake. Food consumption is recognized as a complex behavior with cultural, social, psychological, and sensory acceptance factors all playing a role in the decision making process (Koster, 2009).
While it is widely discuss on the behavior of tourist towards the food that they consumed, it is also believe that local food also play a big role on showing their behavioral on food consumption. Cohen and Avieli (2004) stressed that local food at a destination could be an use under certain circumstance. This is possible because tourist have to confront with food in their destination they are visiting, Pliner & Salvy (2006) though maybe some tourists may suffer from “food neophobia,” a concept which refers to human’s natural tendency to dislike or suspect new or unfamiliar food.

Under this research, it has come to think that there is important to study on the behavior of tourist as it would be benefit to understand how their consumption and factors that affecting it. According to Chang et al. (2010), there is no empirical study examining the food preference and dining behavior of tourist, thereby revealing a knowledge gap in understanding this important. Mak, Lumbers, Eves & Chang (n.d) also agree that empirical studies about travel dining behavior of tourists is very limited, and there is a notable knowledge gap with regards to attributes that affect how tourists evaluate their travel dining experiences, particularly when the service provider do not share a common culture.

1.2 Statement of problem
The purpose of this research is to relate the consumption of food and the tourist behavior, to determine the characteristic of tourist the characteristic that went for holiday. This is so that it will gain some insight on where the tourist comes from and what is their purpose of visiting. Second is to identify the behavior of tourist towards food consumption while traveling, and to know if the factor are relate to food and tourism. This is the main problem that this research wants to seek as the behavior of tourists is different from one another.

There a not much of previous study that explain their behavior towards food consumption and this research wants to provide what it is need to understand their behavior. It is also a problem to identify each tourist behavior as it would involve a great discussion. To gain insight on their behavior towards food consumption is a better option and by understanding their behavior could improve the service or to upgrade the supplier side. Researcher would also want to explain the role and attribute of local food towards the tourist food consumption whether local food are related to tourist preference to eat or not. The study related to local food from the tourist perception is not many can be found. It is important to know the role of local food as tourist will definitely encounter local food while visiting to a destination. Thus, by knowing how they perceived would explain a lot on how the tourists behave towards the local foods.

1.3 Research Question
Here are some of the research questions that will be involved in this research: 1. Does a characteristic of tourist affect their choices of food consumption while traveling?
The food preference of tourist is different from one another. In this study, the researcher wants to know whether the characteristics of tourist affect their choices of food consumption or not.

2. How the tourist behave while encounter food while traveling?
In this study, researcher wants to know the behavior of tourist towards their food consumption. How do they behave when they encounter local food their food preference while on holiday?

3. How tourist perceived local food of a destination?
Local foods are very much related to the destination. So, in this research we want to know how the tourist acts and perceived local food at the destination that they are visiting. In addition, will they get to explore or benefits something from the local food.

1.4 Objectives
The specific objectives of the study that will be focusing on: 1. To identify the characteristic of tourist while on holiday
The characteristics of tourist is important as this research wants to know the consumption are based on their characteristic and behavior. In this study, it will be broadly discuss and also identify their motives and characteristic of the tourist and how it led to the food consumption of the tourist while on holiday. 2. To explore the behavior of tourist toward food consumption while travelling
While travelling, tourist must consume food. So, the behavior of tourist toward the food at a destination and their consumption pattern that will be discuss in this research which we will go deeper on why their behaving are related with food. 3. To determine the role of local food towards food consumption
Local food is one of the attractions in a destination. Every destination has their own local food to be prepared to the tourist. We want to know will tourist try the local food while travelling and how they perceived it. In this study, it will also be discussing on understanding the culture of a destination through local food.

1.5 Definition of term Tourism: It comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited (WTO). The tourism will be use in order to understand the purpose they are traveling.
Food consumption: “A collection of contextual and evolving social practices, where food no longer merely serves as sustenance but also way to relate to other people in social, cultural and political terms (Oosterveer, 2006).” Food consumption will be use in order to explain the tourist behavior on food consumption and what influence the food consumption of tourists.

Tourist behavior: “Process involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and wants (Hamzah Omar). The tourist behavior is to explain on the behavior of tourist. For this research, it will focus on the consumption behavior.

Local food: “Local food can be defined as food and drink that is produced or grown in the local area or local specialty food that has local identity (Nummedal & Hall, 2006).” In this research, local food will be elaborate and discuss its attributes to the tourist behavior.
1.6 Scope and Delimitation
1.6.1 The scope of this research is: 1. International tourist that are visiting Malaysia. This research will focus on the international tourist that visiting to Malaysia as this research wants to know how they perceive local foods that are not the same with their culture. 2. An adult or young teenager tourist This research will use an adult or young teenager international tourist because they can explain and also give a concrete answer as they perceive the food that they have eaten. They also could give strong answer and suggestions that are valid.

1.6.2 The Delimitation of study

1. Does not take account of the money they spent on food consumption
Does not involve studies on the money that the tourist spent on buying food while on holiday. It also does not search on their expenditure while on holiday.

2. Does not explain on the supplier side of food preparation
This research is based on the consumer side and does not explain further on the supplier side such as the marketing, business and much more. 3. Does not involve the impact of local food to a destination.
This research doesn’t focus on the impact of buying local food to a destination. This also relate to the supplier side which are not been explain in this research.

1.7 Significance of study
The result of the study on consumption of food and tourist behavior will be beneficial to many sectors which include the research. Here are some of the purposes of why we do this research: 1. This may help to understand the pattern of food consumed by tourist
Through this research, it may help to understand how the tourist food pattern while on holiday is. This could be beneficial for the supplier or other researcher that want to investigate how they actually eat while on holiday as there are not many research on this topic. 2. Supplier will know the food preference of the tourist
As mentioning above, the supplier will get to know what their foods preferences while on holiday are. Are the foods that they want represent their culture or could it be the food that they prefer based on the community indulgence? This is what the supplier needs to know.

3. To increase the opportunity of food tourism industry
This is important as the food industry is rising as well as the tourism industry. When the two industries merge, it will create many opportunities and benefits to each industry. In this case, it will increase the opportunity to increase the food tourism industry. 4. The role of local food towards the tourist
This will increase the role of local food as local foods are very much related to a destination. Each destination has their own culture and local food and this is important to know how the local food contributes to the tourism industry as well as to promote the local food itself.

1.8 Conclusion
In this chapter, it is briefly explain on what the researcher wants to study and investigate. The main purpose is to investigate the behavior of tourist towards food consumption while traveling. This can give a clear explanation on what’s to investigate as it is the most important chapter in introducing the research. Throughout this research, the terms and scope are being used for this research. These studies also have its significance where it can be one of the studies that explain on the behavior of tourist.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, it will be focusing on the factors of food consumption by tourists and their behavior. This factor will further be explained by scholar and other researchers. This chapter will as discussed the attribute of local food and the behavior of tourist towards local food to the destination they are visiting. Each of the factors are explained and elaborate in order to give a clear understanding on what is food consumption and how the behavior of tourist towards it.

2.1 Food consumption of tourist while holidaying
Food consumption by the traveler while on holiday is a basic need by them. Food consumption in the general context is recognized as a collection of contextual and evolving social practices, where food no longer merely serves as sustenance but also a way to relate to other people in social, culture and political term (Oosterveer, 2006). Consumption is an integral aspect of the tourist experience, with the tourist consuming not only the sights and sounds, but also the taste of a place (Sheynoy, 2005). In other words, the word “consumption” can also mean literally the absorption of a cultural identity (Ryan, 1997). Food consumption studies are predominantly concerned with understanding the determinants of various food-related behaviors, most commonly including liking, preference, choice and intake (Mak, Lumbers, Eves & Chang, 2012).
Food and travel have long been related (Hall, Sharples and Smith, 2003). Recent research found that food was ranked as the third activity most undertaken by tourists (Fochot and McLellan, 2002). Furthermore, food has also been identified as the fourth most important attribute for tourists’s perceptions of destination attractiveness after climate, accommodation and scenery (Hu and Ritchie, 1993). This means that, food is a necessity that holidaymakers need to fulfill while travelling (Frochot, 2002). Other than that, food consumption by the tourist are studied even more establish disciplines. Hall and Mitchell (2003), state that the ‘human element’ of food consumption is being studied such as anthropology, sociology or cultural studies have done little to explore the consumptive experiences of tourist. Levi-Strauss (1996) added that the symbolic structuralist perspectives analyze food consumption as a psychological and behavioral system that originates in the human brain and how food transforms from a natural object to a cultural one. While there appear to be few studies relating specifically to food and tourist, these disciplines have studied the consumption of food more generally and undoubtedly provide a useful basis for research into food tourism (Hall, 2003).

2.2 Characteristic of Tourist
2.2.1 Tourist Food Preference based on Nationality
Various attempts have been made to examine the factors that affect food preference in the general context (Khan, 1981; Randall & Sanjur, 1981; Wright, Nancarrow, & Kwok, 2001). Rozin and Vollmecke (1986) stated that food preference assumes the availability of at least two different items, and refers to the choice of one rather than the other. However, studies on tourist food preference based on the nationality of tourist are not broadly discussed by researcher. The research could be important as to know the type of food chosen by tourist according to their nationality. Torres (2002) states that tourist nationality is a key variable that influences the level of local food consumed by tourists. Tse and Crotts (2005) found that national culture is one of the four factors associated with tourists’ culinary choice in Hong Kong. This can be summarized that tourist nationality does influence their food consumption while on holiday.
Some example of tourist by their nationality is shown in other research. For instance, Pizam and Sussmann (1995) found that Japanese, French, and Italian tourist were perceived to avoid local food in the host destination, whereas Americans tourist were perceived to have slight preference for local food. Some other researches suggest that Asian tourists may demand more foreign foods while visiting Indonesia (Telfer and Wall, 2000). A research found the relationship between the tourists’ origin country and their intentions of bringing food from the native country during summer holidays abroad (Sanda, 2010). The result shown that Italian tourist decides to bring food from their country and not buy Croatian food. On the other hand, German tourists are tourist that will never bring their food from origin country (Sanda, 2010).
Besides that, the UK market, is more likely to eat out in local restaurant, go sightseeing, visit friends and family, geothermal sites, museums/ galleries, beaches, the Sky Tower, the America’s Cup Regatta and bars and nightclubs’ while visiting New Zealand (Tourism New Zealand, 2001). Adding to that is UK market has a very conservative attitude towards food while on vacation. An insight into this attitude comes from Tourism New Zealand (2000), who cite a female potential mass-market visitor from England: ‘Not that I am racist, but I do like to see all white people together- they speak our language, they eat our food. My husband is very English and I am too, to be honest.’ Asian tourists are most likely to be more revert than other tourist. As March (1997) states, ‘as Muslims, Indonesian require specially prepared halal food, while Koreans have a strong preference for their own cuisine’. Sheldon and Fox (1998) also found that Japanese tourists tended to be less willing to try new cuisines compared with U.S and Canadian tourists when holidaying in Hawaii. To summarize, other research shows that Asians abroad tend to be less disposed than Westerners to partake of the food of ‘others’, and are more dependent than the later on establishments providing their own national cuisines’ (Cohen and Avieli, 2004).

2.2.2 Socio-demographic of tourist that are holidaying
In many food consumption socio-demographic factor are recognized to be important variables in explaining variations in food consumption in different contexts (Furst et al., 1996; Khan, 1981; Randall and Sanjur, 1981). A type of tourists that is largely overlooked in the food tourism literature is the tourist, who is not especially interested in food and who, at least in specific touristic contexts (Blichfeldt & Therkelsen, 2013). Socio-demographic factors commonly include indicators such as age, gender, marital status, education level, occupation, and household income to reflect the socio-economic and demographic status of an individual (Mak et al., 2012). Typical gastronomic tourists are essentially the same as those on cultural holiday: above-average-income professional couples in their 30-50s (Gastronomic Tourism, 2004; Huang, 1996).
In the USA, demographic surveys at farmers’ markets have indicated that most patrons are predominantly white female with above average income, age and education (Abel et al. 1999). In addition, the readers of Australian Gourmet Traveler were more likely than the general population to be female, aged between 35 and 49 years, middle class, professional and white-collar workers and earning more than A$30 000 per annum. However, Hairi, Salehuddin, Izzat and Zulhan (2009) research resulted travelling pattern of the western tourists who visited Malaysia; it was found that of the western tourist travelled with their friends and spouses. Other result from Hairi et al. (2009) indicates that majority western tourists prefer to travel with their companions or group as this would be more security during the vacation.
Following from the research, other result are most of the western tourists who visited Malaysia is between 39-59 years old and is financially stable. In the Holowiecka, Kostulska & Kwiatkowski (2011) research on tourist activity in Poland, found that most active tourist for food consumption is at the mobile working age (18-44 years). However, students and those who aged 18-44 years old were the most frequent to undertake foreign trips for food consumption. In Croatian, the largest percentages of respondents that buy Croatian food are tourist 36-50 years old. Socio-demographic factors provide important ways to examine how socio-economic and demographic variables serves within-culture determinant as of tourist food consumption (Mak et al., 2012).
2.2.3 Culture and the relation with food Food has also become recognized as being expressive of identity and culture and is therefore an important component of cultural and heritage tourism (Bessiere, 1998; Cusack, 2000; Ritchie and Zins, 1978). Culture can be defined as a shares set of characteristics, attitudes, behaviors and values that helps groups of people decide what to do and how to go about it (Goodenough, 1971). Previous studies have contributed to the understanding of the interface between culture and eating behavior (Atkin & Bowler, 2001; Makela, 2000). Therefore, culture is also a determinant of what we eat (Atkin and Bowler, 2001). Cultural motivations arise from the desire to better understand a given locality or culture (Guzman & Sanchez, 2011). This can be explain by Prescott et al.,(2002) that the effect of culture determine which foods and food qualities are acceptable in terms of their sensory properties. Food culture practice is related to food preparation, cooking styles, cooking utensils used and eating manners (Hairi et al. (2009). He added that tourists will also experience other related food culture activities such as food festivals and event, religious festivals and food kiosk or streets stalls during their vacations. It seems that, when dining out at a destination, tourists in effect consume ‘ingredients’ that satisfy their feelings and enhance their cultural experience (Fields, 2002). He also added that when tourists are experiencing new local cuisines, they are concomitantly experiencing a new culture. Kivela and Johns (2003) suggest that each cultural group has its own distinctive food culture that determines which flavors and culinary precepst are acceptable within that group, and will subsequently affect an individual’s evaluation of food from other cultural groups. Besides, food and eating practices are essential aspects of a society and they signify symbolic meaning of traditions and special occasions (Fieldhouse, 1986). Furthermore, Chang et al. (2001), found that tourists’ own food culture can exert a great deal of influence on their perceptions and evaluation of foreign food, particularly in terms of flavor and cooking method. The findings highlights the importance of understanding the ‘cultural distance’ (McKercher and Chow, 2001) and culturally specific ‘flavor principles’ (Rozin and Rozin, 1981) between tourists’ native food culture and the host food culture in affecting tourist food consumption.

2.3 The behavior of tourists towards food consumption while travelling
Food consumption is recognized as a complex behavior, with cultural, social, psychological, and sensory acceptance factors all playing a role in the decision-making process (Koster, 2009; Sobal et al., 2006). Tourist food consumption, a crucial form of tourist consumption, has largely been neglected in the hospitality and tourism literature (Cohen and Avieli, 2004). In this research, four factors can be further explained on the behavior of tourists towards food consumption while travelling: psychographic, experiential factor, liking and disliking, and consumer behavior.

2.3.1 Psychographic of tourist while consuming food in a destination
While demographics can provide the basis for simple segmentation of food tourist markets, psychographic data (such as motives, lifestyle, interest, attitudes and values) allow researcher to add ‘vitality to consumer profiles that cannot easily be captured by demographics’ (Schiffman and Kamuk, 1987). Furthermore, Fields (2002) adopts the typology of tourist motivators suggested by McIntosh et al. (1995) to elaborate on the interplay between food consumption and tourism. The four motivators are: physical, cultural, interpersonal, and status and prestige motivators. First, food can be a physical motivator as the act of eating as predominately physical in nature involving sensory perceptions to appreciate the food or tourists’ need the sustenance. Second, food can also be a cultural motivator because when tourists are experiencing new local cuisines, they are simultaneously experiencing a new culture. Third, it might serve as an interpersonal motivator as meals taken on a holiday have a social function bonds. Finally, local delicacies can also be a status and prestige motivator, as tourists can build their knowledge of the local cuisine by eating as the locals do, and exploring new cuisines and food that they or their friends are not likely to encounter at home.

2.3.2 Experiential factor and food consumption of tourist
For many, food becomes highly experiential (i.e. much more than functional) when it is part of a travel experience, it can become sensuous and sensual, symbolic and ritualistic, and can take on new significance and meaning (Mitchell and Hall, 2003). Studies have found that dining out as a tourist is a different experience than when dining out for other reasons and, as a result, an examination of an experiential nature might be important to an understanding of food tourism consumer behavior. The distinction between products and leisure activities is important for food consumption as the nature of the consumption experience determines how food and the experience of eating are viewed (Mitchell and Hall, 2003). They added when on vacation the meaning of eating is further intensified as the very nature of the travel experience heightens our sensory awareness and imagination, and the high level of involvement tens to lead to a greater symbolic significance.
From the tourist experience perspective, food consumption in tourism can be conceptually distinguished into ‘supporting consumer experience’ and ‘peak touristic experience’ (Quan and Wang, 2004). Food choice research found that exposure to certain foods tends to increase preference for those foods, as familiarity increases with repeated exposure (Birch, et al., 1987; Pliner, 1982). The study conducted by Tse and Crotts (2005) support this, indicating that repeat visitation was positively correlated with both the number and range of tourists’ culinary exploration, whereas first-time visitation was negatively correlated. Likewise, Ryu and Jang (2006) found that past experience is one of the significant predictors of tourists’ intention to consume local cuisine in destination. According to Baker (1982), found that an individual’s past experience with food contribute to the development of ‘food memories’ which are associated with the sensory attributes of the food.

2.3.3 Liking and disliking towards unfamiliar food while holidaying
Fischler (1988) suggesting that a human has a natural tendency to dislike or suspect new and unfamiliar foods (neophobic), and yet, also has a propensity to search for novel foods (neophilic). Food neophobia, or the reluctance to digest novel food (Pliner and Slavy, 2006), is at the heart of the mechanism dictating human food choice. In the tourism literature, the food neophobia concept has been adopted to explain the difference in tourists’ food consumption behavior (Mak et al., 2012). Kim et al. (2009) have identified food neophobia and neophilia as two of the factors affecting tourists’ inclination to consume local food on holiday. They found that tourist, who has a predisposition to be neophobic, seems to be reluctant to eat exotic food. In Sandra (2010) research on Croatian food towards the tourist, the result shown that some tourist do not like challenges in the form of new foodstuffs experience. Tuorila et al. (1994) suggest that neophobia in food consumption results in those with neophobic tendencies disliking novel looking, smelling and tasting food. In contrast, Bell and Valentine (1997) have suggested that the development of ‘new cuisines’ and the globalization of national cuisines around the world has relied on neophilic tendencies and that travel has long involved food neophilia as an important motivator.

2.3.4 Consumer Behavior
The study of consumer behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption-related items (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1997). The field of consumer behavior covers a lot of ground. According to Solomon (1996), consumer behavior is a study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires. Official definition are defined by Belch (1998) where consumer behavior is a process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy their needs and desires. Mathieson and Wall (1982) suggested a linear five-stage model of travel buying behavior, which is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Five-Stage Model of Travel Buying Behavior (Source: Mathieson and Wall, 1982)
Figure 1 shows the five-stage model of travel buying behavior where tourist will felt the need and desire to travel to a destination. They would gather information and evaluate by using images and photos of the destination. After that, they will make a travel decision which is making choices between alternative that they have. Then, they will prepare for travel and having the experience of traveling. After done traveling, they will get the outcome and can evaluate their travel experience. Herrmann and Roder (1995) find that differences in preferences are more important determinants of food consumption levels than differences in income and the availability of food. Likewise, de Mooij and Hofstede (2002) contend that as consumer incomes converge across countries, cultural values will become prominent in explaining more countries become, the more they manifest the influence of culture on consumption.
2.4 Local food experience by tourist
Local food can be defined as food and drink that is produced or grown in the local area or local specialty food that has local identity (Nummedal & Hall, 2006). Tourists enjoy indigenous food, particularly items of local or ethnic nature (Wagner, 2001). The evident can be shown in the research of Enteleca Research and Consultancy (2000); where between 32 per cent and 66 per cent of tourists either purchase or eat local foods during their visit. Furthermore, knowledge of the local, regional and national cuisine has become an interest for tourists (Chappel, 20010; Gallagher, 2001). Other arguments have focused upon the ambiguity which surrounds the concept of the ‘local’ food, with Morris and Buller (2003) explaining that “local” can be understood either in terms of a bounded region within which products are produced and sold, or in terms of ‘speciality’ or ‘locality’ foods which are intended as value-added products for export to other countries or regions. Local food and beverages play a role in introducing travelers into new flavors and different traditions at destinations (Fields, 2002). For these consumers, the fact that local products are equated with economically and socially sustainable behavior acts as a further attraction because it enables them to cast themselves in the role of the ‘good’ and ‘responsible’ tourists who care about the destinations they are visiting (Barnett et al., 2005; Clarke et al., 2007; Enteleca Research and Consultancy, 2001; Rojek, 1993; Soper, 2007). Otis (1984) also indicated that trying new foods reflected a general preferences for engaging on exciting kinds of activities and such thrill seeking can allow people to have exciting experiences. In other words, consumption of local food can be perceived to be an important travel motivator (Fields, 2002).
2.5 Conceptual Framework of Consumption of Food and the Tourist Behavior

Characteristic of Tourist * Nationality * Socio-demographic * Culture

The behavior of tourist * Psychographic * Experiental factor * Neophobic & Neophilic * Consumer Behavior

Food Consumption * Local food * Own food

*

The conceptual framework above shows on the relationship of food consumption of the tourist with their behavior. This framework are showing the overview of the research where the food consumption by tourist are affected by the characteristic of the tourist. The local food consumption is being affected by the behavior of tourist. The conceptual framework for this research is important as it shows the relations of one variables and objectives with others. The researcher can easily understand the relationship and the construction of the research by viewing the conceptual framework. 2.6 Conclusion
This chapter explains on the various variables that contribute to the consumption of food and the tourist behavior. Food consumption, behavior of the tourist and local food are being discussed broadly and this will give a wider scope on this study. In the next chapter, the researcher will explain on the methodology and the process on getting the data for this research.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This exploratory study adopts a qualitative research approach to investigate the attributes affecting the behavior of tourist towards their food consumptions. A methodology is usually a guideline system for solving a problem, with specific components such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools. Methodology is used in order to collect data and analysis it for the research. Methodology covers on the description of research, selection of respondents, instrumentation, data collection and procedure and data processing and analysis.

3.1 Description of research design
Descriptive research studies are those studies which are concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual, or a group, whereas diagnostic research studies determine the frequency with which something occur or its association with something else. The studies concerning whether certain variables are example of diagnostic research studies. In this research, the descriptive research design will be use in the research as the research want to determine the variable of this research towards the tourist food consumption behavior.

3.1.1 Description of research approach
There are two categories of research approaches that are commonly uses in research dissertation. The first is qualitative research approach. Qualitative research approach is a general way of thinking about conducting qualitative research. It describes, either explicitly or implicitly, the purpose of the qualitative research, the role of the researcher(s), the stages of research, and the method of data analysis.
The second approach is quantitative research approach. Quantitative research approach is generally associated with the positivist/post positivist paradigm. It usually involves collecting and converting data into numerical form so that statistical calculations can be made and conclusions drawn. The analysis enables the researchers to determine to what extent there is a relationship between two or more variables.
In this research, the quantitative research approach will be use to investigate the attributes affecting the behavior of tourist towards their food consumption. This research approach is chosen because the researcher wants to identify the relationship between one variable to another. Through this approach, a questionnaire will be used throughout the research for collecting data. The questionnaire questions will covers on the behavior of tourist while eating and also their experience through eating local food.

3.2 Data Collection
There are two type of data source that are being used in this research. These two types are primary data and secondary data. The usage of data’s in the research is very relevant as it will discover something and also give a details understanding on the objective and problem occur. It is very beneficial for the researchers to use the data sources.

3.2.1 Primary data
Primary data is data that has been collected from first-hand-experience is known as primary data. In this research, the primary data is use to know the statistic of tourist coming to the country and also the questionnaire is being use to get the data of food consumption by tourist while on holiday. This is important as the data from it will be use throughout the research period, at the analysis stages and could provide proof on the variable and objectives of this research.

3.2.2 Secondary data Data collected from a source that has already been published in any form is called as secondary data. The review of literature in many researches is based on secondary data. In this research, the secondary data is used to identify the variable involve. The secondary data also being use to construct the conceptual framework and also in the methodology part.

3.2.3 Location The locations of the research are states that have many international tourists. Thus, the researcher chooses Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malacca, and Johore for this research. This is because it will be easy for the researcher to find respondents and also gather the data. Plus, at the destination, it has a complete facilities and amenities for researcher to done the research. Each of the chosen states, the researcher will be focusing on places that have many international tourist visiting such as airports, jetty, tourist attractions and restaurants. This research also focusing on places where the international tourists eat and observe their behavior. This is to examine the objectives and variables of the research. During the period of data collection, the researcher will distribute 800 questionnaires to the international tourist. The researcher will ask permission from respondents to participate in the study. If they agree, they will be given a set of questionnaire for them to answer. After they have answered the questionnaire, the questionnaires will be collected for analysis purposes.

3.2.4 Population and sampling Population refers to the entire group of people, events, or things of interest that the researcher wishes to investigate. For this research, the target population is international tourist who visited Malaysia on randomly selected days from May to December 2013. The reason the researcher started the research from May to December is because it will give enough time for the researcher to collect the data in this month and also the tourist arrival are high in this 8 months. The four states that will be selected in order to obtain data are Kuala Lumpur, Johore, Penang, and Malacca. These states have the highest number of tourist arrivals with 1,624,327 total annual visitations (Source: Tourism Malaysia, 2013).
Sampling is a process selecting a sufficient number of elements from the population, so that results from analyzing the sample are generalizable to the population. For this research, the sampling technique that will be use is probability sampling. Probability sampling is any method of sampling that utilizes some form of random selection. In this investigation, the simple random sampling are use to collect data from the sample.
Simple random sampling is one of the sampling techniques where all elements in the population are considered and each element has an equal chance of being chosen as the subject. Therefore one cannot ensure that every member has an equal chance of being selected. Simple random sampling is suitable to use in this research where the researcher will choose randomly the respondents that will answer the questionnaire. The researcher will search for international tourist and approach them to be one of the respondents. Subjects in the population are sampled by a random process, using either a random number generator or a random number table so that each person remaining in the population has the same probability of being selected for the sample.

3.2.5 Sample size Sample size is determined from the population of tourist arrival. The sample size for this research is 800. The reason for this selection of sample size is that it would ensure a large enough sample even with a poor response rate. The sample size was determined from the population at the four states which is the location of this research. This amount of sample size can represent the whole population. Although the research will be conducted in four months time, there is also a chance that poor response from the respondents. Ticehurst and Veal (1999) stated that dispute the argument that the size of a sample should bear some relationship to the overall size of the study population, such as the sample being 10% or 20% of the population.

3.3 Research Instrument
The instruments were developed by the researchers from the literature review of previous studies. Instruments in a research study are a device used to measure the concept of interest in a research concept. An ideal measuring instrument is one which results in measures that are relevant, accurate, objective, sensitive and efficient. This research, questionnaire will be use to obtain data.

3.3.1 Questionnaire Questionnaire is use in this research to collect data and also investigate the behavior of international tourist on their food consumption. Questionnaire is a pre-formulated, written set of questions to which the respondent records their answers. The questionnaire was divided into four sections. (Refer to Appendix 1). The first section is Section A. Section A consisted of respondent’s demographic variables such as gender, nationality, age and the employment. The second is section B which is the preference of food that the tourist chooses while traveling. Section C consist a statement on the interest and attitude of tourist towards the food while on traveling and the last section is section D where the it will cover on the consumption of local food by the tourist. Open-ended question and close-ended is use in the questionnaire. Likert scale is use mostly in the questionnaire. According to Zikmund (2003), Likert scale is use because it is easier to understand by the respondents and one of the convenient ways to scale their answer.

3.4 Data processing and analysis
Once the data collections have been gather, the data will be process and analyze through a computer software system which is the Statistical Packages for the Social Science (SPSS). SPSS is a comprehensive system for analyzing data and one most popular statistical package which can perform highly complex data manipulation and analysis with simple instruction. For this research, the primary data will be processed using the SPSS system with descriptive measure. This is to give a clear data analysis for the behavior of food consumption by the tourist. The set of questionnaire will be check for the validity. After that, tabulation of data will be done. The researcher will use SPSS system throughout this research. Besides that, Pearson’s correlation is used for data analysis. Correlation is a technique for investigating the relationship between two quantitative and continuous variables. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) is a measure of the strength of the association between the two variables.

3.5 Conclusion For the conclusion, this chapter involves on the process to find the data using tools and instrument that involves. It is also a systematic ways on solving the research problem. For this research, implementing instruments and tools involves a set of process in order to investigate the behavior of the tourist on the consumption of food while traveling.

REFERENCES

Artinah Zainal, Nizan Zali & Nizam Kassim. (2010). Malaysian Gastronomy Routes as a Tourist Destination. Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Universiti Teknologi MARA. Retrieved on 30 March 2013 from http://www.jthca.org/Download/pdf/V2%20IS1/chap%202.pdf
Blichfeldt, B.S., & Therkelsen, A. (2010). Food and Tourism: Michelin, Moussaka and McDonald’s. Tourism Research Unit, Aalborg University. Retrieved on 30 March 2013 from http://vbn.aau.dk/files/42439241/TRU_progress_8.pdf
Chang, R.C.Y., Kivela, J., & Mak, A.H.N. (2010). Food Preferences of Chinese Tourists. Annals of Tourism Research. 37(4). 989-1011. Retrieved on March 2013 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016073831000040X
Chang, R.C.Y., & Mak, A.H.N. (n.d). Attrributes that Influence the Evaluation of Travel Dining Experience: When East meets West. Retrieved on 25 March 2013 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517710000439
Guzman, T.L., & Canizares., S.S. (2011). Gastronomy, Tourism and Destination Differentiation: A case study in Span. Retrieved on 30 March 2013 from http://www.bapress.ca/Journal-6/Gastronomy,%20Tourism%20and%20Destination%20Differentiation--A%20Case%20Study%20in%20Spain.pdf
Guzman, T. L., & Canizares., S.S. ( 2012). Culinary tourism in Cordoba, Spain. British Food Journal. 114(2). pp 168-179. Retrieved on 25 March 2013 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17014451
Hall, C.M., & Sharples, L. (2003). The consumption of experiences or the experience of consumption? An introduction to the tourism of taste. Food Around Tourism. pp 1-15. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hall, C.M., Sharples, L., & Smith, A. (2003). The experience of consumption or the consumption of experiences? Challenges and issues in food tourism. Food Tourism Around the World. pp 315-331. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hairi Jalis, Salehuddin Zahari, Muhammad Izzat, & Zulhan Othman. (2009). Western Tourists Perception of Malaysian Gastronomic Products. Asian Social Science. 5(1). pp 25-36. Retrieved on 1 April 2013 from http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/view/499/0
Henderson, J.C. (2009). Food tourism reviewed. British Food Journal. 111(4). Pp 317-325. Retrieved on 25 March 2013 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1784781&show=html
Jennings, G. (2001). Tourism Research. John Wiley & Sons Australia. Pp 147-148
Kim, Y.G., Eves, A., & Scarles, C. (n.d). Motivations regarding local food and beverages in tourism. Retrieved on 26 March 2013 from http://pc.parnu.ee/~htooman/EuroChrie/Welcome%20to%20EuroCHRIE%20Dubai%202008/papers/MOTIVATIONS%20REGARDING%20LOCAL%20FOOD%20AND%20BEVERAGES%20IN%20TOURISM.pdf
Mak, A.H.N., Lumbers, M., & Eves, A. (n.d). Globalisation and Food Consumption in Tourism. Retrieved on 1 April 2013 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738311000946
Mak, A.H.N., Lumbers, M., Eves, A., & Chang. R.C.Y. (2012). Factors influencing tourist food consumption. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 31. pp 928-926. Retrieved on 26 March 2013 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431911001757
Mitchell, R., & Hall, C.M. (2003). Consuming tourists: food tourism consumer behavior. Food Around The World. Pp60-88. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Sanda, R. (2010). Food in the function of rural development in the context of tourism industry. Schools of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo. Retrieved on 25 March 2013 from http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/79299815/food-function-rural-development-context-tourism-industry
Selwood, J. (2003). The lure of food: food as an attraction in destination marketing in Manitoba, Canada. Food Around The World. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Shenoy, S.S. (2005). Food Tourism and The Culinary Tourist (Doctoral dissertation, Clemson University, 2005). Retrieved on 30 March 2013 from http://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/tourism/documents/Shenoy2005.pdf
Sims, R. (2009). Food, place and authenticity: local food and the sustainable tourism experience. Journals of Sustainable Tourism. 17(3). 321-336. Retrieved on 3 April 2013 from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669580802359293
Tourism New Zealand. (2000) Markets and Stats. Retrieved on 26 May 2013 from http://www.tourismnewzealand.com/markets-and-stats/
Wan Hassan, M., & Hall, C.M. (n.d). The demand for halal food among Muslim travellers in New Zealand. Food Around The World. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

APPENDIX A - QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear respondent,
We are conducting this survey as part of our research paper (GHZZ 3073 Research Paper)’s requirement. We would like to know the consumption of food by tourist while traveling/holidaying and the behavior towards local food of a destination. Your answers and comments could help to understand the pattern of food consumption by tourist. We are grateful if you could be one of the respondents for this study. It will take you approximately 10 minutes. The information that you provide will be handled under absolute confidentiality.
We thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.
SECTION A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Please fill in the questions below. 1. Your Gender Male Female

2. Age : _____________

3. Nationality : ___________________

4. Race : ________________

5. Employment status:
Full-time Part-time Students
Retired Homemaker Unemployed
Others: _________

6. Holiday with:

Spouse Family Friends
Partner Alone Others: _____________
SECTION B: PREFERENCE OF FOOD WHEN YOU TRAVEL What is your food preference when you are traveling? Each of the indicators indicates your choice of food. From the scale of 1= “NEVER” to the 5= “ALWAYS”, please CIRCLE your answer once. | Never | Rarely | Sometimes | Frequently | Always | Prepare food at a place I am visiting | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Visit your country style restaurant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat at a place serving food that I am familiar | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat at food festivals | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat besides roadside stalls | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine at a fast food outlet (McDonald, KFC) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine at a theme restaurant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine at high-quality restaurant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Visit a food processing facility | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Buy familiar pre-cooked food from supermarket | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat at places that are allowed in my belief/religious | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Visit unique restaurant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Go to a restaurant that only serve international food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat with ingredients that have in my country | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat with my trip companion | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine at restaurants that have many people from my country | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine at restaurant that have mix nationality | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat at a place that are suggested by local residents | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat at place that have many people | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Buy food for take away | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eat at places that have good environment | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Go to a restaurant that have many choices of food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine in restaurant that have different culture | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Visit places that have exotic food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Observe the cooking demonstration | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | SECTION C: YOUR INTERESTS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD FOOD WHILE TRAVELING

The following statement is about your interest and attitude on food while traveling. Each of the indicators indicates your choice. From the scale of 1= “STRONGLY DISAGREE” to the 5= “STRONGLY AGREE”, please CIRCLE your answer once. | Strongly Disangree | Disagree | Not sure | Agree | StronglyAgree | I like to try local beverages | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I like exotic food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I like to eat familiar food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I will try the unusual food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I like to know what other people from other country eat | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I eat almost everything | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I like to eat local food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I want to know the ingredient of the food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I like to see the preparation of food in front of me | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I like to know the culture of the food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | I don’t like to eat food that I am not sure | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I just take a sample of local food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I don’t trust the new food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I don’t want to try if my trip companion don’t want to try | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I always ask my trip companion about food that I want to eat | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I don’t like to try if there is weird ingredients in the food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I won’t eat food that are opposite from my belief. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I don’t like to try food that doesn’t have at my country | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I always curious about food that I am not familiar. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | I don’t want to try food that are not my taste | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

SECTION D: LOCAL FOOD AT THE DESTINATION
SECTION D: LOCAL FOOD AT THE DESTINATION

How do you perceive local food at the destination you traveling? Each of the indicators indicates your choice. From the scale of 1= “NEVER” to the 5= “ALWAYS”, please CIRCLE your answer once. | Never | Rarely | Sometimes | Frequently | Always | Visit local restaurant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Visit local market | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Consume local food at night market | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Purchase local food to take back home | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Eats at restaurant where locals eats | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Sample local food | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Consume local food and beverages | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Buy cookbooks at the destination | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine at places where it serves local and other dishes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Dine at restaurant that only serves local food. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Please drop some comments or suggestions.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your participation.
APPENDIX B- GANTT CHART ACTIVITY | WEEKS | | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Chapter 1: Introduction | | | | | | | | | | | | | Selection of topic | | | | | | | | | | | | | Introduction | | | | | | | | | | | | | Statement of the problem and justification | | | | | | | | | | | | | Research question or hypothesis | | | | | | | | | | | | | Research objective | | | | | | | | | | | | | Definition of terms | | | | | | | | | | | | | Scope and delimitation | | | | | | | | | | | | | Significance of study | | | | | | | | | | | | | Chapter 2: Literature Review | | | | | | | | | | | | | Significance of literature | | | | | | | | | | | | | Review related theories | | | | | | | | | | | | | Review related researchers | | | | | | | | | | | | | Conceptual framework | | | | | | | | | | | | | Chapter 3: Methodology | | | | | | | | | | | | | Research approach/design | | | | | | | | | | | | | Data collection & procedure | | | | | | | | | | | | | Population & Sampling | | | | | | | | | | | | | Instrumentation | | | | | | | | | | | | | Data processing & analysis | | | | | | | | | | | | | Final draft | | | | | | | | | | | | | Submit report | | | | | | | | | | | | |