The Effect of the Restaurant Atmosphere on the Intention to Revisit: The Mediating Role of Food Neophobia

The main purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of food neophobia in the effect of restaurant atmosphere on the intention to revisit. With this purpose, the present study contributes to the literature by examining the mediator variable of food neophobia, in addition to the restaurant atmosphere and intention to revisit variables. In the study, data were collected from customers who visited five restaurants in the Kars city center and its districts, and structural equivalence modelling was used to analyze the data. According to the structural equivalence modeling path analysis, it was revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between customers' perception of restaurant atmosphere and their intention to revisit, and there is an opposite and significant relationship between food neophobia and the restaurant atmosphere perception. On the other hand, it was observed that there was an opposite and significant relationship between food neophobia and the intention to revisit. When food neophobia was added as a mediator variable in the effect of restaurant atmosphere perception, which is the main subject of the study, on the intention to revisit, this effect was also found to be significant.