Cultural Food Values and the Interpretation of Airport Lounge Food: A Qualitative Study of International Business Travelers
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This study examines how cultural food values shape the interpretation of airport lounge food among international business travelers. Prior research on airport lounges has largely emphasized functional service quality attributes, with limited attention to the culturally embedded meanings through which travelers interpret food in globally mobile and time-constrained contexts. Addressing this gap, the study adopts a qualitative, interpretive approach based on 30 in-depth interviews with international business travelers from diverse cultural backgrounds, with travel experiences across major global aviation hubs, including Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, London, and Frankfurt. The findings show that food functions not merely as a functional amenity but as a culturally embedded, symbolic, and heuristic service cue. Food enables travelers to anchor familiarity and emotional stability in liminal travel environments, infer service quality and organizational competence, and support professional readiness prior to business engagements. In addition, food-related cues communicate inclusion or exclusion through cultural congruence, transparency, and dietary recognition. The findings further suggest that, in the post-pandemic context, food also conveys meanings related to hygiene, safety, and trust. By foregrounding food as a meaning-laden component of premium service environments, the study refines existing perspectives in international business, consumer culture, and service management by demonstrating how interpretation processes are shaped under conditions of global mobility and time pressure. The study provides empirically grounded insights for designing more culturally responsive airport lounge experiences.
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1) บทความนี้เป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของสถาบันวิจัยสังคม จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย แต่ความคิดเห็นและเนื้อหาเป็นของผู้แต่ง
2) ทัศนะและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความในวารสารวิจัยสังคมและปริทัศน์ สถาบันวิจัยสังคม จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย ถือเป็นความรับผิดชอบของผู้แต่งบทความนั้น และไม่ถือเป็นทัศนะและความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการวารสารวิจัยสังคมและปริทัศน์ สถาบันวิจัยสังคม จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย กองบรรณาธิการไม่สงวนสิทธิ์ในการคัดลอก แต่ให้ระบุถึงการอ้างอิง
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