A Grounded Theory of Authenticity and Quality Constructions for Ethnic Restaurants: Implications for Effective Marketing Strategies
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A grounded theory of authenticity and quality constructions for ethnic restaurants: implications for effective marketing strategies Eleni (Elena) Chatzopoulou Newcastle University Business School PhD Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2018 ii Declaration No portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for any other degree or qualification from this, or any other, University or institute of learning. (signature)…………………………………,(date)………………..... iii Acknowledgements During the PhD journey, there have been many people who supported me and believed in me. I wish to begin, though, with my beloved family: Giorgos Tetradis, Katerina Bendopoulou, Joyce Chatzopoulou and Markos Tetradis, who shared their endless love with me during the PhD years and they were always reminding me of how proud they were of me. Nor could I exclude my friends and relatives, whose messages and comforting words have accompanied me during this journey. Either in person or via Facebook, Viber and Skype they have been around during the good or bad times of the last years. Apart from my friends and family, my supervisors, Prof. Matthew Gorton and Dr Sharron Kuznesof, have been the cornerstone of the current thesis. They have heard my complaints, they have seen me disappointed and tired but thanks to their patience and support this research has been completed. Special thanks to the interview participants, the restaurant owners and the consumers, as without them this study wouldn’t be completed. They agreed to be interviewed even if they were busy, they shared their valuable experiences and some of them have been kind enough to treat me with food of their restaurants during our interview. Finally, I wish to thank all of my teachers as all of them have given me a piece of their knowledge to accompany me until today. iv v Table of Contents Declaration ...............................................................................................iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................iv Table of Contents.....................................................................................vi Abbreviations ........................................................................................... x Tables .......................................................................................................xi Figures .....................................................................................................xii Pictures ...................................................................................................xiii Abstract ..................................................................................................xiv Chapter 1 : Introduction .......................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 Authenticity, quality and Rationale for the Study .............................. 1 1.3 Objectives and Research Questions ................................................ 4 1.4 Overview of the research design ...................................................... 8 1.5 Research Approach and Theoretical Framework ........................... 11 1.5.1 Food as a Theoretical Perspective .......................................... 11 1.5.2 Marketing approach ................................................................. 12 1.5.2.1 Marketing and consumer values .................................................. 12 1.5.2.2 Marketing Communications ......................................................... 13 1.5.3 The theoretical framework of the research .............................. 14 1.6 Structure of the Thesis ................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 : Literature review .................................................................18 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 18 2.2 Theoretical Perspectives on Authenticity ........................................ 19 2.3 Food and Authenticity ..................................................................... 22 2.4 Quality Conventions Theory (QCT) ................................................ 24 2.5 Self-Identity and Social Identity ...................................................... 32 vi 2.6 Ethnic identity and food choice ....................................................... 35 2.7 Consumer culture theory (CCT) ...................................................... 38 2.8 The influence of word of mouth (WOM) and e-word of mouth (eWOM) .............................................................................................................. 40 2.9 Actor Network theory (ANT) ............................................................ 42 2.10 Defining a successful restaurant ................................................... 44 2.11 Summary ....................................................................................... 45 Chapter 3 : The Greek culinary culture ................................................. 47 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 47 3.2 Greek culinary culture ..................................................................... 47 3.3 Greek context .................................................................................. 52 3.4 Summary......................................................................................... 53 Chapter 4 : Methodology ....................................................................... 54 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 54 4.2 Justification for Qualitative research ............................................... 54 4.3 Interpretivism .................................................................................. 55 4.4 Grounded Theory ............................................................................ 56 4.4.1 Constructivist strategy .............................................................. 58 4.4.2 Clusters .................................................................................... 59 4.5 Semiotics and Symbolic Interactionism ........................................... 61 4.6 Choice of Data Collection, Sampling and Data Analysis Methods .. 63 4.7 Interview guides (In-depth and Cultural Interviewing) ..................... 71 4.8 Projective technique (Word association) ......................................... 76 4.9 Inductive reasoning ......................................................................... 79 4.10 Data analysis (coding stages and NVIVO) .................................... 79 4.11 Respondent validation .................................................................. 94 4.11.1 Constant comparison .............................................................. 94 vii 4.11.2 Event: presenting the findings to practitioners and consumers .......................................................................................................... 97 4.12 Ethical issues ............................................................................... 98 4.13 Summary ...................................................................................... 98 Chapter 5 : Restaurateurs’ understandings of authenticity ................99 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................. 99 5.2 Restaurateurs’ authenticity perceptions ...................................... 99 5.3 Factors influencing the construction of authenticity .................. 116 5.4 Summary .................................................................................. 125 Chapter 6 : Consumers’ constructions of authenticity, food choice and promotional methods ...........................................................................126 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................... 126 6.2 Consumers’ authenticity perceptions ........................................ 126 6.3 Factors influencing construction of authenticity ........................ 135 6.4 Summary .................................................................................. 142 Chapter 7 : A socially constructed network based on restaurateurs’ and consumers’ identities, authenticity perceptions and quality conventions: the intersection between the actors ............................143 7.1 Introduction ............................................................................... 143 7.2 Authenticity findings by applying the projective technique ........ 144 7.3 Quality Conventions .................................................................. 150 7.3.1 Quality conventions for ethnic restaurants .................................... 150 7.3.2 Intersection of authenticity and quality .......................................... 153 7.4 Social network of restaurant owners and consumers: their communication and the word of mouth ........................................... 167 7.4.1 Interessement ............................................................................... 178 7.5 Summary .................................................................................. 181 Chapter 8 : Discussion .........................................................................182