The Power of Nostalgic Emotion: How Hong Kong Traditional Tong Sui Influences Generation Z’s Purchase Intentions

Jul 16, 2026

Research examines how Hong Kong traditional tong sui shapes Generation Z’s purchase intentions in culinary tourism. A quantitative questionnaire based on Creswell’s guidelines tests relationships among nostalgic emotion, food authenticity, FCV, and purchase intention using 7-point Likert scales. Results confirm all hypotheses: nostalgia is the strongest driver, and food authenticity and FCV mediate the nostalgia–purchase intention link indirectly. Findings support nostalgia-centered marketing to engage young consumers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: [https://www.emerald.com/insight/0007-070X.htm](https://www.emerald.com/insight/0007-070X.htm) The power of nostalgic emotion: how HongKong traditional tong sui influences generation Z’s purchase intentions Vicky Y. Chen and Pearl M.C. Lin School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The HongKong Polytechnic University, HongKong SAR, China Abstract Purpose – Of the studies covering culinary tourism and traditional culture, Generation Z remains an underexplored group despite being the primary consumers of future tourism. Research into young consumers’motivations is hoped to clarify, protect, and sustain Hong Kong Tong sui among this generation. As such, this study focuses on Generation Z to understand the types of novel experiences Tongsui can create for them, and it is worth exploring in depth the diet that young people are interested in from the perspective of traditional food. Design/methodology/approach–Based on Creswell’s guidelines for quantitative research, we investigated the relationships among multiple elements of HongKong Tong sui and Generation Z tourists. A corresponding questionnaire was designed to gather information for statistical analysis and contains five sections. The first part solicited basic respondent information. Sections 2–5 presented several key terms (nostalgic emotion, food authenticity, FCV, and purchase intention) to frame the questionnaire in terms of our hypotheses. Items were scored on 7-point Likert-type scales for ease of processing in SPSS 26 .0. Findings–All hypotheses were supported, with nostalgia having the most significant influence on Generation Z’s purchase intentions. Besides, young generations are willing to buy traditional food when exposed to the restaurants or enterprises have nostalgic elements and inspire nostalgia in consumer. Generation Z’s thoughts about food authenticity notably played a more significant role than FCV in terms of the nostalgia of traditional food. In addition, food authenticity and FCV were found to indirectly mediate the relationship between nostalgic emotion and purchase intention. Research limitations/implications – Examining these types of campaigns geared toward Generation Z tourists to advertise traditional food has enriched this tactic’s applicability. The approach also constructs a foundation to scrutinize the appeal of traditional dishes among young consumer groups to potentially strengthen such food’s influence. Practical implications – This study highlights the importance of leveraging nostalgia and understanding the emotional connection that Generation Z has with traditional cuisine. It suggests that enterprises can develop new products or revive traditional recipes that cater to the nostalgic preferences of Generation Z. Marketing innovations, such as using social media influencers, can also be employed to create awareness and generate interest in traditional f

Jul 16, 2026

Upload by Clementine