Eleventh International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Food has historically been used to communicate culture. Proponents of gastrodiplomacy theorize that this can be used as a diplomatic tool to improve the nation brand. This paper tested this theory empirically, and thus begins to fill a gap in the literature, through the utilization of a multilevel model to test what contributes to the empirical success of gastrodiplomacy. For the purposes of this paper, success is defined through the lens of the Nation Brand Hexagon as coined in the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index. The following hypotheses were considered: H1 countries with a higher democracy level will enjoy greater success in gastrodiplomacy; H2 as the duration of a gastrodiplomacy program increases, it will see greater success; H3 the more restaurants a country funds or endorses abroad, the greater its gastrodiplomatic success will be. For the purposes of this study, gastrodiplomacy success was defined as increases in food exports, inbound foreign direct investment, and/or inbound tourism. Food exports was found to have a positive relationship with time, and a negative relationship with democracy level. Restaurants was found to have a positive trend in the food export model. None of the variables were found to have a significant effect on inbound foreign direct investment. Inbound tourism was only affected by time. These results indicate that different strategies in gastrodiplomacy have diverse effects on success. More interestingly, however, are the findings related to democracy level – its negative relationship with food exports. This challenges a long-held assumption in the nation branding literature.