o:35563 GASTRONOMY TOURISM AND THE PERCEIVED IMAGE OF SERBIAN NATIONAL CUISINE STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING OF THE MAIN DETERMINANTS en Abstract Positioning and differentiation of Serbian cuisine among other ethnic cuisines can be the means to include Serbian gastronomy in heritage and cultural tourism. This paper’s significance lies in its comparative analysis, specifically examining the impacts of taste and quality of food, food service quality, and the authenticity of national food. The goal is to identify the primary factors influencing the perceived image of Serbian national cuisine, ultimately leading to the successful development of gastronomic offerings. The research was conducted on a sample of 217 respondents. Data were collected using the survey method. Respondents expressed their level of agreement with questionnaire items on a seven-point Likert scale. Reliability, validity, and model fit were assessed in the data analysis. A structural equation modeling was used to test causal relations between the latent variables. The research results emphasize the taste and quality of food as the main driver of the perceived image of national cuisine. Keywords: taste and quality of food, authenticity of national food, food service quality, perceived image, structural equation modeling 1552099 10.59267/ekoPolj2401225C 1552101 0352-3462 2025-01-14T11:50:56.446Z 44 no 46 Biljana Chroneos Krasavac Univerzitet u Beogradu Ekonomski fakultet 0000-0002-1486-4825 Veljko Marinković Univerzitet u Beogradu Ekonomski fakultet person 0000-0003-4749-7053 Jasna Soldić-Aleksić Univerzitet u Beogradu Ekonomski fakultet person 0000-0001-7641-3862 Ema Karamata Aćimović person 0000-0002-3301-1094 application/pdf 444868 https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:35563 no yes 19 70 92000001 11A03 Economics of agriculture 71 1 225 237 Beograd The Institute of Agricultural Economics 2024