A neuroscience perspective on the use of food image databases in food services and tourism studies: a systematic review
Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, ss.1-13, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1108/whatt-12-2025-0319
- Dergi Adı: Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, ABI/INFORM, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, Hospitality & Tourism Index
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-13
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Food image database, Food services, Neurogastronomy, Neuroscience, Neurotourism, Systematic review
- İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Purpose – The aim of this systematic review is to report food image databases and their properties and to exemplify the use of these databases in neuroscience studies in the fields of food services and tourism. Design/methodology/approach – The keywords “food image” and “database” were searched in Web of Science and Scopus. (1) Publications were included in this research if they were published between 2010 and 2025, (2) written in English and (3) in the form of articles. Selected scientific studies about the use of these databases in neurotourism and neurogastronomy were presented. Findings – A total of 12 databases were accessed, and 5 of the databases are multiethnic, 3 of them contain more than 1, 000 images and 8 of them have an access link shared in the article. These databases have generally been used in studies examining the effects of the restaurant environment (sound, odor, etc.), presentation style (complexity, etc.) and the characteristics of the food (color, degree of processing, etc.) on consumer perception and preferences. Research limitations/implications – In this systematic review, databases published before 2010 and food image datasets are not included. In future systematic reviews, the properties of previous databases or datasets and their usage areas in this field can be examined. Practical implications – Food image databases should be used to obtain more standardized, reproducible and comparable findings in future research. Originality/value – This study is the first to report the use of food image databases in neuroscience studies in food services and tourism to the best of our knowledge.