Food for Thought: An Empirical Analysis of the Efficacy of Gastrodiplomacy

Food has historically been used to communicate culture. Proponents of gastrodiplomacy have theorized that it can be used as a diplomatic tool to improve a nation's brand. This paper tested this theory through the utilization of a multilevel model to test what contributes to the empirical success of gastrodiplomacy. For the purposes of this paper, success will be defined through the lens of the Nation Brand Hexagon as coined in the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index. More specifically, success was defined as increases in food exports, inbound foreign direct investment, and/or inbound tourism. The following hypotheses were considered: (1) countries with a higher democracy level will enjoy greater success in gastrodiplomacy; (2) as the duration of a gastrodiplomacy program increases, it will see greater success; and (3) the more restaurants a country funds or endorses abroad, the greater its gastrodiplomatic success will be. The results indicate that different strategies in gastrodiplomacy have diverse effects on success. Most interestingly, however, are the findings related to democracy level and its negative relationship with food exports. This challenges a long-held assumption in the nation branding literature.