Examining traditional restaurant diners’ intention: An application of the VBN theory

•Employing an extended VBN theory, this study examined local consumers’ dining intention at a traditional restaurant.•This study provides a crucial sequential process of individuals' value orientation for traditional dining behavior.•This study found both direct and indirect effects of social norms on behavioral intention through personal norms.•This study also found that gender and age play partly as a moderator. Prior research has demonstrated the significance of traditional food in the marketplace. However, there is a lack of studies that elucidate the consumer behavior of traditional restaurant patrons, particularly local residents. By utilizing the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory, the current study develops a consumer behavior model to enhance our understanding of the effect of consumers’ attitudes toward traditional restaurants. To this end, the study examines the structural relationships among traditional values, beliefs, social norms, personal norms, and purchase intention. The results show that individuals’ value of cherishing traditional culture has a significant effect on their purchase intention through beliefs and norms. In addition, we find that age and gender serve as partial moderators. The results of this study provide traditional restaurateurs with insights for developing effective marketing strategies to attract and retain local customers.