Affective hospitality and local gastronomy: viral authenticity in small tourism businesses
Keywords:
hospitality, emotional contagion, gastronomic tourism, authenticity, digital mediaAbstract
Digital media has become a powerful catalyst for increasing the visibility of tourist experiences, particularly in small-scale gastronomic businesses outside consolidated tourism circuits. This study aims to analyze how emotional contagion processes, mediated by authentic and spontaneous digital content, influence the construction of affective hospitality, visitor engagement, and symbolic recognition in local gastronomy. Grounded in the Theory of Emotional Contagion and articulated with studies on affective marketing, authenticity, hospitality, and virality, this qualitative and descriptive research adopts a single case study of Recanto Grünenberg, in Benedito Novo, Santa Catarina, Brazil, whose visibility expanded after a video featuring its hostess exceeded three million views. The methodology triangulated interviews with the managers, comments on viral Instagram video, Google Business reviews, and social media metrics. The findings show that the hostess’s affective gestures, expressed through spontaneity, humor, proximity, and welcoming gestures, operates as digitally mediated hospitality, anticipating and extending the in-person experience. The study argues that emotions anchored in authenticity and local narratives become symbolic assets capable of strengthening bonds between hosts, visitors, and territories. Theoretically, the article expands the application of Emotional Contagion Theory in hospitality and tourism studies by proposing the “affective character” as a strategic resource.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mônica Tatiana Bunese Busarello, Paula Carolina Ferretti, Fabiana Roeder, Ana Paula Sohn
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