In their evaluation of the measurement of expectations, Dickson and Hall (2006) propose two alternative approaches: first, conducted before the experience and second, after/post the experience (i.e. retrospective recall). In aggregate, more studies have relied on retrospective recall than have measured expectations at the time of their formulation. Under the retrospective recall approach, the timing for assessing the expectations is undertaken after the experience is over (Dickson & Hall, 2006), assuming that participants are still capable of recalling accurately and report their expectations even after a considerable time has passed. However, such an approach has the subject of critique on the basis of validity since people’s ability to recall events, feelings, time periods, expectations, or preferences, are deficient or even sometime exaggerative (Noe & Uysal, 1997).
Considering the limitations of retrospectivity that were discussed previously, the present framework proposes that the measurement of visitor dining expectations is conducted prior to actual visitor encounters with local food consumption in the destination. On this basis, visitors should be probed shortly after their arrival at the destination, though prior to dining with local food. This process is crucial for ensuring that visitor responses about their dining expectations with local food are free of bias from their perceptions of the actual dining activity.