New Research Funding to Develop ‘Tastewalk’ Methodology to Explore the Tastes of Place
The Institute of Place Management is delighted to share the news that Dr Chloe Steadman and Dr Alessandro Graciotti have been awarded research funding from the Academy of Marketing to develop an innovative ‘tastewalk’ methodology and toolkit designed to explore how food and drink shape people's perceptions and experiences of places.
This exciting project will involve conducting food and drink tours in Stockport and Cardiff, using these two distinctive locations as case studies to examine the relationship between food, placemaking and place branding. The research aims to create practical resources for academics and practitioners interested in understanding and promoting the sensory experiences that help define the identity of places.
Dr Chloe Steadman commented:
"Food and drink play a central role in how we experience, understand, and market places. However, although methods exist to capture the sights, sounds, and even smells of place, our research aims to more effectively access and understand the tastes of place".
The research team will present their findings at next year’s Academy of Marketing Conference in Manchester - a fitting location given the city’s own vibrant culinary scene.
The Institute of Place Management looks forward to sharing updates from this innovative project as it progresses. If you’re an academic or practitioner based in Stockport or Cardiff and have an interest in food and place, Chloe and Alessandro would love to hear from you. If you would like to get involved in this tasty project, please get in touch at ipm@mmu.ac.uk.
Congratulations to Dr Chloe Steadman and Dr Alessandro Graciotti - and thanks to the Academy of Marketing for supporting research that will contribute directly to advancing place management theory and practice.
You can connect with Dr Chloe Steadman on Linkedin via: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-steadman-321335292/
You can connect with Dr Alessandro Graciotti on Linkedin via: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandro-graciotti-880381175/]
Related research
In 2024, Dr Chloe Steadman (project lead) and Loretta Lipworth (researcher) conducted a project into methods for researching high street atmospheres, funded by a Manchester Metropolitan University Research Accelerator Grant. The project aimed to establish which methods are most effective for researching atmosphere– the feel of place– on the high street. The study involved conducting a scoping literature review about atmospheric methods and trialling six methods thought to be particularly valuable for researching atmospheres, through researcher fieldwork visits and two walking tours with 10 participants on a British high street. The methods tried out include: drawing/mapping, photography, poetry, sensory participation, smellwalk, and soundwalk. Read more here.
About the author
Formed in 2006, the Institute of Place Management is the international professional body that supports people committed to developing, managing and making places better.