Instagram Heightens Food Experience
We already know that Instagram food tastes better than the food that you have not posted. But do you know that each time you post photos of food on your Instagram, it actually heightens your satisfaction to the food that you ordered or cooked? The Instagrammer usually drives engagement to his followers and even non-followers who would search such hashtag. When you see the Instagram photo, you suddenly feel prey to the food and salivate.
It's true, the Journal of Consumer Marketing published a study where the researchers found out that when diners who take a moment to photograph their meal before eating increases attitudes and taste evaluations of the experience when consumption actually takes place. Interestingly, customers who took photos of food they perceived to be healthier before eating them rated those foods higher than consumers who didn't take a photo.
Gone were the days that we say grace before meals. In the advent of social media, our meal ritual has changed to Instagramming our food before we start eating. This IG phenomenon is not bad for the restaurant owners as shown in the IG food study from the University of Minnesota and Harvard Business School. The researchers found out that "rituals enhance the enjoyment of consumption because of the greater involvement in the experience."
There are fine dining restaurants that discourage the use of mobile phones on the table but this is actually not a good thing especially when your customers would want to photograph their ordered food and make them available real time on social media. Conservative experts are concerned with the proliferation of food imagery that can lead to the cultivation of unhealthy obsession with food, translating to weight gain. IG is a very powerful tool for social media marketing and it's free. Restaurant companies should allow their consumers to have their smartphones and gadgets with them so that they can easily market and promote the restaurant food at their fingertips!
As for the person who posts the food on Instagram, there is that kind of satisfaction that he was able to choose delicious, inviting food and share it with other IG users to see and try.
