Who is an evangelist? Food tourists’ positive and negative eWOM behavior

Purpose This study aims to examine food tourists’ engagement in positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) by considering the following questions: Do satisfied customers engage in advocacy, and do dissatisfied customers make the same effort to spread their negative experiences? Which restaurant experience attributes influence eWOM behavior? What demographic and psychographic characteristics contribute to advocacy? Design/methodology/approach Using data from an online survey of 456 consumers with restaurant experience in the tourism context, this study applied simultaneous Tobit estimation to examine the research hypotheses. Findings Engagement in negative eWOM because of poor experiences was stronger than engagement in positive eWOM because of positive experiences. Food taste was a critical attribute for both positive and negative eWOM. Authenticity was influential for positive eWOM only, and value was influential for negative eWOM only. Atmosphere, service and location were found to be insignificant, indicating that they are ‘indifferent’ factors for eWOM in the food tourism context. Female customers were more active in negative advocacy, while Generation Y customers were more active in positive advocacy. Food involvement was significantly related to both positive and negative eWOM. Research limitations/implications The results of this study provide useful marketing and service insights for restaurant managers in the digitally connected world, enabling them to formulate services based on factors critical for restaurant eWOM in the tourism context. Originality/value To fill a gap in the current literature in the era of digital marketing, this study takes a comprehensive yet industry-specific perspective on eWOM engagement by examining demographic factors and the food involvement of consumers as well as restaurant experience attributes. By investigating both positive and negative eWOM, this study presents meaningful practical and theoretical implications.

Food for thought: Consumers' responses to superfood presentation in the digital age

<p>The purpose of this study is to understand how consumers respond to visual cues in the digital presentation of superfoods and how this may influence consumption choices and behaviour. By gaining a deeper understanding of responses to visual cues, insights will be generated into superfood and food presentation, allowing the importance of healthy food presentation to be further understood. This understanding is especially important given the concern over health issues such as obesity in the developed world. Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews using photo elicitation (with a total of 40 participant images and four researcher-provided images) were conducted and analysed via theoretical thematic analysis. The study found the superfood movement has been fuelled by the digital space, and accepted and embraced by contemporary consumers with high food involvement. These consumers place importance on the non-materialistic aspects of superfood consumption, emphasising the hedonic experience and symbolic value. Visual cues, such as bright, vibrant colours, white plateware and natural crockery, ingredients, interesting and colourful garnishing and a background story, all influence a food image to be perceived as more attractive. The study suggests that the exposure to countless glamourised digital images may be changing contemporary consumers’ food relationships, perceptions, expectations and how we interact with food. Such findings add to theory by identifying responses to the superfood movement, exploring the context of the digital landscape, and highlighting the relationship between superfoods, digital images and utilitarian, symbolic and hedonic consumption. This study suggests to policy makers the need for more regulation online and to focus on the non-materialistic elements and nutritional elements when encouraging healthy consumption. For brands and influencers in the food industry, more emphasis should be placed on the non-materialistic elements of consumption, while still including utilitarian elements such as food’s nutritional value.</p>

Food for thought: Consumers' responses to superfood presentation in the digital age

<p>The purpose of this study is to understand how consumers respond to visual cues in the digital presentation of superfoods and how this may influence consumption choices and behaviour. By gaining a deeper understanding of responses to visual cues, insights will be generated into superfood and food presentation, allowing the importance of healthy food presentation to be further understood. This understanding is especially important given the concern over health issues such as obesity in the developed world. Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews using photo elicitation (with a total of 40 participant images and four researcher-provided images) were conducted and analysed via theoretical thematic analysis. The study found the superfood movement has been fuelled by the digital space, and accepted and embraced by contemporary consumers with high food involvement. These consumers place importance on the non-materialistic aspects of superfood consumption, emphasising the hedonic experience and symbolic value. Visual cues, such as bright, vibrant colours, white plateware and natural crockery, ingredients, interesting and colourful garnishing and a background story, all influence a food image to be perceived as more attractive. The study suggests that the exposure to countless glamourised digital images may be changing contemporary consumers’ food relationships, perceptions, expectations and how we interact with food. Such findings add to theory by identifying responses to the superfood movement, exploring the context of the digital landscape, and highlighting the relationship between superfoods, digital images and utilitarian, symbolic and hedonic consumption. This study suggests to policy makers the need for more regulation online and to focus on the non-materialistic elements and nutritional elements when encouraging healthy consumption. For brands and influencers in the food industry, more emphasis should be placed on the non-materialistic elements of consumption, while still including utilitarian elements such as food’s nutritional value.</p>

The genetics of eating behaviors: research in the age of COVID-19

How much pleasure we take in eating is more than just how much we enjoy the taste of food. Food involvement - the amount of time we spend on food beyond the immediate act of eating and tasting - is key to the human food experience. We took a biological approach to test whether food-related behaviors, together capturing food involvement, have genetic components and are partly due to inherited variation. We collected data via an internet survey from a genetically informative sample of 419 adult twins (114 monozygotic twin pairs, 31 dizygotic twin pairs, and 129 singletons). Because we conducted this research during the pandemic, we also ascertained how many participants had experienced COVID-19-associated loss of taste and smell. Since these respondents had previously participated in research in person, we measured their level of engagement to evaluate the quality of their online responses. Additive genetics explained 16-44% of the variation in some measures of food involvement, most prominently various aspects of cooking, suggesting some features of the human food experience may be inborn. Other features reflected shared (early) environment, captured by respondents' twin status. About 6% of participants had a history of COVID-19 infection, many with transitory taste and smell loss, but all but one had recovered before the survey. Overall, these results suggest that people may have inborn as well as learned variations in their involvement with food. We also learned to adapt to research during a pandemic by considering COVID-19 status and measuring engagement in online studies of human eating behavior.

Child Involvement in Meal Preparation and Grocery Shopping is Associated with Lower Levels of Food Fussiness Among Young Children

This study examined associations between child food involvement and food fussiness. Analyses used survey data from 62 children ages 1.5 to 5.9 years who participated in the Guelph Family Health Study Pilot. Overall involvement (β = -0.51, p = 0.02), involvement in meal preparation (β = -0.42, p = 0.009), and involvement in grocery shopping (β = -0.29, p = 0.04) were inversely associated with food fussiness. Experimental research including larger, more diverse samples is needed to test whether food involvement reduces food fussiness among young children. Novelty: • Our study identified significant, inverse associations between child food involvement and food fussiness

The impact of digital image-based features on users' emotions and online behaviours in the food industry

PurposeOnline images can convey sensory-based elements affecting digital users' emotions and digital engagement. The purpose of this study is to investigate which image-based features are more effective in conveying and stimulating particular emotions and engagement towards organizations operating in the food industry.Design/methodology/approachAn online experimental survey was implemented. Two image-based features, narrativity and dynamism were chosen. The stimuli comprise four images, one with high and one with low level of narrativity, and one with high and one with low dynamism, published by a food company on its official Instagram account. Food-identity, emotional appeals and digital visual engagement behaviours were measured. A total of 141 students between 19 and 25 years old of a European University completed the questionnaire. Data was analysed through SPSS software using t-test analysis.FindingsResults show that both narrativity and dynamism impact digital users' emotions and it was found to impact digital visual engagement attitude. Food involvement was measured in terms of food identity impact the effects of specific image-based features on emotions and visual engagement.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on only two visual social semiotics features – narrativity and dynamism – and therefore, only partially captures the potentialities of images in digital communications.Practical implicationsThis study provides professionals with empirical evidence and insights for effectively planning a visual social media strategy.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the stream of research in social media communications by investigating the visual social semiotic features of images published online by a food company.