Exploring the inhibitors and triggers of social media users’ motivation for food photo sharing

Abstract

In the current Internet era, Internet users can obtain and share information in various ways. Sharing photos with friends and other Internet users is one of the popular ways. Particularly, food photos occupy a large portion, and the activity of food content significantly influences social media and the restaurant industry. This study explains why people participate in online food photo-sharing communities by constructing an integrative model of online behavioral motivation. The study focuses on users of social media users in Beijing who use the platform to share food photos. A total of 320 questionnaires were distributed, of which 309 were collected as valid. Results show that personal and social intimacy concerns hinder users’ willingness to share food photos, whereas enjoyment, commitment and reputation-building positively trigger food photo sharing to a certain extent. The results provide practical suggestions for social media operators and relevant practitioners in the restaurant industry and references for them to adjust their strategies and launch relevant products in today’s fierce market competition.

Keywords:

• Social media
• inhibitors
• triggers
• motivational factors
• food photo sharing

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Pier Luigi Sacco
• Humanities
• IULM University
• Milano
• Italy

SUBJECTS:

• Psychological Science
• Information Technology
• Hospitality
• Tourism

1. Introduction

With the development of technology and the Internet, social media has changed the way the public works, lives and interacts with the increasing popularity of smartphones. The concept of social media now includes forms, such as social networking, video- and photo-sharing, blog and forum sites (Abell & Biswas, 2023; Kross et al., 2021). According to the 2023 Global Digital Report, the world has currently 5.16 billion Internet users and 4.76 billion social media users, representing 59.4% of the world’s total population (We Are Social, 2023). Approximately, 99% of these users use social media via mobile devices. Accordingly, in modern life, people often share their photos on social platforms daily to express their current mood or share their experiences with other users on the platform. Among the various types of photo-sharing behavior, many users like to share their eating experiences by posting photos of food and rating it and their eating experience. Unlike general photo-sharing, most users focus on food photo content because everyone consumes food regularly and can therefore relate to it. Additionally, food photos are an important type of content shared on social media. Many users will generate stickiness to the platform through the food photos they share (Melore, 2021). For example, Xiaohongshu, one of the largest social media sharing platforms in China, generates billions of views of food-related content, and many self-publishing media users continue to update food-related photos vertically. This phenomenon also reflects social media users’ attention to food information, and the viewing of food content may ultimately influence their desire to consume and share food (Hawkins et al., 2021).

The academic literature has paid little attention to users’ motivations for taking and sharing food photos on social platforms. Previous research on food photo sharing focuses on exploring the factors that motivate users to share food content on social media (Kim & Hwang, 2022; Mazzucchelli et al., 2021). However, research on how these inhibitors and triggers work together and affect social media users’ food-sharing behavior is scarce. Accordingly, this research focuses on food photo-sharing behavior on social media, a phenomenon that is significant to relevant personnel in the restaurant industry. Food photos shared by consumers can be used as a tool for free marketing and spreading positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), increasing product popularity. Sun et al. (2014) pointed out ‘lurkers’ who rarely share content in Internet communities and categorized four reasons that prevent them from sharing on social media platforms: environmental concerns, relationship concerns, personal concerns and security and privacy concerns (Nonnecke et al., 2004).

According to Lin and Chu (2021) research, social intimacy in relationship factors significantly influences users’ sharing behavior in online communities. Therefore, in this study, relationship concerns are extended to social intimacy concerns. Nov et al. (2009) extended the framework of motivation theory and focused on four stimuli that influence the motivation to participate in social media: enjoyment, commitment, self-development and reputation building. Based on the above, this research conducted empirical investigations on food photo-sharing behaviors that affect social platforms. The research objectives are to explore the main factors that inhibit social platform users to share food photos and (b) to explore the main factors that trigger social platform users to share food photos.

2. Literature review

2.1. Food photo sharing on social media

Social media is an online medium that allows its users to participate, share and create content easily, including blogs, social networks, wikis, forums and virtual worlds (Achmad, 2021). With the development of the Internet and the proliferation of smart devices, social media has created a space where participants can show their lives to other users on this platform. For consumers and businesses, these social media platforms have changed the way they communicate with each other (Yarchi et al., 2021). In 2023, Facebook remains at the top of the global social media rankings, with 2.958 billion monthly active users, followed by YouTube, attracting more than 2.5 billion users per month, and Instagram, reaching 2 billion monthly active users. WhatsApp also attracts 2 billion active users per day (We Are Social, 2023). In China, many social platforms, such as WeChat, have hundreds of millions of users. Social media users sharing their daily lives online has become an ongoing and growing phenomenon (Bessarab et al., 2021), which includes users sharing photos, particularly about food.

Compared with narratives through text content, users prefer to share visual content (Munar & Jacobsen, 2014), for example, the rise of ‘food photography.’ Food has always been the subject of art and photography, and with the rise of photo-centric social media platforms, food-related photography has become one of the mainstream content (Calefato et al., 2016). Consumers’ food photo-sharing behavior on social media has varying degrees of impact on social media platforms, social media influencers and the restaurant industry. Growing evidence shows that food photo sharing is an important tool for social media platforms to attract new users and retain existing ones (Liao et al., 2022). People increasingly pay attention to food as their quality of life improves (Blok et al., 2019). Furthermore, social media influencers can benefit financially from a consistently high number of follower counts, likes and comments to stay glued to the platform (Zollo et al., 2020).

In addition, food photo sharing also provides the restaurant industry with eWOM, an important factor in influencing customer behavior and developing marketing strategies (Lee et al., 2022). Based on the benefits that users’ food photo sharing brings to stakeholders, the number of marketers in the restaurant industry and on social media platforms that have started to pay attention to users’ food photo-sharing behavior is increasing. They believe that sharing such photos can be used as a tool for free marketing and spreading positive eWOM (Li et al., 2023). As a result, restaurants around the world have begun to encourage strongly the posting of food photos on various social media platforms. For example, certain restaurants have created highly identifiable usernames and tags on various platforms to increase their visibility in online communities. They have made changes to the products on their menus as a social platform to encourage young customers. This approach is an important strategy for sharing food photos on the Internet (Ledbetter, 2015).

However, from a social media-sharing perspective, consumers’ motivation to share food photos has received limited attention in the academic literature. Previous literature has focused on users’ selfie-sharing behavior (Ansari & Azhar, 2022; Felig & Goldenberg, 2023) and travel photo-sharing behavior (Lam et al., 2022; Taylor, 2020). Users’ food photo-sharing behaviors have been neglected in the literature. Such behavior is equally important for social media platforms and marketing strategies in the restaurant industry. Therefore, in this context, this study aims to contribute to the existing research on food photo sharing and identify the triggering and inhibiting factors of users who post or share food photos on social media, thus enriching the existing literature on food marketing.

2.2. Inhibitors affecting food photo sharing

According to Arthur (2006), most community members in social media are silent lurkers known to have a passive role in social media. Based on his famous ‘90-9-1’ principle, in social media, such as online communities or website platforms, 90% of participants only read content, 9% actively edit content and 1% actively read content to create new content. Although lurkers make up a large proportion of social platform users and significantly influence the development of the platform, researchers have only begun to pay attention to this phenomenon in recent years. Therefore, understanding the factors that inhibit users from participating and sharing online can help explain the reasons for avoiding photo-sharing and help formulate strategies to encourage posting in the future.

Previous research has identified many factors that inhibit online behavior, such as social intimacy concerns (Sun et al., 2014), environmental concerns (Fan et al., 2009), privacy and security concerns (Han et al., 2007), and personal concerns (Bateman et al., 2006). Based on these findings, the following content in this section explains each factor in detail and their influence on users’ sharing of food photos.

2.2.1. Social intimacy concerns

Social intimacy refers to high-quality interactions and relationships with others in social activities (Miller & Lefcourt, 1982). Muller (2012) investigated how intimacy in online social platforms affects the frequency of posting. The results show that emotional intimacy positively impacts the frequency of posting. Social media lurkers often do not consider themselves a member of social platforms because they lack the social intimacy of others on the platform (Nonnecke, 2000). Therefore, users’ social intimacy concerns will lead them to believe that sharing with other users who are not close to them is unnecessary, resulting in low participation and unwillingness to share.

In addition, the culture of social intimacy is one of the reasons affecting users’ reluctance to share. Li (2020) mentioned in his study on WeChat friend circles in China that intimacy with others is important in Chinese culture. Certain social media users interviewed stated that they lacked intimacy with other users on WeChat. To avoid this situation, these respondents are not willing to share photos. In the case of food photo sharing, when users share food photos on social media, viewers of these food photos may feel malicious envy (Jin, 2018), and interpersonal relationships in real life or with fans can be undermined (Maclean et al., 2022). These increasing concerns about social intimacy may have contributed to users’ reluctance to share food photos on social media. Based on the above discussion, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 1 (H1).

Social intimacy concerns negatively impact social platform users’ willingness to share food photos.

2.2.2. Environmental concerns

The social media environment refers to the user’s overall perception of the system, user experience, and usage environment when using social media platforms. It consists of three components: the usability of the system, the group identity of the online community and individual responsibility in the online environment (Tedjamulia et al., 2005). Xu et al. (2019) found that the Internet environment significantly impacts users’ sharing behavior on social platforms and a poor social environment negatively impacts users’ sharing behavior. Social media platforms have shortcomings. For example, the poor quality of food photo information, the unresponsiveness of the system, and the poor sense of user interaction experience are social environments may affect users’ intention to share and use (Al-Maroof et al., 2021; Busalim et al., 2021).

In the case of food photo sharing, users focus on timely feedback from the social media environment because they not only want to find additional information about food photos from the platforms but also want to communicate with publishers to gain real food reviews. Thus, creating a good social environment is crucial to users’ intention to share and use social media. A poor social environment can also lead to a lack of reciprocity, leading to reluctance to share. Users who rarely share are more sensitive to the reciprocity and feedback outcomes of social platforms than avid sharers (Fan et al., 2009), that is they are more in need of feedback from a good social media environment. Therefore, users’ social media environmental concerns may be an important factor influencing their food photo-sharing behavior. Based on the above discussion, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 2 (H2).

Environmental concerns negatively impact social platform users’ willingness to share food photos.

2.2.3. Security and privacy concerns

Metzger (2006) argued that online privacy and security concerns stem from the disclosure of personal information, which has become one of the requirements for access to social platforms. On social media, public personal information is an indispensable element before services are provided. If a user refuses to give the platform permission to access privately stored content, such as personal photo albums, then the user will not be able to share food photos on social platforms. Madden (2012) pointed out that the increased use of social media sites has raised user concerns about privacy. Individuals who are highly concerned about privacy are less likely to trust websites to manage their personal information, and certain users will gain access to user privacy by allowing them to control their permission to share information on social media platforms, such as Facebook (Kumar et al., 2022). Ortiz et al. (2018) also noted that the lack of protection for privacy and security is one of the most common reasons for refusing to share.

In the case of food photo sharing, social platforms provide access to photo albums if users are willing to share, which undoubtedly increases users’ privacy concerns. In addition, food photo sharing exposes users’ restaurant addresses and consumption levels. This information can be used by criminals to locate users via GPS, thus posing certain security risks (Arica et al., 2022). Therefore, users’ security and privacy concerns make them reluctant to engage in food photo sharing. Accordingly, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3 (H3).

Security and privacy concerns negatively impact social platform users’ willingness to share food photos.

2.2.4. Personal concerns

Personality differences between people limit users’ engagement and sharing behavior on social media (Goldring & Azab, 2021). Such personality differences include introversion (Zia & Malik, 2019), a lack of self-efficacy (Hoffmann & Lutz, 2021) and shyness (Appel & Gnambs, 2019). In Kim and Lee (2006) study, one consumer respondent admitted that she was reluctant to share on social media not because she ‘did not want to’ but because she ‘did not trust it.’ In food photo sharing, users may be shy about sharing because they are not good at taking photos, or they may lose motivation to share because they do not get the desired likes and comments after sharing. The combination of these factors becomes a disincentive for users to share food photos. Based on the above discussion, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 4 (H4).

Personal concerns negatively impact social platform users’ willingness to share food photos.

2.3. Triggers affecting food photo sharing

Triggers, such as stimuli, are critical determinants of behavior (Cerasoli et al., 2014). Previous studies have considered sharing motivation as the influence of various factors on sharing behavior (Bronner & De Hoog, 2011; Kang & Schuett, 2013; Yang, 2017). According to the literature review, this research is based on existing motivational theories in different fields to study users’ photo-sharing activities on social media platforms. The research of Nov et al. (2009) considers two intrinsic motivations, enjoyment for oneself and commitment to the community for others, and two external motivations, self-development and reputation building.

2.3.1. Enjoyment

Enjoyment refers to the positive subjective experience that results from the human–computer interaction (Zhang et al., 2012). In this study, enjoyment refers to the happy feeling that users experience from sharing on social platforms. Hsu and Lin (2008) asserted that the degree of enjoyment depends on the degree of participation of Internet users in social networks because the process of participation is enjoyable. Additionally, they proposed that enjoyment is a determinant of users’ willingness to participate in social networks. Previous research has shown that sharing food photos on social media satisfies users’ self-expression (Zhu et al., 2019) and that this self-expression can lead to intrinsic enjoyment (Berthon et al., 2008). Furthermore, Internet users have an inherent motivation to share information because solving other people’s problems is enjoyable, and most users are willing to help others (Gündüz, 2017). Such a positive experience is conducive to the healthy development of social platforms, and users who enjoy helping others may be inclined to share more (Lin, 2007). Based on the above discussion, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 5 (H5).

Enjoyment positively impacts social platform users’ willingness to share food photos.

2.3.2. Commitment

Network commitment refers to consumers’ emotional attachment and identification with a community of social network users (Apaolaza et al., 2021). Ma and Yuen (2011) pointed out that sharing is a way of building intimate relationships and can be seen as a form of social support and pro-social behavior. In the process of maintaining established relationships, users increase their willingness to interact with online communities. Commitment is an important factor influencing users’ content-sharing behavior on social media (Phua et al., 2017). Individuals with high levels of engagement tend to share considerable content, including photos. Overall, photo sharing has become a social tool that creates and solidifies connections between people (Liao et al., 2022). Therefore, to gain or maintain existing online interpersonal relationships, users need to share food photos on social platforms continuously to maintain engagement and ultimately socialize through food photos. Accordingly, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 6 (H6).

Commitment positively impacts social platform users’ willingness to share food photos.

2.3.3. Self-development

Self-development refers to the mastery of daily life through the continuous improvement of abilities and valuable skills (Bauer & McAdams, 2004). Xu and Li (2015) mentioned that self-development is an important factor that drives content creation and growth and promotes participation in community activities. In the case of food photo sharing, users need to try new cuisines and improve their photography skills to create and share meaningful food content to online communities for self-development purposes. Therefore, the more users seek self-development, the more likely they are to engage in food photo sharing on social media. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 7 (H7).

Self-development positively impacts social platform users’ willingness to share food photos.

2.3.4. Reputation building

In community environments where information is shared, reputation building is associated with gaining status in the community and increasing contributions (Lakhani & Wolf, 2005). Contributions involve interactions between users and shared content, including participating in conversations about shared content, sharing, liking and commenting (Cheung et al., 2020). Furthermore, in the social media era, people are willing to build a reputation on social media platforms by sharing relevant information that represents their identity to showcase themselves (Burnasheva & Suh, 2021). Therefore, food photo-sharing users are likely to gain the respect of others and build a personal photo and reputation in terms of their food photo expertise domain. Accordingly, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 8 (H8).

Reputation building positively impacts food photo sharing on social media platforms.

3. Research design

3.1. Research framework

Based on the above literature review and the motivation model, the inhibitors are divided into four types of factors, namely, social intimacy concerns, environmental concerns, personal concerns, and security and privacy concerns. According to Nov et al.’s (2009) extension and application of the framework of Lakhani and Wolf (2005) motivation theory, this study focuses on four stimuli that influence the motivation to participate in social media: enjoyment, commitment, self-development and reputation building. Figure 1 below illustrates the hypothetical model of this research.

Figure 1. Research hypothetical model.

3.2. Questionnaire design

This study used a paper-based questionnaire survey method to collect data. The questionnaire is divided into two parts. The first part uses a 5-point Likert scale to rate the question items, with the scale ranging from ‘1 = strongly disagree’ to ‘5 = strongly agree.’ Social intimacy concerns, security and privacy concerns, environmental concerns and personal concerns consist of five items (Miguel, 2016; Miller & Lefcourt, 1982; Sun et al., 2014), four items (Acquisti & Gross, 2006; Sun et al., 2014; Tang et al., 2019), five items (Tedjamulia et al., 2005) and four items (Tedjamulia et al., 2005), respectively. Enjoyment, commitment, self-development, and reputation building consist of four items (Oreg & Nov, 2008), four items (Rusbult et al., 1998; Will & Allan, 2010), three items (Oreg & Nov, 2008) and four items (Wasko & Faraj, 2000), respectively. Photo-sharing motivation includes six items (Nov et al., 2009). Table 2 presents the specific instruments measured.

Table 2. Results of confirmatory factor analysis and the reliability and validity of the questionnaire.

Constructs	Factor loading	Average variance extracted	Composite reliability	Cronbach’s alpha
Factor 1: Social intimacy concerns		0.508	0.804	0.829
1. You think you will not spend time sharing food photos on social media in your spare time.	0.819
2. You think you will not share personal information with other members of your social media platform while sharing food photos.	0.760
3. You think you will not share your feelings with other members of your social media platform while sharing food photos.	0.748
4. You feel that you will not understand the feelings of other members of the social platform while sharing food photos.	0.728
5. You feel that you have a low level of intimacy with other members of your social platform while sharing food photos.	0.819
Factor 2: Privacy and security concerns		0.721	0.911	0.91
1. You may be concerned about your privacy when you share food photos on social media.	0.855
2. You are concerned that personal information may be misused when you share food photos on social media.	0.869
3. You are concerned about excessively revealing personal and family information when you share food photos on social media.	0.917
4. You may be concerned that people you do not know may obtain your personal information while sharing food photos.	0.895
Factor 3: Environmental concerns		0.547	0.856	0.856
1. It takes a long time to respond to comments on social media platforms while sharing food photos.	0.736
2. The quality of food photos shared on social media platforms is poor.	0.822
3. The response rate to your food photos posted on social media platforms is low.	0.752
4. Food photos shared on social media platforms are of no value to you.	0.851
5. You are concerned about provocative or hostile reactions to food photos shared on social media platforms.	0.800
Factor 4: Personal concerns		0.550	0.826	0.839
1. You are not confident about sharing food photos on social media platforms.	0.820
2. You are concerned that the food photos you share will be unpopular or not relevant to a particular discussion.	0.817
3. You are shy about sharing food photos on social media platforms.	0.841
4. You can satisfy your needs by browsing other people’s shares, so you do not need to share food photos.	0.727
Factor 5: Enjoyment		0.666	0.887	0.882
1. You find it enjoyable to share food photos on social media.	0.859
2. You have fun sharing food photos on social media.	0.901
3. It is fun to share food photos on social media.	0.807
4. You are happy to help your friends by sharing food photos on social media.	0.710
Factor 6: Commitment		0.785	0.936	0.934
1. You build close relationships with friends by sharing food photos.	0.812
2. You maintain relationships with your friends by sharing food photos.	0.895
3. You tend to build long-term relationships with your friends by sharing food photos.	0.870
4. You would like to maintain a long-term relationship with your friends by sharing food photos.	0.881
Factor 7: Self-development		0.675	0.861	0.918
1. Sharing food photos on social media platforms enables you to expand your social circle.	0.882
2. Sharing food photos on social media platforms allows you to learn new things.	0.888
3. Sharing food photos on social media platforms makes you more proficient and enhances your professional knowledge.	0.853
Factor 8: Reputation building		0.691	0.899	0.938
1. You can earn respect from others by sharing food photos on social media.	0.827
2. You gain more prestige by sharing food photos than people who do not share them.	0.792
3. By sharing food photos, you increase the recognition of others.	0.862
4. Sharing food photos will improve your photos on social media.	0.799
Factor 9: Motivation for food photo sharing		0.562	0.884	0.888
1. It is meaningful to share food photos on social media platforms.	0.704
2. It is fun to share food photos on social media.	0.686
3. You share food photos on social media platforms to get many likes.	0.844
4. You share food photos on social media platforms to get many comments.	0.839
5. You share food photos on social media platforms to get attention.	0.702
6. Sharing food photos on social media platforms is your habit.	0.705

The second part involves the basic characteristics of the surveyed population, including gender, age, education, marital status, occupation, average monthly income, region of time spent on mobile smart devices, time spent on social media platforms and time spent on social media platforms every day.

3.3. Sample collection

In a pre-test, 180 questionnaires were distributed to university students a tourism management backgrounds, resulting in 166 valid questionnaires. These students were selected not only because they allow us to obtain reasonable and professional opinions but also because they belong to the group of people who use social media platforms daily and are highly motivated to share their behavior. This aspect is in line with the sample size of the sampling method for this study. The measurement results of this study show that the α coefficients of the questionnaires are all between 0.722 and 0.91, indicating good reliability. After the pre-test, the questionnaire was revised and improved to enable the respondents to complete the survey effectively in the formally distributed questionnaire.

The questionnaire was formally distributed in a populated public place in Beijing, China. As the capital of China and one of the earliest and fastest growing cities in China, Beijing is home to residents who use mobile devices and access social media platforms earlier than other parts of the country. Thus, the target population and valid respondents for the study were social media users in Beijing who use social media platforms for photo-sharing. The formal questionnaire survey used the traditional paper questionnaire method and purposive sampling method to survey the social media users. A total of 320 formal questionnaires were distributed to the respondents, with 309 valid questionnaires. Therefore, the effective rate of this questionnaire was 96.56%.

4. Data analysis and results

4.1. Descriptive analysis

Table 1 presents the descriptive analysis of the demographic data, showing 177 females. They represent 52.8% of the total number of respondents. The largest number of respondents was between 20 and 29 years old, representing 50.8% of the respondents. Most of the respondents had a graduate degree or higher, with the highest proportion of people with a bachelor’s degree. The main respondents were from Mainland China and totaled 295, representing 95.5% of the total sample. Most respondents have been using smart devices and social media platforms for more than 4 and 6 years, respectively, accounting for 62.8% of the total respondents. On average, 87.7% of the respondents use social media platforms for more than 1 h per day.

Table 1. Respondents’ demographic characteristics (N = 309).

Characteristic	N (%)	Characteristic	N (%)
Gender		Ethnicity
Male	132 (42.7)	Mainland China	295 (95.5%)
Female	177 (57.3)	Hong Kong, China	10 (3.2)
Age		Taiwan, China	3 (1)
19 years old or below	5 (1.6)	Other	1 (0.3)
20–29 years old	157 (50.8)	Income
30–39 years old	56 (18.1)	CNY4999 or below (USD693 or below)	73 (23.6)
40–49 years old	44 (14.2)	CNY5000–9999 (USD694–1386)	104 (33.7)
50–59 years old	40 (12.9)	CNY10,000–14,999 (USD1387–2080)	76 (24.6)
60 years old or above	7 (2.3)	CNY15,000–19,999 (USD2081–2773)	32 (10.4)
Education level		CNY20,000–24,999 (USD2774–3467)	13 (4.2)
Primary school	3 (0.9)	CNY25,000 or above (USD3468 or above)	11 (3.6)
Middle school	27 (8.7)	Time spent as a social media user
Junior college	70 (22.7)	Less than a year	14 (4.5)
Undergraduate	134 (43.4)	1–3 years	48 (15.5)
Master’s degree and above	75 (24.3)	4–6 years	53 (17.2)
Marital status		More than 6 years	194 (62.8)
Unmarried	136 (44)	Internet usage time
Married	169 (54.7)	Less than a year	2 (0.6)
Divorce/separated	4 (1.3)	1–3 years	25 (8.1)
Current occupation		4–6 years	72 (23.3)
Student	53 (17.2)	More than 6 years	210 (68)
Housewife	11 (3.6)	Time spent on social media daily
Civil servant	33 (10.7)	Less than a year	38 (12.3)
People in the service industry	46 (14.9)	1–3 years	2 (0.6)
Faculty	31 (10)	4–6 years	25 (8.1)
Businessman	44 (14.2)	More than 6 years	72 (23.3)
Self-employed	32 (10.4)
Personnel engaged in manufacturing	27 (8.7)
Others	32 (10.4)

4.2. Reliability analysis

SPSS and SmartPLS were used to analyze the study data. The results show that the Cronbach’s α value of the nine variables in this study is between 0.829 and 0.934, which all reach the recommended coefficient standard of 0.7 or more. The CR value is between 0.804 and 0.936, which has reached the coefficient standard of 0.6 or more as recommended by scholars. Both the α value and the CR value meet the requirements of the standard value (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). Table 2 presents the specific test results.

4.3. Validity analysis

Anderson and Gerbing (1988) proposed two main components of the convergent validity of the measurement research questionnaire. First, if the factor loading value is higher than 0.7, then the convergent validity of the question item is relatively good. Second, the average variance extracted (AVE) of the research variable must exceed the standard value of 0.5. This study explains more than 50% of the variance of the variable, which can better explain the convergence of the facet (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). As shown in Table 2, the factor loadings of all the variables in this study showed good convergent validity, ranging from 0.702 to 0.901, which were higher than the value of 0.7 for judging excellent convergent validity. Moreover, the AVE of each variable in the research model is between 0.508 and 0.785, all of which are greater than 0.5. In addition, as shown in Table 3, the square roots of the average difference extraction rate values on the diagonal in this study are all higher than the values on the off-diagonal lines of the corresponding rows and columns. Thus, the measurement scales in this study have good discriminant validity. In summary, the individual scales in this study have good convergent and discriminant validities.

Table 3. Results of measuring the discriminative validity of questionnaires.

	RB	SD	C	E	PC	EC	P&S	SI	PS
RB	0.831
SD	−0.009	0.822
C	0.374	0.024	0.886
E	0.456	−0.005	0.397	0.816
PC	0.232	0.039	0.004	0.093	0.742
EC	0.04	0.175	−0.028	0.052	0.148	0.74
P&S	−0.108	−0.003	−0.012	0.012	0.062	0.023	0.849
SI	0.083	0.051	−0.186	0.006	0.161	0.104	0.02	0.712
PS	−0.075	0.008	0.303	0.164	0.227	0.009	0.074	−0.296	0.749

Note. RB: reputation building; SD: self-development; C: commitment; E: enjoyment; PR: personal concerns; ER: environmental concerns; P&S: privacy and security concerns; SI: social intimacy concerns; PS: photo-sharing

4.4. Structural model and hypothesis testing

Wong (2013) indicated that when the T-value of the path is greater than 1.96 and the P-value is less than 0.05, the path coefficient of the model is significant. As shown in Table 4 and Figure 2, the T-values of H1, H4, H5, H6 and H8 are all greater than 1.96, and the p values are all less than 0.05, indicating that these paths are significant. The resulting values relative to food photo sharing are the following: for social intimacy concerns, T = 3.976 and p = 0.000; for personal concerns, T = 4.742 and p = 0. 000; for enjoyment, T = 2.854 and p = 0.004; for commitment, T = 5.37 and p = 0.000; and for reputation building, T = 4.982 and p = 0.000. Therefore, H1, H4, H5, H6 and H8 in this study are all valid.

Figure 2. Total sample structure model analysis. Note. *, *** and - - - denote p < 0.05, p < 0.001 and ‘not significant,’ respectively.

Table 4. Model path test results.

Path	Path coefficient	T	p	Hypothesis
H1: Social intimacy concerns → motivation for sharing food photos	−0.262	3.976	0.000	Valid
H2: Privacy and security concerns → motivation for sharing food photos	0.034	0.753	0.451	No
H3: Environmental concerns → motivation for sharing food photos	−0.008	−0.118	0.906	No
H4: Personal concerns → motivation for sharing food photos	−0.322	4.742	0.000	Valid
H5: Enjoyment → motivation for sharing food photos	0.204	2.854	0.004	Valid
H6: Commitment → motivation for sharing food photos	0.237	5.37	0.000	Valid
H7: Self-development → motivation for sharing food photos	0.012	0.243	0.808	No
H8: Reputation building → motivation for sharing food photos	0.219	4.982	0.000	Valid

5. Conclusions and implications

5.1. Conclusions

This research shows that social intimacy concerns and personal concerns negatively impact social media users’ motivation for food photo sharing, whereas enjoyment, commitment and reputation building have a positive impact. First, personal concerns are the most influential variable among the inhibiting factors (O = −0.322). Therefore, users’ personalities are the main factor that makes them unwilling to share food photos. This finding is similar to Kim and Lee (2006) research on knowledge sharing that users who are not willing to share on social media also expressed the same feeling: they are concerned about their performance and lack confidence in their ability to deliver. Another possible reason why certain users are unwilling to share is that browsing food photos shared by other users can fully satisfy their needs. They join online food communities to obtain the relevant information they need. Thus, they consider sharing food photos unnecessary. Second, social intimacy concerns are another important factor that inhibits users’ motivation for food photo sharing (O = −0.262). This finding is also in line with the findings of Nonnecke (2000) that if users do not perceive a close relationship with other users on the platform or do not consider themselves a member of a group of platform users, they think that they do not have the responsibility of sharing. Thus, they opt not to share photos and other information with others.

Security and privacy concerns have been an issue in the development of Internet technology. However, the public consensus is that it does not affect users’ sharing behavior. One of the possible reasons is that the currently popular social media platforms have similar user privacy agreements, all of which require users to permit platforms to read private information, such as photo albums, address books and mobile phone memory. Moreover, commitment significantly impacts users’ motivation for food photo sharing (O = 0.237). This result reflects that social media users are willing to maintain relationships with others on social platforms. Users want to meet new people and expand their social circle through their friends. Additionally, receiving more feedback helps users feel more comfortable connecting with others and participating in activities on social platforms (Burke et al., 2009).

In addition, reputation building also significantly impacts users’ motivation for food photo sharing (O = 0.219). Thus, when users share food photos, they aim to show factors, such as food quality and the advanced nature of the restaurant to gain recognition in the community and improve their status in the peer group. Furthermore, those who share food photos will enjoy higher prestige than those who do not. Finally, enjoyment also triggers users’ motivation for food photo sharing (O = 0.204). This result reflects that users enjoy using social networks, interacting with friends on the platform about food topics, and helping others to obtain quality food information. People in modern society need to be happy in their online life, which is also an important reason to encourage them to share food photos.

However, self-development does not have a significant impact on users’ motivation for food photo sharing. A possible explanation is the trade-off between the quality and quantity of shared content: the more motivated the user is by personal development, the more he/she will focus on the quality (rather than the quantity) of the shared photo. Those who are motivated by self-development may be cautious about posting, choosing to post only the best photos of themselves for feedback. If users are obsessed with constantly improving the taste of their delicious food on social media or every time they post content, then their shared content will decrease.

5.2. Theoretical contribution

This study explores users’ motivation for food photo sharing in the context of social media platforms from the perspectives of inhibitors and triggers. Most previous studies explored the factors that inhibit or trigger users from sharing photos from a single perspective. This study identifies the factors that affect users to share food photos and the extent of their influence, thus filling a research gap in the area of food photo sharing and providing insights into social media platforms and food marketers.

The results indicate significant influences on users’ willingness to share food photos across the two inhibitors and triggers considered in this study. In previous studies, researchers have mostly focused on investigating users’ selfies and general travel photos, but user motivation in food photo-sharing studies has received little attention in the academic literature. Food photo-sharing behavior also needs attention as a type of user-sharing behavior on social media. Therefore, this study contributes to food and photo-sharing research by combining research on the direction of inhibitors and triggers for sharing and by analyzing the extent of influence of specific factors.

5.3. Practical implications

With the advancement of Internet technology, businesses in the restaurant industry need to rely on social media to promote their products. Unlike the traditional method of placing advertisements in the media, by taking advantage of the large user base of mainstream social platforms and encouraging consumers to share their food and eating experiences on social platforms, every user can become a potential customer and an ambassador for their food promotion. The results of this study show that users’ personal and social intimacy concerns discourage them from sharing food photos. Platforms and the restaurant industry need to develop new customers by focusing on small social circles of users online and encouraging food photo sharing through incentives in cooperation with food and beverage merchants offline. In China, with the rise of online e-commerce platforms, cooperation between the restaurant industry and e-commerce is increasingly becoming extensive. These platforms include the DaZhongDianPing app and the MeiTuan app, which encourage restaurant merchants to cooperate with them to attract users. Most restaurants that stay on the platforms set up a small customer group similar to WeChat groups on the app and regularly publish restaurant events and offers. At the same time, users of the app are encouraged to share photos of their food on social media as they can also get discounts from restaurants for sharing or reviewing their food.

Social platforms should promote quality food-sharing content to various unfamiliar online food lovers to increase their recognition in the community and thus their social media status while enjoying feedback from other users. This strategy is a key incentive for them to share food photos. Restaurants can also capitalize on the need to share the enjoyment and build a reputation by organizing events for food lovers to share experiences. They can build a social media following to gain an edge in an increasingly competitive market. In addition, platforms should reward users for consistent and high-quality sharing behavior. They can encourage them to share a link similar to an advertisement to position the restaurants. Additionally, they can give the publisher a certain amount of cashback when other users purchase restaurant goods through that link, thereby encouraging users to share.

5.4. Limitations and future research

This research investigates the factors that inhibit and trigger social media platform users’ willingness to share food photos. In social media, many factors can influence users’ motivation for food photo sharing. For example, from the perspective of restaurant operators, factors, such as the restaurant environment and food quality significantly impact users’ decisions to share food photos. Theoretically, the mechanism of latent behaviors should be explored from the perspectives of psychology and sociology. In addition, the effectiveness of incentive strategies should be further evaluated, and recommendations should be provided for selecting appropriate strategies to motivate contributions based on the nature of the online community. The influence of online lurkers can be discussed in detail, such as the number of lurkers that online communities can support and the methods used to assess the ‘health’ of online communities. Therefore, future research should consider other factors and then establish a new model for in-depth research.

Disclosure statement

The authors of the manuscript have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Haoran Chen

Haoran Chen, Mr. Ph.D Candidate, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau SAR, China, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]

Tianqi Chen

Tianqi Chen, Mr. Ph.D Candidate, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau SAR, China, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]

Chieh Yun Yang

Chieh Yun Yang (Corresponding author), PhD. Assistant Professor, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau SAR, China, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]

Chen Kuo Pai

Chen Kuo Pai, PhD. Associate Professor, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau SAR, China, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]

Yiming Gao

Yiming Gao, Master’s degree, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau SAR, China, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]