#foodporn: examining Instagram food influencers through the systems model of creativity

ABSTRACT

Social media influencers (SMIs) are having a profound impact on how diners seek information about culinary establishments and are redefining how the marketing industry promotes restaurants and brands. Although research has confirmed the value of an SMI’s electronic word of mouth (eWOM) endorsement on brand recognition and purchase intention, there is limited understanding of the creative practice of these individuals. To address this gap, this research examines Instagram food influencers in Australia, using the systems model of creativity to frame the research. This research found that as an individual agent in a system, Instagram food influencers are impacted by their personal experiences, their immersion in cultural domains, their understanding of the field’s preferences and engagement with its social system when creating content. These findings indicate that the systems model of creativity is a sound framework to understand the creative practice of SMIs.

KEYWORDS:

• Instagram
• social media
• social network site
• influencer
• creativity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Contribution to communication scholarship

Social media influencers (SMIs) are having a profound impact on the marketing and public relations industries and are redefining the practice of using celebrities to endorse products and services to consumers (Abidin, 2015). While scholars have investigated why audiences prefer organic promotions from SMIs (Neal, 2018; Vodák et al., 2019), finding that promotional information is perceived as more credible when communicated through an interpersonal source compared to paid advertisements (J. Lee & Hong, 2016), research has yet to explore how these individuals create content and establish an authentic, relatable persona online (Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2018). To address this gap in the literature, this research explored the creative practice of Instagram food influencers, using Csikszentmihalyi’s (1988) systems model as a theoretical perspective and content analysis of online documents, observations and interviews as research methods. Exploring the creative practice of SMIs such as food influencers, through a theoretical lens can assist professionals and scholars in understanding how to effectively communicate with and market to online consumers (Mazerant et.al, 2021; West et.al, 2019) and provides theoretically and empirically substantiated insight into how individuals create and publish promotional content online (Barker, 2019). This knowledge can also assist professionals in their interactions with food influencers, facilitating the establishment of mutually beneficial relationships in which the influencer, the establishment being promoted, and the agency prosper (Mahoney, 2017; Haenlein & Libai, 2017).

Ethical approval

All authors have agreed to the submission and that the article is not currently being considered for publication by any other print or electronic journal. This research received approval from the University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee on 12 June 2020 with protocol number H-2020–0143.

Notes

1. See https://www.instagram.com/p/CEgkMRkD6QF/ for access to the post discussed.

2. See https://www.instagram.com/p/B-3uQjaDAYa/ for this post.

3. See https://www.instagram.com/p/B97VZfDBJsU/ for access to the post discussed.

4. See https://www.instagram.com/p/B91JExqHN6v/ for access to the post discussed.

5. Snowball sampling is an approach to recruiting participants where who seek feedback from existing participants for others who could participate in the research (Denscombe, 2014).