Mmm Thats Looks Delish: How Instagram is Changing the Restaurant Industry -Allie McNabb
For a lot of millennials and gen z’ers, Instagram is used as a platform to showcase cool experiences, family photos, and personal mementos from their daily lives. Depending on the user this could mean posting inspirational quotes to live by, reposting funny videos, or simply posting a pic from a night out with friends. As social media trends continue to shift however, Instagram is no longer being seen as just an app used to publish pictures. Companies, brands, and individuals are utilizing the platform to boost recognition and sales through visual engagement with the end consumer. This strategy spans across several industries, but I believe the food industry has experienced the greatest impact both in a social and business sense.
Have you ever been out to eat at a restaurant, about to take your first bite of an amazing looking meal placed in front of you, when all of the sudden your friend chimes in with a persistent, “Wait! I HAVE to take a picture first!”. Well, if you haven’t ever been in this situation in your life, then you have somehow managed to avoid the overwhelming trend to share your food on social media, congratulations! As the ‘phone eats first’ movement has become increasingly more popular, the landscape of content, as well as the variety of active users on Instagram have changed. “Smartphones have become participants in the meal”, and this shift has established foodstagrams, food bloggers, and restaurant accounts, in their pivotal roles in the decision-making process of consumers (Restaurant Manifesto). Regardless of taste, people are drawn in by the aesthetics of their meal, influenced not only on by the food itself but by the plating and atmosphere surrounding the dish. While this sudden influx may not appear to do anything but make you hungry from scrolling through your Instagram feed, many users take advantage of these resources when making important decisions about food.
One of the most painstaking decisions we’re forced to make on a daily basis is deciding what to eat and where to eat it. Often times, when looking for a new restaurant to try, similar menus and reviews online appear to morph into each other, leaving the most indecisive consumer left to squander on their own. Instagram, however, gives users the ability to see the restaurant and their food options, without even stepping a foot in the door. Along the same line of reasoning, once customers decide on the restaurant, the ability to see their food before they even order it can eliminate the common panic when deciding between two equally delicious-sounding options at a restaurant. Although other platforms utilize customer-taken photos and reviews, enables their users to share their food experiences through a more personalized approach.
Why does this matter to restaurant owners? Not only does Instagram have the power to influence where the consumer may choose to buy a meal, it also has produced changes in whatconsumers want to eat and the atmosphereof where they’d like to eat it. Restaurant owners are taking note of these shifts in consumerism, adjusting their menu items to include sensations such as the “freakshake” and “selfieccino” (BBC). But it doesn’t stop there, restaurant owners have begun making other business decisions with Instagram in mind, citing the benefits to their bottom line. Details as simple as the wallpaper and countertops drastically impact a restaurant’s social media presence by creating those “Instagrammable moments” in which patrons can interact. Making these changes seem drastic to certain business owners, but the results are in the pudding. Samantha Wasser, successful co-founder of the restaurant by Chloe, concluded that a strong Instagram presence can lead to higher check averages because consumers want “to try everything they had seen before” (Fundera). When it comes down to it, Instagram is another tool restaurant owners can use to bring customers into the door, and with millennials dining out 20% more than their generational predecessors, it is imperative to capture this part of the market.
So, while some people fail to see the value Instagram brings to the restaurant and food industry, in the end the old saying,
people eat with their eyes,
still rings true, and Instagram is enabling business owners and consumers to utilize it for their own benefit.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-42012732
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/how-social-media-has-changedthe-way-we-think-about-food
http://www.restaurantmanifesto.com/phone-eats-first/
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/02/click-plate-how-instagram-changing-way-we-eat-food
https://www.fundera.com/blog/instagram-restaurants