Post, eat, change: the effects of posting food photos on consumers' dining experiences and brand evaluation

Although posting food photos has become a pervasive phenomenon on social media platforms and has significant marketing implications for restaurants, there is not much evidence concerning why this practice has such implications. Building on research into self-expression and social influence, we hypothesize that posting food photos serves as a form of self-expression, which in turn leads to an enhanced dining experience. A field study, a laboratory experiment, and archival data from a popular Chinese social media platform provide support for our hypotheses. Specifically, Study 1 indicates that posting photos of food enhances consumers' dining experiences and leads to positive evaluations of restaurants. Study 2 identifies self-expression as the underlying mechanism and tests the moderating role of supportive interactions. Study 3 is a follow-up investigation into the real-time interactions examined in Study 2, using archival data from a popular social media platform.