Social media influence promotes food industry
October, 2017
Sean Vanderaa
Sean Vanderaa
It used to be that people would go to places that they had heard about on their phones. Now people are going places just so that they can post about it on their phones.
Millennials spend over two hours a day on their phones, according to 2013 Simmons National Consumer Study. “Hearing people talk about different places on social media makes me want to go there myself especially if they had a good time,” said sophomore Allison Davies. Although social media is not the most important deciding factor on where one wants to go for food, in a quick Snapchat poll of 35 Generation Z Carlmont students, 21.1 percent indicated that seeing places on Snapchat or Instagram is the main influence on where they consider going. “Going someplace to Snapchat it is never my sole reason for going somewhere but it is something that I would keep in the back of my mind when deciding on a place to go. Plus it gets me out of the house and creates good memories,” said Olive Peschel, a junior. This begs the question, do restaurants and other outlets specifically cater to social media influences as a way of getting more business? The answer is yes. Companies like Museum of Ice Cream and Mints and Honey almost entirely focus on creating an aesthetic appeal which in turn attracts more customers. “Definitely anything that has a cool view or cool aesthetic would be more appealing to me and make me want to go there more. Places that look trendy and more modernized definitely catch my eye more than your typical store and hence will draw me there,” said Peschel. The Museum of Ice Cream on Grant Ave. in San Francisco showcases many different rooms that provide an interesting experience based off of their design. These designs promote photography and creativity and specifically appeal to those wanting to showcase their skills or simply enjoy the exhibits. “Our mission is to bring people together through art, design, and innovation. We build to provoke curiosity and imagination in both the physical and digital worlds,” the Museum of Ice Cream said in their mission statement. This, in turn, would allow their museums to attract more attention through the posting of photos online and would attract more viewers that wish to experience the same things as their peers. The social media buzz surrounding restaurants and appealing destinations is a large appeal for many, but for some it is not that big of a deal. “For me, the most important factor in deciding where I go is the taste. If a restaurant doesn’t have good tasting food they aren’t getting my business,” said Darian Dennler, a junior. One question that arose over the debate on whether or not social media influences one's decisions was whether or not one’s gender changed the likelihood of them going somewhere just for the social media aspect. One hundred percent of those in the quick Snapchat poll believed that females were the more likely gender to go to a restaurant or store just for the ability to post about it online. As well, girls are more likely to dominate visually-oriented social media platforms according to the Pew Research Center, with 61 percent using Instagram and 51 percent using Snapchat. On the other hand, 44 percent of boys use Instagram and 31 percent use Snapchat. This creates biases and forces both boys and girls into different social roles that must be fulfilled in order to create a higher social status for themselves. “I think girls are more likely to go to a restaurant solely based on social media reasons because girls are more obsessed with how their Instagram feed looks or what they put on their Snapchat story than boys. Girls care more about their social media image, and they will go to great lengths to make sure that what they are doing or eating makes them look more interesting on social media,” said sophomore Talia Schreiber. One reason why more and more restaurants and outlets are beginning to address a more aesthetic appeal to their buildings and products is due to the increasing amount of time millennials and Gen Zs spend on social media (and the influence it could have on business). “I use my phone anywhere from two to five hours a day. The majority of the time I’m texting, snapchatting, or using Instagram. I also use my phone for school, whether for researching or studying for a test,” said Schreiber. As 77 percent of the population of America has smartphones, according to the Pew Research Center, smartphones are playing a larger role than ever in the lives of all, creating a consumer society that ends up on their phones for hours a day. View on Issuu |