Socialfood: Virtuous or vicious? A systematic review

• Published in: Trends in food science & technology 2021-04, Vol.110, p.674-686
• Main Authors: Ventura, Vera, Cavaliere, Alessia, Iannò, Beatrice
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Consumer; Consumer exposure; Consumers; Content analysis; Digital media; Food; Food consumption; Food experience; Information; Risk communication; Social media; Social networks; Social organization; Systematic review; User generated content
• ISSN: 0924-2244; 1879-3053
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2021.02.018

Academic interest in the use of social media data is rapidly increasing. The application of social media analysis in various domains is an emerging trend due to a massive volume of available data, accessibility, and interaction. Food is often a protagonist of the posting activity on social networks; however, the analysis of social media use in relation to food is still limited. The dual purpose of this systematic review was, firstly, to provide an overview of the existing literature about the phenomenon of food in social media, in order to identify the role of the consumer, the interlocutors of the message, and the type of content conveyed. Secondly, evaluate the impact of social media use, and understand whether the access to social media content can affect consumer knowledge, awareness of healthy food choices, or drive consumers towards unhealthy food practices. Studies can be classified according to two types of communication flow, named from (consumer as the sender of a message) and to consumers (consumer as a receiver). Content analysis outlined four main categories: user-generated content, information measures and risk communication, digital marketing and exposure. Our results revealed a dual nature of social media use in relation to food: a virtuous one, leading to an increase in consumer knowledge and information, and a bad one, which tends to change individual behaviours in the direction of unhealthy food consumption practices. •Huge presence of food-related contents on social media platforms.•Systematic review, final dataset of 241 scientific papers.•Dual nature of social media impact.•Positive effects for information and educational use.•Negative effects for digital marketing and exposure.