Impact of Social Media on Food Service and Catering Sector

Running Head: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

2BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper explores in detail, the impact of various social media platforms in the Food
Service and Catering sector. The impact of social media has taken the industry by storm and
this paper explains how people are being influenced by various opinions and views on
different food delivery services and restaurants. The present report provided
recommendations for how the restaurants can utilize social media platforms in order to better
their services, increase the number of target audiences and promote their products as well as
improving their reputation.

3BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.....................................................................11
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................14

4BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
People have been starting to take notice of the immense potential that social media is
having on the restaurant and food delivery industry. In the modern era, communication is
extremely easy and it is easy for people to air their opinions. Yeo et al. (2017) stated social
media helps people exchange their views and opinions about certain restaurants and dishes.
Moreover, nowadays, social media platforms are being used in order to rate different
restaurants and with time people are catching up to this trend. On top of this, different
restaurants are promoting their business in social media and this trend is increasing day after
another. Although, restaurant business came in a little late social media has been a marketing
tool for several years.
In a survey conducted by restaurant.org, it is proved that more than eight out of ten restaurant
operators talked about their intention to use the strategy of using social media as a marketing
tool for their restaurant (Pigatto et al. 2017). With the introduction of different food blogs, it
is easier for people to gather information about various restaurants and various dishes of
those restaurants. Apart from that, there are various social media platforms like Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram has been the major platforms for the promotion. With the
improvements in modern day technology, it is also easier to order food from various
restaurants if there aren't any options to go out and eat in the restaurant (Brunori et al. 2012).
Delivery services like Uber Eats, Zomato, Deliveroo, Just eat etc. has helped the cause.
Different websites that help people rate their experience on certain restaurants based
on the dishes they serve, their taste, plating, the ambience in the restaurant has helped others
make a judgment of the different restaurants. With the help of social media, people are being
able to enjoy multiple discounts on foods and beverages as well. Better rating for a particular
restaurant is bound to provide better revenues for that particular restaurant and it is very
helpful for the people in general as well. According to Davis et al. (2011), information on
social media helps people to understand what to order and what not to order judging by the
experiences of other people. Apart from rating a particular restaurant people also mention the
pros and cons of that said restaurant which also helps that particular restaurant to work on its
improvement.
Access to social media has brought about a sense of convenience to the area of food
delivery. The surge is very much like the improvements in the travel and hospitality sectors
due to the influence of social media. In that area to the emergence of social media has helped
people to choose the right places to travel, select the right packages for their travel and voice
their opinions about the service provided by the provider (Davis et al. 2018). Similarly, it has