Marketing Report: Food Bloggers' Influence on Student Food Selections

This report investigates the influence of food bloggers on Instagram on students' food selections, specifically focusing on students at Da Nang University of Economics. It begins with an introduction highlighting the growing importance of social media, particularly Instagram, in travel and food choices, and the increasing number of food bloggers. The research defines the marketing and study problems, outlining the need to understand how food bloggers impact consumer behavior. The literature review explores who food bloggers are, their presence on Instagram, and previous research on consumer behavior and social media. The study proposes a research model and hypotheses, examining factors like inspiring taste desire, forming taste awareness, and personal characteristics. The methodology section details the research process, data collection methods (questionnaires), and sampling techniques. The report aims to identify the factors of food bloggers on Instagram that affect students' food selections when traveling and to evaluate the level of influence of these factors. Ultimately, the research seeks to provide insights for food bloggers to better understand student preferences and refine their content strategies.

CONTENTS
PART 1. INTRODUCTION.. 3
1.1 THE URGENCY OF THIS STUDY (TÍNH CẤP THIẾT) 3
1.1.1 People have a tendency to search information on social networking sites
before travelling 3
1.1.2 People cannot get worth information while there are too many bloggers
nowadays, including food bloggers 4
1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM DEFINING.. 5
1.2.1 Marketing problem defining. 5
1.2.2 Study problem defining. 5
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH.. 6
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION.. 6
1.5 OBJECT AND SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH.. 6
1.5.1 Research object 6
1.5.2 Research scope. 6
PART 2. LITERATURE REVIEW... 6
2.1 WHO ARE FOOD BLOGGERS?. 7
2.2 FOOD BLOGGERS ON INSTAGRAM... 8
2.3 PREVIOUS RESEARCH.. 9
PART 3. MODEL AND HYPOTHESES. 11
3.1 HYPOTHESIS. 11
3.1.1 Inspiring taste desire. 12

3.1.2 Forming taste awareness. 13
3.1.3 Personal characteristics. 14
3.2 PROPOSED RESEARCH MODEL.. 16
PART 4. METHODOLOGY.. 17
4.1 RESEARCH PROCESS. 17
4.1.1 Research process. 17
4.1.2 Timeline. 18
4.2 DATA COLLECTION.. 18
4.2.1 Research approach. 18
4.2.2 Data collection method. 19
4.2.3 How to collect data. 19
4.2.4 Questionnaire (enclosed file) 20
4.3 Sampling method. 20
4.4 Research budget 21
PART 1. INTRODUCTION
This part introduces the subject of the study. This part also builds up the
statement of the problem and research questions. It will explain why it is
necessary to research this topic and what research questions of this study will
answer. This chapter of the research includes three main sections: a section on
the statement of the problem which will give information about the specific
problem, background and need related to the problem, the focus of the study,
research questions and what questions the research proposes to answer, and
other important sections.

1.1 THE URGENCY OF THIS STUDY (TÍNH CẤP THIẾT)
1.1.1 People have a tendency to search information on social
networking sites before travelling
Today, tourism has become an indispensable demand in social life and
developed rapidly all around the world. Young people, especially students, who
has the biggest proportion of leading the trend, always update and access
everything quickly from eating, playing, and even travelling. It can be observed
that the various channels of information can be noticed, more and more young
people like travelling, and that young people create new trends in tourism
makes tourism products increasingly diverse.
According to statistics from WeareSocial and Hootsuite in 2019, 94 per cent of
users in Vietnam surf the Internet daily (We Are Social & Hootsuite, 2020).
Besides, Statcounter reported that the number of people over the world using
Instagram was about 8.54% in March 2020, with increasing over 6% in last 7
months and this data for Vietnam was 1.85%. We can see that social media -
especially Instagram are gradually becoming popular with Internet users. As an
imagery-based application, Instagram has enabled millions of users to share
photos from their own adventures. Posts can be shared widely or with pre-
approved followers.
A majority of visitors have very little knowledge of the destination on their first
trip, therefore that many people tend to check reviews and information, compare
prices on social platforms is extremely essential. For those who love travelling
and cuisine, they certainly will be familiar with the existence of food bloggers.
New research from Booking.com has found that 64 per cent of travellers are
choosing their next travel destination based on its food and drink options. Food
bloggers as social media marketing especially in Instagram, used to provide

reviews about culinary products. The existence of food bloggers is believed to
help students to choose eating places that be appropriate to the needs of ones.
There has been research on how social media, user-generated content and
electronic word-of-mouth affect consumers behaviour and travel planning, but a
few of them study the relation between Instagram and consumers behaviour
before their travels. On the other hand, there are many articles and blog posts on
Instagram for travel planning, but do people actually use them for the given
purpose and do they have an influence on their choices?
1.1.2 People cannot get worth information while there are too
many bloggers nowadays, including food bloggers
Food has always been a social thing that brings people together, but with the
advent of the internet and, more specifically, online food influencers, the ways
in which we experience food and all its possibilities have changed. Nowadays,
social media are inseparable from the life of the broad majority of young
generation. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor, Instagram and Pinterest
play a crucial role in many young people’s daily life. Therefore, people today
have access to information much easier than before. However, this development
leads to a large number of bloggers, including food bloggers. Each food blogger
has his or her own ideas or comments about eating places which they have
visited. With such a huge amount of food rating information, it's hard for users
to find places to eat and drink that are right for themselves.
In conclusion, with these figures, it shows that Instagram is becoming more
influential to tourists. In particular, it is impossible not to mention about food
blogger - those who have a influence on the choice of places to eat and drink
for tourists. So why is food blogger becoming more popular and such a tourist
trend? What are the characteristics of an food blogger to travelers' dining
options? In this study, we aim to find answers to these problems.

1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM DEFINING
1.2.1 Marketing problem defining
Concerning a report of market research firm Euromonitor, between 2014 and
2019, Vietnam’s food and beverage service (F&B) market grew at an average
rate of 18% per year. According to experts’ forecast, by 2023, the F&B
industry’s revenue could double, reaching 408 billion USD and continue to
grow further as the middle class in Vietnamese society is increasing. Although
there are few barriers to entry F&B market, the elimination rate is rapid[NT1] .
(VietNam, 2019) So it is a big challenge for businesses. To maintain prosper,
businesses have to be flexible in developing products and services, especially
can not fail to mention the appropriate and judicious marketing campaigns.
Today, the development of information technology and the media has had a
significant impact on the F&B industry. In particular, as food bloggers become
the new influencers of the food industry, many restaurant management was
taking this opportunity by inviting some food bloggers in purpose to review
their restaurant. The restaurant management expects that food bloggers can help
them to raise awareness of their brand to customers or even increasing their
sales through food bloggers. So what are the factors of food bloggers impact
most on customers’ food selection? That’s a problem which make businesses
always confused.
1.2.2 Study problem defining
Researching “The factors of Food Bloggers on Instagram that affect
students' food selections when travelling” to check the factors that customers
are most interested in and find correlations between these ones and customer
decisions.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH
This study aims at investigating factors of food bloggers on Instagram that
affects student’s food selections when traveling and evaluating the influential
levels of these ones on student’s food selections when traveling. On the other
hand, based on the influential levels, this research will supply information to
food bloggers in order to help them know the factors which students are
interested in most and develop their own work.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
· What are the factors of food bloggers on Instagram affecting students’
food selections when they travel?
· How do these factors impact on students’ food selections?
1.5 OBJECT AND SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH
1.5.1 Research object
Building a model of the factors of food bloggers on Instagram that affects
to students’ food selections when travelling.
1.5.2 Research scope
Content: The thesis focused on studying the model of the factors of food
bloggers on Instagram that affect students’ food selections when travelling.
Scope: This study focuses on students who are studying at Da Nang
University of Economics.
Time: This research will be carried out from May to June 2020.
PART 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This section of this research is about the review of literature from previous
studies connected to this research. It also provides a background information
about some factors related to food selection decision and their impact on
students. Thus, it will help readers understand the multiple concepts related
researcher’s foundation for gathering and analysing data.
2.1 WHO ARE FOOD BLOGGERS?
According to “Food blogger Instagram: Promotion through social
media”, someone who shares and writes about food in a blog is known as a food
blogger. In addition, food bloggers not only use blogs as their media to share
but also social media such as Instagram which is a social media to share photos
online, which later it becomes one of the food bloggers tools to share. Food
bloggers are made by someone who is interested in cooking or trying new foods
either by cooking themselves or visiting a place that has a variety of different
and unique foods.
With regarding “Food Blogger Review on Instagram as an Alternative
for Helping Consumer Purchase Decision”, Food bloggers are widely known
by the public and have large followers so they have the ability to influence
others or as influencers.
According to “The impact of food blogger toward consumer’s attitude
and behavior in choosing restaurant”, in fact, food bloggers also have a
specialization in their topic about food. Some food bloggers have a hobby in
cooking; therefore, they share food recipes and put the food they had cooked on
the blog. Some others like to do culinary travel, and then they decided to share
their experience of having delicious meals in great new places or restaurants
through blog as well.

In the opinion of Lofgren (2013), food bloggers are people who promote
and share information about specific foods, restaurants, chefs, and recipes.
L. Robinson assumed that the person who did the food blogging is known
as a food blogger. Food bloggers tend to write about travel and restaurants
including home personal food diaries and their own recipes (The art of food
blogging)
In summary, food bloggers are people who write and share information
about the food such as recipes, culinary travel, restaurants or experiences of
having delicious meal through blogs or social media.
2.2 FOOD BLOGGERS ON INSTAGRAM
The impact of digital development is more happening at the business
level rather than on its food processing business. As a result, the utilization of
social media such as Instagram is so very popular. Promotion through food
blogger on Instagram social media in the eyes of respondents as a whole is in
the position of good category. This shows that promotion through food blogger
on Instagram social media can be a tool which can be used by restaurant
business actors in doing business promotion. (Food Blogger Review on
Instagram as an Alternative for Helping Consumer Purchase Decision)
Nowadays, Instagram has become a popular way for consumers to share
their lives with others and for brands to share their products with consumers.
Instagram is a perfect place for food bloggers to promote and share their work
as it’s all about gorgeous photography, visuals, discovery and inspiration. (Food
blogs on Instagram)
For culinary connoisseurs, certainly they will be familiar to the existence
of food bloggers as social media marketing, especially in Instagram, which is an
online mobile photosharing become one of food bloggers’ tools to share. With

the easy access of Instagram users to follow and see directly the food bloggers’
posts in their timeline, it can make people even more craving looking at the
food photos. This tool can be used by the management of every restaurant as
their marketing strategies to get the attention and interest of every customer.
Food bloggers become the new influences in terms of the food marketing
industry. In some way, bloggers have some significant impact because 81 per
cent of people seek advice before making a purchase through the social site in
accordance with the report by myYearbook. In other words, people are not just
enjoying that impressive food posting, but food bloggers become an influential
person for other people. People can get information about an old restaurant yet
recommended to visit or a new great café that are trending in town. (The Impact
of Food Blogger toward Consumer’s Attitude and Behavior in Choosing
Restaurant)
In conclusion, Instagram is the most popular social media which food
bloggers use today. It’s also a perfect place for food bloggers to develop and
share their work.
2.3 PREVIOUS RESEARCH
No Researchs Results
1 Exploring the factors of
gastronomy blogs influencing
readers’ intention to taste
Hsiu-Yuan Wang (2011)
This study researched to
empirically explore the reasons
why gastronomy blogs can
influence blog readers’ behavioral
intention to taste local gastronomy.
This study identified three main
categories of variables inspiring
taste desire (i.e., experiencing
appeal and generating empathy),

forming taste awareness (i.e.,
providing image, delivering
knowledge and presenting guides)
and facilitating interpersonal
interaction (i.e., social influence
and cybercommunity influence),
and suggested that these potential
variables can influence readers’
behavioral intention to taste
directly.
2 Syahbani, M. F., & Widodo, A.
2017. Food blogger
instagram:
Promotion through social
media. Bandung : Telkom
University
Students in the city of Bandung
like the whole content delivered by
food blogger accounts on
Instagram.
Promotion through food bloggers
on Instagram social media
consisting of context,
communication, collaboration, and
connection affects the buying
interest of students in the city of
Bandung.
This shows that if these four
variables are jointly applied, it can
affect student buying interest in the
city of Bandung. Context is the
biggest influence on buying
interest of students in Bandung.
While communication does not
affect the buying interest of
students in the city of Bandung.

3 Food Blogger Review on
Instagram as an Alternative for
Helping Consumer Purchase
Decision - G.T Puspita
Universitas Pendidikan
Indonesia Bandung, Indonesia.
H.Hendrayati Universitas
Pendidikan Indonesia Bandung,
Indonesia (2018)
The variable context and
collaborations partially have a
significant effect on consumer
purchasing decisions. The
communication and connections
variable partially has no significant
effect on consumer purchasing
decision. However, food blogger
reviews on Instagram social media
which is consisting of context,
communication, collaboration, and
connection affect the alternative
consumer purchasing decisions in
the city of Bandung. This indicates
if these four variables are jointly
applied, it can affect consumer
purchasing decisions in the city of
Bandung.
4 FOOD BLOGS ON
INSTAGRAM: SOME
EXAMPLES AND THEIR
CONTENTS
Canakkale Onsekiz Mart
University
(2018)
Mostly the dishes are created
especially for Instagram. Food
bloggers use both the textual and
visual elements of Instagram
together to create a fun and
friendly social media experience
for the fans of their blogs. The
blogs utilizes their name and
imagery by including logos, colors,
sentences, and their names when it
is possible. The amount of
Instagram followers, likes and
good photo quality determine that.

5 The Impact of Food Blogger
toward
Consumer’s Attitude and
Behavior in Choosing
Restaurant
Adliah Nur.Hanifati (2015)
Instagram which makes people
easier to read information from the
food blogger indeed influence
reader to follow their
recommendation. As most of the
readers itself are likely to visit
restaurants, therefore, it is not
surprising if perceived usefulness
of food blogger’s recommendation
directly affects their intention to
follow its recommendation. It is
rational that when consumers
found out that food blogger’s
recommendation was useful, they
intended to follow its
recommendation. Following the
food blogger’s recommendation
means that they visit the restaurant
based on the recommendation.
PART 3. MODEL AND HYPOTHESES
This section presents the hypothesis and model that are used to guide this study.
It shows how the model of this research was formed based on previous study
conducted by other researchers. This chapter also shows how the hypothesis
were developed and it also tells why the variables for the model could be used
to answer the study questions. According to the literature review this study’s
model is represented below:
3.1 HYPOTHESIS