Beyond catching a glimpse: young adults' perceptions of social media cooking content
ISSN: 0007-070X
Article publication date: 2 August 2024
Issue publication date: 24 September 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to explore how young adults perceive cooking contents on social media and their interaction with it.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative study using semi structured interviews with Brazilian young adults who cook (19–24 years old, n = 31) was the method employed. Interview audio recordings were transcribed and submitted to inductive and reflexive thematic analysis.
Findings
Data analysis generated six different themes. Young adults valued the profiles’ aesthetics and quality in terms of straightforwardness, trustworthiness, novelty and authenticity of information; they also identified with the profiles’ authors. When pressed for time, aesthetics was less valued than straightforwardness. Participants felt overwhelmed by the excessive information on social media and developed coping strategies to deal with this issue.
Originality/value
The lack of cooking and food skills is a recognized barrier for healthy eating in the young adult population. Social media can play a prominent role in delivering cooking-related information to the younger generation, but research on people’s perceptions of the cooking content available online is scarce and does not focus on how actual engagement with the available content happens. This qualitative exploration revealed which features young adults prefer when using social media to access cooking content, which can inform future interventions to promote cooking and improve health.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Newton Mobility Grant Scheme (2015) [Award Reference: NG150026.2 to third and last authors], the UK Academies Fellowships Research Mobility, and Young Investigator Awards for UK Researchers in Brazil FAPESC/CONFAP/FUNDO NEWTON [Call Nº 02/2017; 3 to third and last authors]; Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) in the form of scholarships [Finance code 001, to first and second authors]. Founding sources had no role in study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Citation
Camargo, A.M.d., Botelho, A.M., Dean, M. and Fiates, G.M.R. (2024), "Beyond catching a glimpse: young adults' perceptions of social media cooking content", British Food Journal, Vol. 126 No. 10, pp. 3624-3643. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-01-2024-0091
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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