Anice Milbratz de Camargo, Alyne Michelle Botelho, Moira Dean and Giovanna M.R. Fiates
The study aims to explore how young adults perceive cooking contents on social media and their interaction with it.
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.
Details
Keywords
Anice Milbratz de Camargo, Alyne Michelle Botelho, Moira Dean and Giovanna Medeiros Rataichesck Fiates
This study explored how Brazilian young adults who cook interact with cooking-related content on social media and how such content fits their cooking routine.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored how Brazilian young adults who cook interact with cooking-related content on social media and how such content fits their cooking routine.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews (n = 31) were transcribed, inductively and reflexively thematic analysed.
Findings
Interactions happened both in recreational and intentional ways, which coexisted and alternated depending on participants' motives and schedules. Recreational interactions such as browsing and saving happened more for self-entertainment and to some participants, to help meal planning and food shopping. Intentional interactions such as searching and sharing happened to fulfil specific needs which arised on cooking occasions, leading to agency development. Young adults who self-identified as being less experienced in cooking reported checking and comparing many recipes, as well as relying on video features to improve skills and develop self-efficacy. Despite showing agency in cooking-related matters, participants perceived lack of time to cook as an important barrier to cooking more. Intentional interactions with cooking content were linked to more established cooking routines, indicating the importance of social media to young adults' development of self-efficacy and improvement of skills.
Originality/value
The use of social media to search for cooking-related content is recommended by Brazilian dietary guidelines to develop cooking and food skills, but research on if and how the interaction occurs, and the resulting knowledge is put into practice, is scarce. This study addressed this gap and proposed practical implications to inform the development of interventions employing social media to improve young adults' cooking skills and health.