” On Instagram, it means using the X-Pro II filter on your food pictures instead of the Earlybird filter,” Liu stated. “It is not challenging and does not cost a cent, so it is an easy win for restaurant online marketers.”.
The findings were just recently published in the Journal of Business Research. The scientists carried out two online research studies.
In one research study, 267 participants were advised to imagine themselves browsing options on an online platform for purchasing food. Images of poke bowls, a Hawaiian dish containing raw, marinated fish pieces, veggies, and sauce served over rice, existed to the participants. They were from a fictitious called dining establishment Poke Kitchen.
Individuals in the research study were randomly assigned to see among four distinct images, each with various color saturation and visual range.
The images with high color saturation were modified with professional graphic design software to be 130% more saturated than the low-saturation photos. The up-close images were 130% larger in radius and appeared nearer to the observer than the more distant picture.
Participants were asked to rate how fresh the food in each image looked, how delicious it looked and how likely they would be to buy it. The food in the more extremely saturated pictures looked fresher and tastier to participants, and that led them to be more most likely to purchase the food, results showed.
Color saturation had a more powerful result when the food appeared more distant in the images, Liu said.
” When the food is revealed close up, it is currently easy for the viewers to think of how fresh and delicious the food would be,” she said. “Color saturation is not as essential.”.
The 2nd research study involved 222 online individuals. In this case, the individuals were asked to picture they were searching Instagram and stumbled upon pictures of pizza from a fictitious dining establishment near their house named Pizza City. They were shown photos either high or low in color saturation.
People in the study were also told they would either be consuming alone or with household that night and were again asked to rank the pizza on perceived freshness and tastiness and on whether they would likely buy the menu product.
As in the previous study, the food in the color-saturated image was constantly viewed as fresher and more delicious and one that individuals would be more most likely to buy. But that result was stronger for people who were told they would be consuming alone and weaker for those who would be consuming with family.
” When individuals are consuming with others, the social experience is a big part of what people anticipate,” Liu said. “But when they expect eating alone, they focus more on the food itself. They want the food to be fresher and tastier whichs why color saturation is more vital in this context.”.
These findings are more crucial now than ever previously, with individuals buying online and taking a look at pictures to help them choose what to consume, Liu stated.
” Restaurants have to post photos of their food on social media and online ordering platforms,” she said. “They need to be paying as much attention, or possibly more, to the images they post as they do to the text. Color saturation is one crucial element they need to concentrate on.”.
Referral: “Marketing online food images through color saturation: A sensory imagery perspective” by Stephanie Q. Liu, Laurie Luorong Wu, Xi Yu, and Huiling Huang, 13 July 2022, Journal of Business Research.DOI: 10.1016/ j.jbusres.2022.06.061.
The picture on the left of a poke bowl doesnt look as fresh and delicious to viewers as the one on the. Credit: Ohio State University
How does color impact how you perceive food?
According to current research, a restaurant might increase sales by utilizing an attractive photo of a hamburger or other menu product, specifically if the correct filter is used. According to the research study, food appears fresher and tastier in photos with a high color saturation, which increases audiences willingness to buy menu items..
Color saturation is a term used to describe how vibrant and abundant the blues, greens, and reds remain in a picture. The visual range of the food in the image and even whether customers expect to eat alone or with others impact how successfully color saturation works to make food appealing.
These findings provide an uncomplicated method to boost sales in the competitive dining establishment market, according to Stephanie Liu, the research studys lead author and an associate professor of hospitality management at The Ohio State University.
In one study, 267 participants were instructed to envision themselves looking through choices on an online platform for buying food. Photos of poke bowls, a Hawaiian dish containing raw, marinated fish pieces, veggies, and sauce served over rice, were provided to the participants. They were shown images either high or low in color saturation.
They want the food to be fresher and tastier and thats why color saturation is more important in this context.”.
“They must be paying as much attention, or maybe more, to the images they post as they do to the text.