Exploring the food-related user-generated content and the relevant impact on user engagement behaviour

Both conventional and emerging digital media formats have contributed to an increase in food interest, especially the growing trend of amateur mobile food photo-sharing. The trend demonstrates the significance of thoroughly comprehending user engagement behaviours on food-related user-generated content. The present study examines the social media sharing of food-related user-generated content and relevant impacts on user engagement behaviour. The qualitative data in the study were obtained through in-depth interviews, which were subsequently subjected to thematic analysis. Moreover, digital food culture, food-related content, and user engagement behaviour were the major themes revealed from the thematic analysis, which demonstrated the importance of user-generated content for Malaysian food retailers and marketers. This study contributed to the existing knowledge corpus by extensively analyzing the dynamic interaction between digital food culture, sharing food-related user-generated content on social media platforms, and corresponding impacts on user engagement behaviour.