USD Magazine Fall 2016

TORERO  NEWS

Does your food taste better if you post a picture of it on social media? Short answer: It depends.

F o o d a n d h e a l t h r e s e a r c h i n t h e I n s t a g r a m a g e [ a p p e t i z i n g ] NUTRITIOUS. DELICIOUS. AMBITIOUS.

by Kelly Knufken

T

hat decadent meal may in fact taste even better after you snap a picture of it —

It turns out that, at least for indulgent foods, taking a picture first does tend to increase one’s perception of how it tastes. “When you take a picture of it, you’re focusing on the food, and this increases your anticipation.” The same wasn’t found to be true for healthier fare, so Poor wanted to find out if there was a way to turn the effect on. For nutri-

herself a health nut, tapping into current trends was her modus operandi to inspire others to make more nutritious choices. “We see these images of food everywhere, but there’s not a lot of research on how it affects us,” Poor says. “I certainly have an embar- rassing number of food images on my phone. I exercise some will- power in how many I post.”

tious food, the study’s subjects needed to both read an article about people eating healthfully and take a picture to increase the pleasure they got from the food. “We have a camera in our hand at all times. It’s kind of changed what we see as photo worthy.” With social media, “We are also brands that need to produce content.”

for sharing on social media or elsewhere — but can the same be said for a simple apple or other healthy staple? That’s the crux of some recent research coauthored by Morgan Poor, assistant professor of mar- keting at USD. For Poor, who calls

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