CAMERA EAT FIRST: TOURIST MOTIVATION IN SHARING FOOD PHOTOGRAPH ON INSTAGRAM

Abstract

Purpose of the study: Uploading food photos on social media has become a phenomenon among tourists during culinary tours. This phenomenon is increasingly developing into a hobby, namely distributing the art of food photography which is also supported by the development of increasingly sophisticated camera features on smartphones. The purpose of this study is to analyze the motivation of tourists in uploading food photos on Instagram. Methodology: This research method is descriptive quantitative, and the data collection techniques through distributing questionnaires and literature studies. The sampling technique is non-probability sampling, namely random sampling. The number of respondents in this study was 103 people, and the data analysis technique used descriptive statistics. Main Findings: This study's theoretical implication shows that the sequence of tourists' motivation to upload food photos on social media is capture togetherness as a realization of the social life of tourists, promotion, food documentation, food art, relaxation, reference, and existence. Applications of this study: Knowing tourists' motivation can provide an overview of current culinary tourism behavior and can be used as suggestions for culinary businesses in designing marketing strategies. The practical implications are suggestions for culinary entrepreneurs to increase their activity and social media interaction as a marketing effort. Novelty/Originality of this study: This research is original, and this is the first study that analyzing tourist motivations in sharing food photographs on Instagram. This is new because most studies are mostly done in general consumers, while the context of this study is on culinary tourism.