How to win shares and influence fast-food market: Warm and fuzzy can't cut it
New research from QUT challenges a common assumption in social media marketing: For fast-food brands, social media posts that signal expertise and competence are shared more often than those focused on warmth and friendliness.
A recent study from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has challenged conventional wisdom in social media marketing for fast-food brands. According to the research, posts that demonstrate expertise and competence are more likely to be shared than those focusing on warmth and friendliness. The findings, published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, suggest that analytical language and blue-green visual elements encourage stronger engagement on Facebook than emotionally expressive captions and warm-colored imagery.
Lead author and doctoral candidate Uchitha Wijesinghe from QUT's School of Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations, emphasized that the study contradicts the common assumption that warmth is more persuasive in food advertising on social media. In a highly competitive industry, fast-food outlets and delivery services must capture consumers' attention and engagement on platforms like Facebook.
The researchers discovered that content sharing, equivalent to word-of-mouth recommendations, is the most valued form of engagement.
To conduct their research, the team analyzed Facebook posts from quick-service restaurants and mobile app-based food delivery services separately, examining the impact of warm colors such as yellow and red (denoting warmth) and blue and green (denoting competence) on social media engagement. They classified warmth as emotionally expressive language and competence as language reflecting thinking, reasoning, explanation, causation, and analytical processing.
The results indicated that posts with stronger competence cues, including analytical language and blue-green imagery, were more likely to be shared compared to posts dominated by emotional language. In fact, warm colors and emotionally expressive captions negatively affected sharing. The researchers concluded that people seek evidence of expertise and credibility, even in competitive social environments, before sharing a post.
Wijesinghe suggested that food-related content alone may not suffice to generate shares. Instead, food cues should be supported by visual and text cues that enhance the post's overall evaluation. For content creators, integrating reasoning, explanation, and credibility into text-based content, such as phrases like "why choose," "because," "true or false," and "this explains," could be beneficial. Similarly, incorporating blue and green tones into food imagery may strengthen its effectiveness.
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