Dr Catherine Ashworth

The aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of mutual engagement within the foodie influencer communities of practice created via Instagram. The study is based on 20 in-depth interviews with foodie Instagrammers. Findings demonstrate that unlike other communities of practice, rather than competing among themselves, foodies learn from each other, exchange tips, help those starting out in the field and attend events together. Close collaboration also leads to the formation of strong friendship bonds. However, findings show that whilst authenticity of content is deemed important, elements of influencer engagement are artificially orchestrated within their own community of practice. These findings have implications for marketing professionals in terms of evaluating influencersʻ engagement authenticity and the selection criteria they consider with regard to targeting appropriate and specific influencers to work with.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the processes and procedures adopted by micro-influencers to create ‘Instagrammable’ content. It is based on 17 in-depth interviews with foodie micro-influencers based in London and Barcelona. Interview data was complemented with participant observation in restaurants or cafes. This paper makes three original contributions. Firstly, the study expands the understanding of the concept of ‘instagrammability’ by approaching it from the perspective of influencers creating content to satisfy and/or growan audience. Secondly, it illustrates how two dominant factors drive influencers content creation process: the self/audience focus content branding orientation. The the audience-focus content development process varied drastically, with some influencers being very conscious of responding to their audiences’ needs whereas others maintained first and foremost a very strong self-focus’. However, even for the influencers who were the most responsive to their audiences perceived wishes, a sense of self-focus was maintained as an anchor point in all developed content, often linked to a passion for a certain type of food. Thirdly, this paper maps and describes the behind-the-scenes content creation process adopted by micro-influencers, including four stages (1)Content Planning,(2)Media Gathering, (3)Editing,and (4)Publishing, which was followed by an engagement phase.This study offers a timely contribution to better comprehending the content creation cycle adopted by micro-influencers by using foodie influencers as a case study.