The Influence of Social Media-like Cues on Visual Attention—An Eye-Tracking Study with Food Products

Social media has developed into a leading advertising platform, with Instagram likes serving as visual cues that may influence consumer perception and behavior. The present study investigated the effect of Instagram likes on visual attention, memory, and food evaluations focusing on traditional Greek food posts, using eye-tracking technology. The study assessed whether a higher number of likes increased attention to the food area, enhanced memory recall of food names, and influenced subjective ratings (liking, perceived tastiness, and intention to taste). The results demonstrated no significant differences in overall viewing time, memory performance, or evaluation ratings between high-like and low-like conditions. Although not statistically significant, descriptive trends suggested that posts with a higher number of likes tended to be evaluated more positively and the AOIs likes area showed a trend towards attracting more visual attention. The observed trends point to a possible subtle role of likes in user's engagement with food posts, influencing how they process and evaluate such content. These findings add to the discussion about the effect of social media likes on information processing when individuals observe food pictures on social media.