Beauty and the beast: an experimental study on the effect of Instagram food posts featuring a celebrity vs. without a celebrity on the eating intention of healthy vs. unhealthy food

The findings showed that the wide influence of celebrities has an impact on eating intention and digital engagement. While this effect is significant, the aesthetically appealing food posts without featuring celebrities have a stronger impact on eating intention and digital engagement. Digital engagement has emerged as a significant online tool to promote healthy food consumption. We suggest that the promotion of healthy foods could be more successful on social media platforms when using attractive celebrities.