From Viewing to Visiting: How Viewer Attitudes and Para-Social Bonds Drive Short Food Content-Induced Restaurant Visit Intentions

The widespread growth of short-form food content on platforms such as YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok has transformed how consumers engage with food information, develop social connections, and form visit intentions. This study investigates the behavioural mechanism through which online exposure to short food videos influences offline restaurant visit intention. Grounded in the Input–Process–Output framework and the Uses and Gratifications Theory, the research examines how motivational factors (information and enjoyment) and relational cues (attractiveness and habitual viewing) shape attitudes towards short food content, para-social relationships with content creators, and subsequent behavioural intentions. Data were collected between 2 and 9 September 2025, yielding 312 valid responses from individuals who had viewed food-related short-form videos within the past year. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to assess the proposed hypotheses. The results demonstrate that attractiveness and habitual viewing significantly strengthen para-social relationships, while information and enjoyment positively influence attitudes towards short food content. Para-social relationships and attitudes were found to be strong predictors of intention to continue watching short food videos. Notably, intention to watch short food content exerted a substantial positive effect on restaurant visit intention, confirming a clear online-to-offline behavioural pathway. This study shows that engagement with short-form food content is driven by cognitive, emotional, and relational factors beyond technology-focused models. Content creators and food marketers should enhance informational value, increase enjoyment, post consistently, and use para-social bonds effectively.