The Effects of Perceived Benefits of Foodstagramming on Restaurant Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: The Moderating Role of Variety-Seeking Tendency

With the rapid growth of image-based social media, foodstagramming has become a common consumer behaviour that increasingly shapes restaurant experiences and marketing outcomes; however, its multidimensional benefits and impacts on consumer responses remain underexplored. This study aims to examine the effects of perceived benefits of foodstagramming, formed during restaurant dining experiences, on restaurant satisfaction and behavioral intentions among Instagram users. It also investigates the moderating role of consumers’ variety-seeking tendency in these relationships. The perceived benefits of foodstagramming were concepturalised as five sub-dimensions, and restaurant satisfaction was specified as a mediating variable linking perceived benefits to revisit intention and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) intention. Data were collected through an online survey and analyzed using structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis. The results show that perceived benefits of foodstagramming positively affect restaurant satisfaction, which in turn significantly enhances both revisit intention and e-WOM intention. The moderating effect of variety-seeking tendency was supported only in the relationship between satisfaction and revisit intention, while no significant moderating effect was found in the satisfaction–e-WOM relationship. This study extends foodstagramming research in the hospitality field by offering a multidimensional understanding of perceived benefits and clarifying the conditional role of variety-seeking tendency in shaping behavioral intentions. The findings provide practical implications for developing differentaiated marketing strategies based on consumer traits.