Seen but Not Always Said

Sustainable food transitions depend not only on environmental awareness but also on the social visibility and cultural acceptance of new consumption practices. This article examines how digitally embedded peer communities shape the collective acceptance of meat alternatives within culturally specific everyday life in the Philippines. Drawing on a qualitative study of Filipino nano and micro-influencers on Facebook and TikTok, incorporating semi-structured interviews with 8 influencers and 16 followers, digital ethnography, and content analysis of 271 posts across 14 influencer pages, the analysis yields three analytically distinct dimensions. These are visible social proof (collaborative content, cross-platform amplification, hashtag communities, and experiential events), invisible social proof (private validation, offline testimonials, and temporally delayed adoption), and sustainability advocacy (connecting individual adoption to environmental and market normalization goals). The findings reveal a tension between public visibility and private adoption. Diffusion outcomes of greatest societal significance emerge not from publicly observable engagement metrics but from invisible, relational processes rooted in Filipino collectivist norms of face-saving and social harmony. The study shows that sustainable dietary change is shaped through both public visibility and private peer validation. It contributes to social sustainability scholarship by situating dietary behavioral change within culturally specific structures of collective social acceptance and provides practical insights for sustainability advocates, community leaders, and policymakers engaged with sustainable food transitions in the Philippines. The findings may inform future research on sustainable food transitions in other collectivist social commerce contexts.