From posts to pleasure: how foodstagramming transforms digital dining into tourist delight and revisit intention – evidence from two studies

Purpose Millions of diners post and share photos of food every day; yet, little is known about which specific digital behaviors turn a meal into a delightful, revisit-worthy experience rather than just another post. This study creates an integrated model – a combination of social presence theory (SPT), self-determination theory (SDT) and balance theory (BT) – to identify how the online social interaction (OSI) and innovation competency (IC) influence five different foodstagramming benefits (FSM) and how these benefits convert into tourist delight (TD) and, finally, tourist revisit intention (TRI). Design/methodology/approach A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed across two studies – Study 1 conducted in Saudi Arabia (n = 525) and Study 2 in Egypt (n = 529) – among active foodstagrammers with recent dining experience. Data were collected through structured self-administered online questionnaires and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Results across both studies showed that OSI positively influenced all five FSM dimensions [self-expression (SE), EDX, SC, virtual community engagement (VCE), special occasion memory (SOM)] and IC had a positive impact on all five in the Egyptian sample; in the case of the Saudi Arabian sample, the support was observed in SE, EDX, SC and VCE, and the SOM relationship was not significant. VCE and social connection were the strongest predictors of TD, which mediated between FSM and TRI, while FSM itself mediated the OSI/Instagram Content–Tourist Delight (IC–TD) relationships. Psychological well-being significantly moderated the Tourist Delight–Tourism Revisit Intention (TD–TRI) relationship, and cross-cultural replication showed only minor differences between the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian samples. Research limitations/implications Because the cross-sectional design constrains causal inference, a sample of active foodstagrammers may also reduce generalizability. Subsequent studies should use longitudinal designs while examining wider tourism and cultural contexts. Practical implications Restaurateurs should enhance instagrammability and innovative presentation, while marketers should foster active virtual communities to strengthen engagement, delight and customer retention. Social implications By fostering well-being and social connectedness, digital food-sharing can help make tourism experiences memorable within contemporary digital life, as the evidence indicates. Originality/value This study contributes by deconstructing foodstagramming into five distinct psychological benefits, extending rather than replacing prior composite treatments of digital food-sharing, and by proposing the “digital-to-physical loop”, where intense TD bridges virtual engagement and physical revisit intention. The tri-theoretical framework (SPT, SDT, BT) offers a more granular account of digital engagement’s link to tourist behavior.