TY - JOUR

T1 - How Digital Food Affects Our Analog Lives

T2 - The Impact of Food Photography on Healthy Eating Behavior

AU - Andersen, Tjark

AU - Byrne, Derek Victor

AU - Wang, Qian Janice

N1 - Funding Information: This research project (PN: 32764) was supported by the Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University (GSTS), the Funding Information: We would like to thank Signe Lund Mathiesen for providing input to visualizations, and Reto Hofstetter for his general insights about the research topic. Furthermore, we would like to thank the Sino-Danish Center of Education and Research and CiFOOD Aarhus University Center for Innovative Food Research for their financial support of this research. Funding Information: We would like to thank Signe Lund Mathiesen for providing input to visualizations, and Reto Hofstetter for his general insights about the research topic. Furthermore, we would like to thank the Sino-Danish Center of Education and Research and CiFOOD Aarhus University Center for Innovative Food Research for their financial support of this research. Funding. This research project (PN: 32764) was supported by the Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University (GSTS), the Sino-Danish Center of Education and Research (SDC), and Aarhus University?s Centre for Innovative Food Research (CiFOOD). Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2021 Andersen, Byrne and Wang.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Obesity continues to be a global issue. In recent years, researchers have started to question the role of our novel yet ubiquitous use of digital media in the development of obesity. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak affecting almost all aspects of society, many people have moved their social eating activities into the digital space, making the question as relevant as ever. The bombardment of appetizing food images and photography – colloquially referred to as “food porn” – has become a significant aspect of the digital food experience. This review presents an overview of whether and how the (1) viewing, (2) creating, and (3) online sharing of digital food photography can influence consumer eating behavior. Moreover, this review provides an outlook of future research opportunities, both to close the gaps in our scientific understanding of the physiological and psychological interaction between digital food photography and actual eating behavior, and, from a practical viewpoint, to optimize our digital food media habits to support an obesity-preventive lifestyle. We do not want to rest on the idea that food imagery’s current prevalence is a core negative influence per se. Instead, we offer the view that active participation in food photography, in conjunction with a selective use of food-related digital media, might contribute to healthy body weight management and enhanced meal pleasure.

AB - Obesity continues to be a global issue. In recent years, researchers have started to question the role of our novel yet ubiquitous use of digital media in the development of obesity. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak affecting almost all aspects of society, many people have moved their social eating activities into the digital space, making the question as relevant as ever. The bombardment of appetizing food images and photography – colloquially referred to as “food porn” – has become a significant aspect of the digital food experience. This review presents an overview of whether and how the (1) viewing, (2) creating, and (3) online sharing of digital food photography can influence consumer eating behavior. Moreover, this review provides an outlook of future research opportunities, both to close the gaps in our scientific understanding of the physiological and psychological interaction between digital food photography and actual eating behavior, and, from a practical viewpoint, to optimize our digital food media habits to support an obesity-preventive lifestyle. We do not want to rest on the idea that food imagery’s current prevalence is a core negative influence per se. Instead, we offer the view that active participation in food photography, in conjunction with a selective use of food-related digital media, might contribute to healthy body weight management and enhanced meal pleasure.

KW - commensality

KW - food intake

KW - food photography

KW - food porn

KW - grounded cognition

KW - social media

U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.634261

DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.634261

M3 - Review

AN - SCOPUS:85104500527

VL - 12

JO - Frontiers in Psychology

JF - Frontiers in Psychology

SN - 1664-1078

M1 - 634261

ER -