Impact of Photo Angle on Food Perceptions and Evaluation

Author

Austin B. Jacobs, University of San DiegoFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2017

Document Type

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing

Department

Marketing

Advisor

Morgan Poor

Abstract

Food photography is an increasingly popular phenomenon, especially on social media. There are over 215 million photos on Instagram with the hashtag “food.” There is a growing trend to showcase the food on social media, as both health and “food art” has become part of popular culture. The purpose of this project is to explore how the photo angle utilized in the image influences a number of consumer outcomes, including evaluations of the food itself, the company, and desire to interact with the image. Specifically, pictures of food commonly employ either a three-quarter downward looking angle (as if you were sitting at the table ready to take a bite of the food) or an overhead “bird’s eye view” angle (as if you were standing over and looking down at the food). Through a series of four experiments we show that photos of food taken from a three-quarter downward looking angle are evaluated more favorably in terms of perceived taste, attractiveness, and desire to eat the food, while photos of food taken from an overhead angle create brand perceptions associated with progressiveness and trendiness.

Digital USD Citation

Jacobs, Austin B., "Impact of Photo Angle on Food Perceptions and Evaluation" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. 42.
https://digital.sandiego.edu/honors_theses/42