The impact of social media influencers on gendered consumption patterns: The case of fine-dining restaurants in Istanbul

This research has been done to assess the impact of social media influencers on male and female consumers' eating out behavior. The thesis mainly focuses on the responses of the two gender groups to the marketing activities food and beverages influencers usually engage in on behalf of fine-dining restaurants. Social media have been chosen in this study as the main area of interest because they have almost become the most popular communication channel today, and social media influencers have been turned into the world's new generation celebrities; they may even be called our contemporary opinion leaders. The research data was collected through an online survey into which users of two major social networks were invited for participation: Instagram, where people socialize with each other by sharing photos and videos as well as by posting likes and comments, and LinkedIn, which mainly helps people learn about available job opportunities and contemporary developments in business life. A total of 277 people participated in the survey, and 242 of the completed surveys were accepted as valid. Besides, the business unit and marketing managers of the two selected fine-dining restaurants from Istanbul were interviewed so as to understand their opinions about this rather novel marketing strategy: endorsement by social media influencers. The results show that the managers do not deny the impact of social media influencers and prefer to benefit from their reputation and popularity to promote their restaurants in social media. On the other hand, according to the results of the online survey, whereas women could be said to display a slightly more positive attitude towards social media influencers, diners do not seem to be influenced by social media influencers as they are assumed to be. Still, the results suggest that social media's influence on the participants' daily lives cannot be underestimated. Indeed, it has achieved a certain amount of influencing power over various aspects of their eating out behavior, ranging from their socialization patterns to their food and restaurant preferences.