The foodie instagramer as a comunication strategy

Abstract

Technological innovations have transformed the way organizations communicate, and social networks -especially Instagram- have led to the emergence of new opinion leaders: influencers. The purpose of this writing was to know the effects of using influencers-foodie instagramer- as an external communication strategy to position a gastronomic brand. Within this framework, the variables were analyzed from a specific perspective of Public Relations. This work takes the form of a descriptive study, based on a mixed approach with a non-experimental cross-sectional design; using as techniques for data collection the semi-structured interview with the foodie instagramer "Morfando Ando, and the content analysis of the Instagram profiles of both the foodie and three gastronomic brands from Cordoba that used this foodie. The results show that the influencers establish a bridge between the brand and the followers, constituting an effective external communication tool, by mutually empowering each other within the framework of the circular engagement process that is generated between the foodie instagramer, the gastronomic brands and the followers who It represents a challenge for Public Relations to try to maintain engagement with both the brands and the influencer's followers, because there is a fine line between the influencer as a brand and the influencer as a positioner of another brand.