Building relationships on Instagram: Enhancing customer engagement and visit intentions in restaurant

International Journal of Data and Network Science, cilt.8, ss.1-16, 2024 (Scopus)

The study examines how Instagram interactions impact customer response in the restaurant con-

text using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework. It explores how interactions on

Instagram influence customers' intention to visit a restaurant, online engagement (OEG), and cus-

tomer involvement (CI). The study highlights the significance of Instagram as a platform for ef-

fective interaction and relationship-building with customers, emphasizing its role in the hospitality

industry. The study focuses on restaurant pages on Instagram, utilizing structural equation mod-

eling to analyze data from a sample of 242 Instagram users in Turkey who are restaurant custom-

ers. The findings reveal that social media (SM) interactions are positively and significantly related

to OEG, CI, and visit intention (VI). Furthermore, the results suggest that OEG and CI mediate

the relationship between social media interactions (SMI) and VI, supporting the hypotheses con-

cerning the indirect relationships between these variables. This research contributes to understand-

ing SM dynamics and provides insights for restaurant marketers to enhance customer engagement

and drive business growth.