From perceived creativity and visual appeal to positive emotions: Instagram's Impact on Fast-Food Brand Evangelism

Social media marketing activities (SMMAs) on Instagram play a pivotal role in eliciting internal responses from fast-food customers. Based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, mere exposure effect, aesthetics-usability effect, affective events theory, and social identity theory, the study is the first to investigate how SMMAs of fast-food brands impact perceived creativity (PCR), positive emotions (PEM), and perceived visual appeal (PVA). The study aims to explore how these content attributes shape PEM and contribute to brand evangelism. To achieve this, data was collected from 403 participants who actively follow fast-food Instagram accounts in the USA. The ensuing data analysis reveals positive relationships between SMMAs and PCR, PVA, and PEM. These factors, in turn, exert a significant influence on brand evangelism. Furthermore, the findings indicate that PEM mediates the effects of PCR and PVA on brand evangelism. By identifying the underlying mechanisms connecting SMMAs to brand evangelism, this study sheds light on how businesses in this sector can leverage Instagram effectively for marketing purposes.