The role of Instagram in the UNESCO's creative city of gastronomy: A case study of Macau

Macau has been designated as the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2017, and the government also aims to preserve and revive the city's culture of gastronomy. In doing so, social media, especially User Generated Content such as Instagram, plays an important role. This study used quantitative content analysis on Instagram to explore the most popular cuisine. Also, semi-structured interviews were conducted to discover the opinions from residents' perceptions regarding the use of Instagram in promoting the designation. The findings indicated that Taiwanese cuisine, food from local café, and local snacks are the most popular ones. Additionally, local residents believed that the government should develop an official Instagram account to advertise and introduce the uniqueness of Macau and to reach more international tourists. In practice, the findings provide important implications and directions regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of a post built on the Brand Post Popularity model.