Introduction This essay explores how globalisation has caused people’s taste and preferences to food have changed, especially with regard to the increasing homogenisation of food. Also discussed is how new media has impacted how people consume in today’s society, with a concentration on has social media platforms such as Instagram is changing how people choose places to eat and how restaurants and corporations take advantage of this to make profits.
Impact of Multinational Corporations
Food undoubtedly plays an important role in our daily lives. More than giving us the minerals we require for survival, food also reflects the culture and identity of a place. As a place becomes more globalised and cosmopolitan, so does its food culture and how …show more content…
Many of these corporations are based in Western countries, with Starbucks based in the US. The efficiency and convenience of these food corporations attract people to consume these foods over other more traditional foods. In the case of Starbucks, it is also due to the image of wealth associated with Starbucks that drives people to drink its coffee. Nevertheless, the point still stands that people have preferentially consumed food from these multinational corporations.
Studies such as those done by Ho Hossin and Mohiuddin (2015) have shown that youth tend to prefer fast food compared to traditional food. This is attributed to the fact that fast food is now more readily available in these countries (in this case, Bangladesh) and more convenient compared to traditional food. Multinational food corporations such as Macdonald’s have become more pervasive thanks to globalisation improving access to these countries and allowing these corporations start up there, thereby making fast food more …show more content…
However, this only constitutes the “top-down” influence of globalisation. New media such as social networking sites have also helped the public have a greater impact on the food they eat by the choices they make when consuming food, as we shall see in the next section.
The Effect of New Media on Food Culture With the rise of the Internet and new media, more people now have social media accounts. “If a picture of a cup of coffee from Starbucks was not uploaded onto Instagram, was it really consumed?” is a parody of an old saying that shows that social media such as Instagram have become a part of the way we consume food. Instagram, a photo-sharing social media network, estimates that it has more than 400 million monthly active users uploading over 80 million photos a day. This rise has resulted in changes in consumers’ tastes and preferences. Almost synonymous with the idea of Instagram is posting pictures on food on the social media platform. As observed by Shefi
Impact of Multinational Corporations
Food undoubtedly plays an important role in our daily lives. More than giving us the minerals we require for survival, food also reflects the culture and identity of a place. As a place becomes more globalised and cosmopolitan, so does its food culture and how …show more content…
Many of these corporations are based in Western countries, with Starbucks based in the US. The efficiency and convenience of these food corporations attract people to consume these foods over other more traditional foods. In the case of Starbucks, it is also due to the image of wealth associated with Starbucks that drives people to drink its coffee. Nevertheless, the point still stands that people have preferentially consumed food from these multinational corporations.
Studies such as those done by Ho Hossin and Mohiuddin (2015) have shown that youth tend to prefer fast food compared to traditional food. This is attributed to the fact that fast food is now more readily available in these countries (in this case, Bangladesh) and more convenient compared to traditional food. Multinational food corporations such as Macdonald’s have become more pervasive thanks to globalisation improving access to these countries and allowing these corporations start up there, thereby making fast food more …show more content…
However, this only constitutes the “top-down” influence of globalisation. New media such as social networking sites have also helped the public have a greater impact on the food they eat by the choices they make when consuming food, as we shall see in the next section.
The Effect of New Media on Food Culture With the rise of the Internet and new media, more people now have social media accounts. “If a picture of a cup of coffee from Starbucks was not uploaded onto Instagram, was it really consumed?” is a parody of an old saying that shows that social media such as Instagram have become a part of the way we consume food. Instagram, a photo-sharing social media network, estimates that it has more than 400 million monthly active users uploading over 80 million photos a day. This rise has resulted in changes in consumers’ tastes and preferences. Almost synonymous with the idea of Instagram is posting pictures on food on the social media platform. As observed by Shefi