Instabranding: Shaping the Personalities of the Top Food Brands on Instagram

Instagram is a growing social media platform that provides a means of self-expression and communication through creative visuals. Businesses are responding to this trend by using it as a cost-effective marketing tool. This paper examined the accounts of the leading food brands on Instagram: McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Shredz, Ben & Jerry’s, and Oreo. Photos were classified according to 11 elements: product, person and product, people and product, humor and product, world events, recipes, campaign with no products, user-generated, regram from a celebrity, and video. They were further analyzed along five dimensions of personality: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. Results presented common themes revealing that brands are using Instagram to promote their products and, more significantly, to colorfully express their personalities.