The decision to watch Mukbang – Impact on eating habits and mental health: A study of Gen Z


Authors

  • Dinh Tien Minh University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City
  • Pham Thi Linh Vang University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City
  • Le Thi Kim Chi University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City
  • Truong Phan Dinh Vu University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City
  • Huynh Tuyet Nhu University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City
  • Pham Nguyen Thanh Huy University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City
DOI: https://doi.org/10.57110/vnu-jeb.v4i2.251

Keywords:

Mukbang, mental health, eating habits, Gen Z, Vietnam

Abstract

Mukbang is an interesting form of entertainment. It has been attracting millions of viewers around the world. With wide coverage, Mukbang videos have a strong influence on viewers. Unlike previous studies, which only focused on the motivations to watch Mukbang videos or considered the negative consequences of excessive use, the present study is conducted to explore the positive impact of watching Mukbang videos on viewers’ mental health and eating habits. After conducting a literature review, we propose the relationship among variables based on the source attractiveness model, the compensatory Internet model, and the uses and gratification theory. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. Research data was collected based on survey questionnaires from 192 Gen Z in Vietnam. The findings show that there are two factors that positively affect “Decision to watch Mukbang” in ascending order: “Entertainment” and “Indirect satisfaction”. Furthermore, the study results also indicate that the factor “Decision to watch Mukbang” has a positive relationship with both “Eating habits” and “Mental health”. Proposing solutions based on research results has contributed to helping Mukbang viewers explore the positives of this type of entertainment. Simultaneously, it helps a Broadcast Jockey know what factors viewers are interested in, thereby creating attractive videos.

References

Amos, C., Holmes, G., & Strutton, D. (2008). Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser effects and advertising effectiveness: A quantitative synthesis of effect size. International Journal of Advertising, 27(2), 209-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2008.11073052

Anjani, L., Mok, T., Tang, A., Oehlberg, L., & Goh, W. B. (2020, April). Why do people watch others eat food? An empirical study on the motivations and practices of Mukbang viewers. Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13). https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376567

Bruno, A. L., & Chung, S. (2017). Mŏkpang: Pay me and I’ll show you how much I can eat for your pleasure. Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema, 9(2), 155-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/17564905.2017.1368150

Choe, H. (2019). Eating together multimodally: Collaborative eating in Mukbang, a Korean livestream of eating. Language in Society, 48(2), 171-208. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404518001355

Conner, M., Norman, P., & Bell, R. (2002). The theory of planned behavior and healthy eating. Health Psychology, 21(2), 194. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.21.2.194

De Backer, C. J., & Hudders, L. (2016). Look who’s cooking. Investigating the relationship between watching educational and edutainment TV cooking shows, eating habits and everyday cooking practices among men and women in Belgium. Appetite, 96, 494-501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.10.016

Demetrovics, Z., Urbán, R., Nagygyörgy, K., Farkas, J., Zilahy, D., Mervó, B., ... & Harmath, E. (2011). Why do you play? The development of the motives for online gaming questionnaire (MOGQ). Behavior Research Methods, 43, 814-825. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0091-y

Donnar, G. (2017). ‘Food porn’ or intimate sociality: Committed celebrity and cultural performances of overeating in Mukbang. Celebrity Studies, 8(1), 122-127. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2016.1272857

Elhai, J. D., & Contractor, A. A. (2018). Examining latent classes of smartphone users: Relations with psychopathology and problematic smartphone use. Computers in Human Behavior, 82, 159-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.010

Gillespie, S. L. (2019). Watching women eat: A critique of magical eating and Mukbang videos. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno).

Gogan, I. C. W., Zhang, Z., & Matemba, E. D. (2018). Impacts of gratifications on consumers’ emotions and continuance use intention: An empirical study of Weibo in China. Sustainability, 10(9), 3162. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093162

Hakimey, H., & Yazdanifard, R. (2015). The Review of Mukbang (Broadcast Eating) Phenomena and Its Relations with South Korean Culture and Society. International Journal of Management, Accounting & Economics, 2(5), 443-455. https://dor.isc.ac/dor/20.1001.1.23832126.2015.2.5.8.3

Hall, A. (2006). Viewers’ perceptions of reality programs. Communication Quarterly, 54(2), 191-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370600650902

Hong, S., & Park, S. (2018). Internet Mukbang (foodcasting) in South Korea. In I. Eleá & L. Mikos (Eds.), Young and Creative: Digital Technologies Empowering Children in Everyday Life (pp. 111-125). Nordicom.

Horzum, M. B. (2016). Examining the relationship to gender and personality on the purpose of Facebook usage of Turkish university students. Computers in Human Behavior, 64, 319-328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.010

Jackson (2018). What is ‘Mukbang’? Inside the viral Korean food YouTube trend. https://www.aol.com/news/mukbang-inside-viral-korean-food-153600513.html

Kang, E., Lee, J., Kim, K. H., & Yun, Y. H. (2020). The popularity of eating broadcast: Content analysis of “Mukbang” YouTube videos, media coverage, and the health impact of “Mukbang” on public. Health Informatics Journal, 26(3), 2237-2248. https://doi.org/10.1177/1460458220901360

Kardefelt-Winther, D. (2014). A conceptual and methodological critique of internet addiction research: Towards a model of compensatory internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 351-354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.059

Katz, E., Blumler, J., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and gratification theory. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509-523. https://doi.org/10.1086/268109

Kim, M. (2022). How can I be as attractive as a fitness youtuber in the era of COVID-19? The impact of digital attributes on flow experience, satisfaction, and behavioral intention. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 64, 102778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102778

Kircaburun, K., Balta, S., Emirtekin, E., Tosuntas, Ş. B., Demetrovics, Z., & Griffiths, M. D. (2021). Compensatory usage of the internet: The case of Mukbang watching on YouTube. Psychiatry Investigation, 18(4), 269. https://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2019.0340

Kircaburun, K., Harris, A., Calado, F., & Griffiths, M. D. (2021). The psychology of Mukbang watching: A scoping review of the academic and non-academic literature. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19, 1190-1213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00211-0

Kircaburun, K., Harris, A., Calado, F., & Griffiths, M. D. (2023). Development and validation of problematic Mukbang watching scale and Mukbang watching motives scale: a cross-sectional study with adult Mukbang watchers. Psychiatry Research Communications, 3(3), 100138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psycom.2023.100138

Kircaburun, K., March, E., Balta, S., Emirtekin, E., Kışla, T., & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). The role of procrastination between personality traits and addictive Mukbang watching among emerging adults. SAGE Open, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221085006

McCarthy, A. (2017). This Korean food phenomenon is changing the internet. https://www.eater.com/2017/4/19/15349568/Mukbang-videos-korean-youtube.

McGuire, W.J. (1985). Attitudes and attitude change. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology (pp. 233-346). Random House.

Palladino, V. (2016). Mukbang and Hauls: The Rise of Super-Indulgent Eating and Shopping Videos. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/04/Mukbang-and-hauls-the-rise-of-super-indulgent-eating-and-shopping-videos/

Pereira, B., Sung, B., & Lee, S. (2019). I like watching other people eat: A cross-cultural analysis of the antecedents of attitudes towards Mukbang. Australasian Marketing Journal, 27(2), 78-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2019.03.001

Perlman, D., & Peplau, L. A. (1981). Toward a social psychology of loneliness. Personal Relationships, 3, 31-56. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00460

Pettit, H. (2019). Bizarre ‘Mukbang’ YouTube trend sees women scoff 20,000-calorie McDonalds meals earning them millions-and is branded ‘sexy turn on’ by some fans. The Sun. https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/8801045/Mukbang-youtube-trend-women-earn-millions/

Pradhan, D., Duraipandian, I., & Sethi, D. (2016). Celebrity endorsement: How celebrity-brand-user personality congruence affects brand attitude and purchase intention. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(5), 456-473. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2014.914561

Quartz (2016). Why Some Koreans Make $10,000 a Month to Eat on Camera. Quartz Media. https://qz.com/592710/why-some-koreans-make-10000-a-month-to-eat-on-camera

Raven, B. H., Schwarzwald, J., & Koslowsky, M. (1998). Conceptualizing and measuring a power/interaction model of interpersonal influence 1. Journal of applied social psychology, 28(4), 307-332. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1998.tb01708.x

Roberts, N., Beath, A., & Boag, S. (2019). Autonomous sensory meridian response: Scale development and personality correlates. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6(1), 22-39. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000168

Schwegler-Castañer, A. (2018). At the intersection of thinness and overconsumption: The ambivalence of munching, crunching, and slurping on camera. Feminist Media Studies, 18(4), 782-785. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1478694

Song, H. G. (2021). A study on Mukbang user’s consuming behavior. [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Song, H., & Schwarz, N. (2009). If it’s difficult to pronounce, it must be risky: Fluency, familiarity, and risk perception. Psychological Science, 20(2), 135-138. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02267.x

Spence, C., Mancini, M., & Huisman, G. (2019). Digital commensality: Eating and drinking in the company of technology. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 460197. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02252

Strand, M., & Gustafsson, S. A. (2020). Mukbang and disordered eating: A netnographic analysis of online eating broadcasts. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 44(4), 586-609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-020-09674-6

Tu, Y., & Fishbach, A. (2017). The social path to satiation: Satisfying desire vicariously via other’s consumption. ACR North American Advances.

VanderWeele, T. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2012). On the reciprocal association between loneliness and subjective well-being. American Journal of Epidemiology, 176(9), 777-784. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kws173

Wang, X., Ning, Z., & Wang, L. (2018). Offloading in Internet of vehicles: A fog-enabled real-time traffic management system. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 14(10), 4568-4578. https://doi.org/10.1109/TII.2018.2816590

Weibel, D., Wissmath, B., Habegger, S., Steiner, Y., & Groner, R. (2008). Playing online games against computer-vs. human-controlled opponents: Effects on presence, flow, and enjoyment. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), 2274-2291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2007.11.002

Wolniewicz, C. A., Tiamiyu, M. F., Weeks, J. W., & Elhai, J. D. (2018). Problematic smartphone use and relations with negative affect, fear of missing out, and fear of negative and positive evaluation. Psychiatry Research, 262, 618-623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.09.058

Woo, S. (2018). Mukbang is changing digital communications. Anthropology News, 59(6), e90-e94. https://doi.org/10.1111/AN.1048

Yoon, D., & Kim, Y. K. (2016). Effects of self-congruity and source credibility on consumer responses to coffeehouse advertising. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 25(2), 167-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2014.1001932

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

25-04-2024

Abstract View

1416

PDF Downloaded

22

How to Cite

Dinh Tien Minh, Pham Thi Linh Vang, Le Thi Kim Chi, Truong Phan Dinh Vu, Huynh Tuyet Nhu, & Pham Nguyen Thanh Huy. (2024). The decision to watch Mukbang – Impact on eating habits and mental health: A study of Gen Z . VNU University of Economics and Business, 4(2), 58. https://doi.org/10.57110/vnu-jeb.v4i2.251

Issue

Section

Original Articles