"Picture this: A Gen Z foodie in Brooklyn walks into a buzzy new pasta spot. They didn't read about it in The New York Times or The Infatuation, nor did they discover it through a Google Maps search. Instead, they received the recommendation the way many younger diners do: by scrolling through their Instagram feed. For many Gen Z and millennial diners, picking a restaurant is no longer about critics' stars or Yelp averages."
""We've seen in the last three to four years, the way that people are discovering restaurants and choosing restaurants is dramatically changing, and that's largely because the way that people search is dramatically changing," Abby Hughes, the head of growth and strategy at Belle Communication, which specializes in influencer marketing for restaurant and food brands, told Business Insider. "They're going to social media first before Google, and even before Yelp," she added."
"A decade ago, diners in major cities like New York leaned on Yelp and Google reviews to choose where to eat. Pre-Instagram, critics backed by major media organizations also held substantial sway over which restaurants gained widespread recognition."
Gen Z and millennial diners increasingly rely on social media feeds and influencer recommendations to discover restaurants, bypassing traditional search, Google Maps, Yelp, and critics. Influencer marketing agencies note a recent multi-year shift in discovery patterns as users consult social platforms first. Historically, Yelp and Google reviews and critics at major outlets significantly influenced restaurant traffic and revenue, with studies linking higher Yelp ratings to measurable revenue gains. The rise of algorithm-driven discovery has redistributed influence from a small number of critics to platform algorithms and social shares, reshaping marketing strategies for restaurants and food brands.
Read at Business Insider
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