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Secretless pastry chefs on Instagram: the disclosure of culinary secrets on social media

Kai-Sean Lee (School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA)
Chen-Wei (Willie) Tao (School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 11 January 2021

Issue publication date: 15 March 2021

993

Abstract

Purpose

Informed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s systems view of creativity and Chad Borkenhagen’s conceptualization of open source cooking, this study explored how a group of extraordinary pastry chef used Instagram to openly express creativity, disseminate knowledge and reveal culinary secrets. The subsequent impacts of such actions were also assessed.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitatively driven mixed-method approach was conducted using a nested mixed-method design. A total of 2,456 Instagram posts were visually analyzed alongside a series of interviews with elite pastry chefs over a two-year period.

Findings

Analysis distilled three themes that delineated how elite pastry chefs express creativity and share knowledge mindfully, ethically and altruistically on Instagram. The findings also converged to form a new theoretical model, “systems view of culinary creative sharing,” which accounts for the multifaceted considerations of culinary knowledge sharing on social media.

Research limitations/implications

Findings converged to form a systems view of culinary knowledge sharing. This is peculiarly useful for scholars who are interested in developing a greater understanding about “where and how” creative ideas and knowledge originate, disseminate and receive corroborations in the contemporary digital era.

Originality/value

This study highlighted that a new praxis of open sharing looms large in the culinary profession. This praxis symbolizes a movement away from the traditional mindset of safeguarding culinary secrets and toward a more transparent and open philosophy toward knowledge sharing in the culinary community.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to Yuchao Yang for her time and diligence in making this manuscript possible. We also thank IJCHM’s reviewing and editorial team for improving the final manuscript.

Citation

Lee, K.-S. and Tao, C.-W.(W). (2021), "Secretless pastry chefs on Instagram: the disclosure of culinary secrets on social media", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 650-669. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2020-0895

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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