Date of Award

Summer 8-31-2025

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Business Administration

First Advisor

Peng Xu

Second Advisor

Yuchen(Edwin) Wang

Third Advisor

Fahimeh Rahmanniyaychomachaei

Abstract

The food industry has undergone significant transformation in recent decades due to advancements in technology. This transformation presents an opportunity to examine how digital technologies can transform food business operations through a two-paper study investigating social media marketing and blockchain supply chain management. The first analyzes how visual and textual features in fast-food brands’ social media posts (e.g., consummatory image, food bundle, color variation, brightness, and speech act) impact user engagement using machine learning to assess features and statistical models to measure effects on social media engagement. The analysis reveals that specific characteristics of posts featuring consummatory, food bundle, and high-brightness images for visual appeal, as well as a combination of action images and actionable text, are effective in driving engagement. In the second study, we apply game theory to explore how blockchain can be implemented within food supply chains. By comparing various adoption strategies, the analysis considers unique challenges, such as information quality and food waste. The model examines how these different implementations approach influence the incentives of supply chain stakeholders, including their potential profits, operational advantages, and the challenges they may encounter. Blockchain supply chain management emphasizes that full cooperation between supplier and retailer, along with an appropriate cost-sharing arrangement, is the most effective strategy for the food supply chain, considering the challenges of information quality and food waste. These insights from both studies contribute to a comprehensive understanding of digital transformation across the food industry.

Comments

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