Seeing Is Ordering: The Influence of Mukbang Video Types on Consumers’ Immediate Ordering Intention

With the rapid growth of short-video platforms and online food-delivery services, mukbang short videos have become an important influence on consumers’ immediate food-related decisions. Drawing on visual hunger theory, this research examines how different types of mukbang videos influence consumers’ immediate ordering intention, as well as the roles of oral sensory arousal and visual composition in this process. Across three preregistered studies (N = 713), the findings show that immersive mukbang increases consumers’ immediate ordering intention more than noisy mukbang. This effect occurs because immersive mukbang evokes stronger oral sensory arousal, and it becomes more pronounced when the video adopts a food-centered rather than human-centered visual composition. These findings extend visual hunger theory to the short-video food context and offer practical implications for the design of digital food content.