#fluffyecowarrior, #carbonpawprint, #savetheplanet: Bug-Based Dog Food SMEs Participate in Online Sustainability Discourse Using Hashtags

Abstract

Bug-based dog food utilizes insect protein which results from food-industry by-products, contributing thereby to a more circular supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the use of Instagram hashtags as a marketing strategy for small-and-medium sized enterprises (SME) selling bug-based dog food participates in online sustainability discourse. Instagram data from three SME cases were collected resulting in the analysis of the hashtags of 900 posts. From this data, the most popular hashtags were identified, and a sustainable hashtag typology was made. The study identified three distinct categories of hashtags consisting of natural, supply chain and impact subcategory groupings. The most used hashtags across the three SMEs were #EcoFriendly, #EcoFriendlyPets and #Sustainability, demonstrating a preference for hashtags relating to impact. Using co-occurrence network analysis, patterns were identified in relation to hashtag pairings showing that #sustainableliving featured prominently, highlighting the lifestyle discourse sought by all the bug-based SMEs. These co-occurrence network visualization models also illustrate marketing strategy differences across the three SMEs. In this, three distinct hashtag strategies of Sprinkler, Activist and Leader were typologized from the hashtag use of each company case. This study’s findings contribute to the emerging body of literature surrounding companies invested in entomophagy and provide insight into insect-based dog food marketing communications aligned with sustainability discourse.