Social media “influencers” are holding Perth restaurants to ransom, with one cafe owner revealing she was accepting requests for free food from so-called celebrities because she was afraid of attracting negative publicity.

While some fed-up restaurateurs are fighting back by turning away people who are asking for free meals in exchange for publicity, The Sparrow’s Nest manager Lara Wolinski said she was getting three or four requests from influencers for free food every week — and she never turned them away.

“The main reason behind this is a fear of negative publicity or backlash,” Ms Wolinski said.

“It’s common knowledge that negative reviews can have a devastating effect on businesses and we always do our best to avoid this.”

Camera Icon Celebrity chef Matt Moran. Credit: Megan Powell

Perth hospitality high-flyers and marketing experts told The West Australian it was questionable how much influence Instagram food bloggers were having and whether the return on investment made it worth giving up the goods.

Matt Moran and other high-profile Australian chefs have resorted to banning “D-listers” from restaurants after being bombarded with requests for free food.

Ms Wolinski said while she had been tempted to ban some influencers requesting too many freebies, the fear of receiving negative publicity was too strong.

“I think luckily it’s just a small percentage of people who take advantage, so currently it’s not too bad,” she said.

Ms Wolinski said while she preferred to do her social media herself, she had found positive posts from food bloggers could be helpful in boosting her business. “Having a dish posted by certain more popular foodie influencers can definitely be beneficial and I have seen this first hand,” she said.

“However, for a small business, especially in this market, every single dollar counts. Giving away $50 to $100 worth of free food and drinks can genuinely affect the bottom line.”

Camera Icon Lulu La Delizia owner and chef Joel Valvasori. Credit: Richard Hatherly

Joel Valvasori, the owner and chef at Subiaco restaurant Lulu La Delizia, said he doubted the supposed influencers really had the influence they claimed.

Mr Valvasori said he occasionally had to turn down their requests to dine for free. “It takes a certain amount of gall to ask for free food,” he said.

“We don’t really care much for their influence. Some of them pay for followers anyway and you can spot them by looking at their account.

“Word of mouth is so much more important than any effect an influencer could possibly have and if we serve 130 people a day and do a good enough job that they each then tell 10 of their friends about us, that has more of an effect.”

Harvest Espresso owner Catherine Tan said the Victoria Park café either ignored or declined such requests — though she knew of places that budgeted for freebies for food bloggers.

“We knew if we started it would become a slippery slope,” she said.

Marketing expert Jacqueline Baril said some venues were worried about upsetting influencers, but in reality most people who asked for free food had only minimal influence.

“People don’t realise that 3000, 5000, even 10,000 followers doesn’t convert into sales and there are are often no lasting benefits for the business beyond regular word of mouth from any patron sharing a photo of the food,” she said.

“If a venue wants to give away free food and drinks and use that as a marketing tool they’ll reach out to influencers themselves.

“Micro-influencers can have a positive affect on a venue, but it needs to be more strategic than a single post on a single day.”