earticle

영어

This study aims to examine how vegetarian and vegan trends particularly the increasing presence of plant-based meat are influencing consumer interest and transforming the restaurant industry in the digital age. As interest in health, environmental sustainability, and ethical consumption continues to rise, plant-based foods have become both a lifestyle choice and a strategic focus for the foodservice industry. To explore how these trends are reflected in digital consumer interest, the study analyzed unstructured online text data collected from Google and Naver between January 2022 and June 2024. Using the Textom platform, high-frequency keywords were identified through word cloud analysis, and co-occurrence structures among core terms were explored through network analysis. Key concepts such as “plant-based,” “alternative meat,” “health,” “ethics,” and “sustainability” emerged as central in digital conversations, indicating a strong emphasis on value-driven consumption. By employing big data text mining instead of traditional survey methods, the study demonstrates methodological originality and captures real-time, organic consumer sentiment. The findings offer practical implications for product development, branding, and digital marketing strategies in the foodservice sector, while also laying a foundation for future research that utilizes unstructured data in the context of food consumption behavior.