본 연구는 인기 온라인 먹방(먹는 방송, Mukbang) 콘텐츠가 시청자들의 건강하지 않은 식행동에 어떻게 영향을 미치는지 댓글 반응 분석을 통해 살펴보았다. 2018년 7월부터 2019년 6월까지 업로드된 인기유튜브 먹방 영상물 36편에 달린 시청자 댓글 총 72,721건을 수집 분석하였다. 수집된 댓글 반응의 표현적 특징과 주요 단어에 따른 댓글 내용의 차이를 살펴보고, 고열량 저영양 음식 노출 여부에 따른 댓글 내용의 차이, 건강하지 않은 식행동 노출 여부에 따른 댓글 내용의 차이 등을 살펴보고 시사점을 도출하였다. 분석 결과, 온라인 먹방에 달린 시청자 댓글들은 식욕과 식행동에 대한 긍정적인 태도 표현을 나타내고 있었다. 하지만 고열량 저영양 등 건강하지 않은 식품이나 빨리 먹기 많이 먹기 등 건강하지 않은 식행동 장면에 대해서는 시청자들이 식품 섭취 욕구의 긍정적인 인식과 더불어 부정적 혐오의 표현도 함께 나타났다. 한편, 온라인 먹방 유튜버에 대한 호감도와 대리만족의 표현들 역시 빈번하게 관찰되었다. 본 연구는 온라인 먹방 콘텐츠가 시청자 인식에 미치는 영향력을 보여주는 동시에 온라인 먹방 유튜버들에게 사회적 책임 의식에 대한 시사점을 제시해준다.
　
The purpose of this study was to examine viewers" comments on how popular online eating show (Mukbang) videos influence viewers" perceptions and lead to unhealthy eating behaviors. So far, previous studies have focused on the currently widespread phenomenon of Mukbang and qualitative interpretation of viewers’ experiences. However, not many studies have investigated viewers" actual conscious responses to Mukbang content. To examine how online Mukbang content influences viewers" perceptions of unhealthy eating behavior, it was necessary to explore viewers" comments according to the characteristics of the content. This study is differentiated from previous Mukbang-related studies because it investigated viewers" comment responses on popular online Mukbang content with big data analysis. This study posed three research questions as follows: first, what are the most frequently used expressions in online Mukbang content comments? Second, are there any differences between the comments for healthy food eating content and those for unhealthy food eating content? What is the commenters" favorability toward Mukbang YouTubers? Third, are there any differences between the comments for healthy eating behavior content and those for unhealthy eating behavior content? What is the commenters" favorability toward Mukbang YouTubers? A total of 72,721 viewer comments on thirty-six popular YouTube Mukbang videos uploaded between July 2018 and June 2019 were collected and analyzed. The expressive characteristics of the collected comment responses, comments related to the exposure of unhealthy eating behavior, and comments related to the favorability of Mukbang YouTubers were examined. This study found that viewer comments showed an overall positive response regarding Mukbang videos" influence on eating behavior and appetite. However, viewer comments were negative as well as positive on both Mukbang videos including unhealthy eating behavior and food. Expressions of favorability toward popular Mukbang YouTubers were also observed. This result is similar to previous studies that showed that food and eating behavior media content could influence viewers" unhealthy eating behavior. However, this study showed viewers" negative expressions as well as positive expressions on unhealthy eating content, suggesting differentiated insights from other studies. It could be interpreted that Mukbang content including healthy eating behavior is more popular with viewers. Meanwhile, the favorability and frequent response expressions toward online Mukbang YouTubers show a similar result with previous studies - Asian Mukbang viewers tend to watch content based on the attractiveness of the YouTuber. It could be assumed that popular YouTubers" food decisions and eating behavior scenes could influence viewers" eating behavior. Finally, this study shows the influence of online Mukbang videos and provides essential insights into Mukbang content creators in the area of social responsibility.