The foodie subcultures: from the underground to the mainstream. A netnographic analysis

Food represents one of the most discussed topics on social networks, arriving at giving voice to real virtual communities, vertically specific or transversally generic, with reference to peculiar food behaviors and / or food preferences. This study aims to understand if and how social networks can contribute to bringing out subcultures, food subcultures in this specific case, from underground situations to mainstream levels. The survey was carried out on Instagram, with a focus on the vegan subculture and with an emphasis on the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing Instagram posts from mid-October 2020 to mid-November 2020. The results show that the Instagram users associated with posts that can be classified as "#vegan food porn" show traits of content and sentiment in line with an emerging subculture, finding a sense of identity and affirmation in their posts and in those linked by consistent hashtags. Despite the limitations that are pointed out in the research, the study is specifically intended for enterprises in the food sector that seek to develop consumer marketing actions on social networks with a predominantly cultural and subcultural slant.