Social Perceptions of Aesthetic and Medical Skincare through Social Network Analysis

This study utilized social network analysis to structurally compare the social perceptions of aesthetic skincare and medical skincare. Based on unstructured text data collected from major domestic portal sites, keyword frequency analysis, degree centrality analysis, network structure analysis, and CONCOR analysis were conducted. The data collection period covered the most recent two years (July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2025), and Textom and UCINET were employed for the analysis. The results showed that aesthetic skincare was characterized by keywords related to experience and emotions, such as 'reviews', 'recommendations', 'space', and 'private', while medical skincare was centered on keywords reflecting functionality and treatment purposes, such as 'procedures', 'effects', 'consultations', and 'professional'. In the network structure, medical skincare exhibited denser and more cohesive connections between keywords, whereas aesthetic skincare demonstrated a dispersed structure of diverse interests and experiences. The CONCOR analysis revealed that both domains shared a common cluster of 'service environment', while other cluster compositions differed, indicating domain-specific perception structures. Therefore, it is necessary to develop customized content planning and marketing strategies that reflect consumers’ expectations and interests for each skincare service domain.