Temporal and seasonal trends in public interest in nonalcoholic beverages and lifestyles: A Google Trends analysis, 2004–2026

Ying Tian, Dylan K Richards and Melissa J Cox

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Growing awareness of alcohol harms and health consciousness has increased public interest in reducing alcohol consumption. However, little is known about how public interest in nonalcoholic beverages and lifestyles has changed over time. This study analyzed long-term and seasonal patterns in Google searches related to nonalcoholic beverages and lifestyles in the US from 2004 to 2026. Method: Google Trends data assessed monthly relative search volume (RSV) for five alcohol reduction–related search terms representing two categories: non-alcohol lifestyles (“quit drinking”, “Dry January”, and “sober curious”) and nonalcoholic beverages (“non alcoholic” and “mocktail”). Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess temporal patterns in RSV. Long-term trends, seasonal patterns, and changes in interest associated with COVID-19 were analyzed using quadratic regression and segmented regression models with Newey–West standard errors to address autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity. Results: Public interest in both alcohol reduction–related lifestyles and nonalcoholic beverages increased substantially over the study period. Beverage-related searches demonstrated more rapid growth following the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant positive post-pandemic trend changes observed for both “nonalcoholic” (β = 0.564, p

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0361032

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0361032

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