Today, we will take a look at the changes in our country's consumer market. We are joined by Dr. Han Da-hee from the Consumer Studies Department at Seoul National University. Hello! 

Hello! Recently, Trend Korea 2025 has been released, right? 

That's correct. As soon as it was published, it has been a hot topic again, as it is every year around this time. 

Indeed. What symbolic words will represent 2025? This always draws a lot of attention. 

That's right. Trend Korea is an annual consumer trend analysis report that is published around this time each year. We introduce trends that we believe are worth noting for the coming year. 

2025 is the Year of the Snake, the Year of the Blue Snake. This year, we have a tradition of making the title based on the zodiac animal, and this year we proposed Snake Sense as the title, which refers to the senses of a snake. In fact, snakes are known to be somewhat scary creatures, but they also possess unique senses.

It is known to be a very sensitive animal, and next year is expected to be a particularly stagnant year. Therefore, it is very important to mobilize the keen senses and intuition like a snake to detect even the smallest changes and to explore new sources of food. This carries significant meaning. Within that context, the ten trends are also being completed. Each of these trends has been given meaning by taking the first letters or middle letters of the alphabet. What is the most significant of these? When presenting the ten trend keywords, we always place the greatest emphasis on the first keyword. Internally, we say that it plays the role of a star. What the star means is a thread that pierces through the top of the net. So, within that, it signifies a very important backbone or storyline for next year.

The term omnivore is the keyword here. It is a bit difficult, isn't it? Originally, omnivore is a term used in various fields, meaning to have interests in multiple areas. In a dictionary sense, it refers to being omnivorous. Since it means being omnivorous, it’s easy to understand, right? 

So, to put it simply, nowadays, consumers are not consuming based on characteristics of their affiliated groups such as age, gender, or income. Instead, they are engaging in their own unique consumption patterns. As a result, the gap between different age groups, such as those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s, has significantly narrowed. In fact, the disparity among individuals in their 50s has greatly increased. This is the first key point about the omnivore concept. 

Thus, instead of following a unified direction, people are consuming in their own ways, which might make things a bit more complex. Therefore, it seems that understanding people's minds is becoming increasingly important.

That's right. So, we also forecasted trends related to the heart, and one of the keywords is Aohara. This is an abbreviation meaning an ordinary day. It reflects the desire of people for a life that is neither too happy nor too unhappy, valuing a steady and uneventful life. There is a growing attitude that appreciates such a life. Even today, it's just fine if there are no special good events, and it's okay not to be particularly happy. The idea is to be satisfied with simply enduring and having an ordinary day. This presents a new paradigm in South Korea's discourse on happiness. Another important trend related to the heart is the keyword One Point. You can think of it as focusing on just one point to improve. Nowadays, people are increasingly moving away from the term self-development.

The term self-care is often used. When we think about self-improvement, keywords like success, wealth, and victory often come to mind, indicating a tendency to push oneself. That's right. So, there is a goal-oriented mindset that shows a very strong will. On the other hand, self-care focuses on living life faithfully, based on the efforts made so far, by setting just one achievable goal and concentrating on it. This is a trend of achieving success while not losing one's individuality. Instead of seeking grand and monumental achievements, there is a growing trend of finding just one point where one can excel and building a sense of accomplishment. This reflects the economic situation and changes in the era in our country. That's right. As people's mindsets change in this way, it is natural that consumption patterns will also change. Yes, that's correct. So, keywords related to the consumer market are also...

We have prepared something and named it the Topping Economy. Just like the toppings you put on a pizza, all products are now focusing on toppings beyond just dining out; this trend is gaining momentum across all industries. This means there is a strong tendency to pay more attention to supplementary and additional elements rather than the essence itself. Consequently, in this topping economy, the toppings can become more significant than the base itself. This topping is gaining attention and creating new economic effects, leading to changes in the market, which we refer to as the Topping Economy. In the Topping Economy, how well consumers can interpret this and actively participate is becoming extremely important. Additionally, we created a keyword called muhwae. Nowadays, many people love things that are small, cute, and innocent, so we have named it muhwae.

The commonality among these things is that they are not harmful. They do not cause any irritation or stress. More consumers are beginning to love things that are completely harmless. It feels like a harsh world where everything is attacking me, but these harmless entities provide a sense of relief by not causing harm. This trend keyword indicates that they may possess significant power in themselves. Instead of monsters, people are now loving cute characters like pink dolls. People's hearts are changing in this way. Naturally, companies have to respond sensitively to this trend because they need to prepare for it. Currently, a key trend that companies are focusing on is co-evolution. Co-evolution means that one cannot survive alone; we must coexist and thrive together.

Co-evolution strategies are gaining significant attention. The market ecosystem is becoming increasingly open, which means that we are now in a time where companies must collaborate with competitors. Therefore, businesses are pursuing strategies that allow them to survive not alone in the market but to coexist and evolve together. This is the key concept of co-evolution strategies. 

It would also be good to look at technology trends. In particular, AI technology is advancing at an incredible pace. While we have seen many bright aspects, we have also experienced some darker sides, and we are currently feeling the duality of technology. What should we focus on next year? We are entering the era of generative AI. Consequently, it is crucial to consider what value this generative AI can provide to consumers. An important technology we are looking at is face...

It's technology. Face technology. We first see a person's face when we meet them, just like that, technology is rapidly advancing in its ability to express, read, and create facial expressions. In an increasingly sophisticated technological society, we have been contemplating what value this technology can bring to consumers. Recently, a trend that has emerged is the idea of imbuing inanimate machines with facial expressions. Therefore, we believe that in the future, technology that can understand and respond to human expressions will be favored, as it approaches us in a more human-like manner. Machines that can convey expressions and interact with us will be important, as they enable smoother interactions. Secondly, we created the keyword material attraction. On one hand, no matter how advanced digital technology or AI becomes, we...

We are undeniably living in a material world. People still want to see, touch, and feel things. Therefore, the elements that can be physically experienced, which we refer to as material properties, become essential. As technology advances, consumers find themselves increasingly drawn to the intrinsic appeal of these tangible properties. There is a desire to experience the characteristics of materials themselves. Additionally, we cannot overlook environmental issues. We are living in an era of population decline, which is also significant. Yes, it is an important change in our environment and climate. This year has been incredibly hot. For the first time in history, we experienced a tropical night during Chuseok. This kind of heat is expected to intensify every year. Until now, we have often thought of climate change in terms of polar bears and similar issues.

has now emerged as an urgent and existing risk that needs to be addressed immediately. Therefore, we would like to introduce the trend keyword of climate sensitivity to you. This refers to the ability to sensitively perceive and respond to changes in the external world caused by the climate crisis. This quality has become essential not only for consumers but also for businesses and the public sector. Lastly, as you mentioned, demographic changes are a crucial issue. The international mobility of populations and cultures is increasing significantly, leading to a transformation in the concept of Korea. We have named this phenomenon gradation. Until now, the concept of a homogeneous ethnic group and culture has been very strong, but these notions are gradually fading. With the foreign population nearing 5%, Korea is now becoming multicultural.

It is a nation, and that leads to the question of what truly represents Korea. Instead of a binary judgment of all or nothing regarding Korean identity, it is transforming into a continuous concept, a gradient. The boundaries are also becoming blurred. However, I am really curious about how these consumer trends are researched, analyzed, and predicted. When we conduct trend research, the biggest concern is that since we are dealing with consumer trends, consumption is an act of purchasing and spending money. Therefore, we must check how the economy will unfold in the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025. We consult professional analysts every year, but there are some differing opinions among the experts. However, the general consensus regarding next year's economy is that it will be a rather flat year—neither growing nor declining.

The current recession mindset is persisting, which leads to a forecast of continued consumer stagnation and economic hardship. As a result, our trend keywords reflect this consumer trend, indicating that even small changes are significant and worthy of attention. We have identified 2025 as a year to watch for these trends. This is not only relevant for large corporations but also for small business owners, as these trends can significantly impact them as well. We will continue to explore the 2025 trends through Dr. Han Dae-hee from Seoul National University. Thank you, Dr. Han. Thank you. Thank you.

[성공예감] [트렌드 팔로우] '트렌드 코리아 2025' 10분으로 압축했습니다 - 한다혜 박사 (서울대학교 소비자학과) | KBS 241002 방송

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