The sheer size of the current boycott movement against Japanese products is unprecedented. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — The ongoing boycott movement against Japanese products is the largest of its kind in South Korean history, led by highly motivated groups of voluntary participants.
eMFORCE, a South Korean digital marketing firm, reported on Sunday that the word ‘boycott’ appeared 1.18 million times on social networks this year, which was 10 times the size of the previous boycott movement following Japan’s celebration of Takeshima Day in 2013.
The report claimed that the sheer size of the current boycott movement against Japanese products is unprecedented.
The movement was found to be led by strongly motivated volunteers.
Among some 1.28 million posts on Twitter related to the boycott movement between July and August, 93.3 percent were retweets, and 6.7 percent were new posts.
While retweets still account for the majority, there were 85,000 new posts about the boycott movement between July and August, which was eight times more than the total number of relevant tweets posted in the entire year of 2013.
“It shows the scale of the movement and how each participant is taking deep interest in the matter from various standpoints,” said the report.
“Netizens retweeted posts made not by the media or civil groups, but by other netizens advancing their own opinions and sharing the boycott list of Japanese products.”
Data Lab, Naver Corp.’s big data platform, reported a decrease in the number of clicks on Japanese products throughout almost all sectors at online shopping malls.
“The initial drive that’s been leading the movement is weakening. Nevertheless, it is now being replaced with a collective habit of rejecting Japanese products since more consumers are less inclined to buy due to the bad economy,” Data Lab said.
“The aftereffects of the movement are expected to continue.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
