SEOUL, Jul. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent report by CJ ENM’s digital marketing firm MezzoMedia reveals a growing trend among South Korean consumers: maximizing value from limited time across shopping, gaming, and content consumption.
The 2024 Consumer Trends Series report, released on July 29, highlights consumers’ increasing preference for products and services that minimize wasted time and reduce the risk of disappointing experiences. This shift is evident in various sectors.
In e-commerce, the report found that 43% of surveyed consumers say AI assistant availability influences their choice of online shopping platforms.
The most desired AI features include product inquiries, cited by 59% of respondents, followed by inventory and promotion information at 42%, and accurate product searches at 30%.
Examples of these time-saving features in action include SSG.com’s review summaries, Ably’s hyper-personalized algorithms, and Lotte ON’s image search function.
The gaming sector is seeing a rise in popularity of “idle” games, where characters grow with minimal player interaction.
According to the survey, 73% of mobile gamers have played idle games. The reasons for their popularity include effortless progress, cited by 45% of respondents, the ability to multitask while playing at 44%, and ease of play at 43%.
Major franchises like Lineage are reportedly developing idle game versions to capitalize on this trend.
In content consumption, short-form content is on the rise, with viewers seeking to maximize content intake in limited time.
The report cites a separate study by Embrain Trend Monitor from 2023, which found that 70% of respondents report using playback speed adjustment for videos.
Furthermore, 53% express a desire to watch diverse content while saving time, and 50% frequently watch YouTube summaries of movies and TV shows.
Examples of time-saving content services mentioned in the report include LG Uplus’s sports highlight platform Sporki, book summary service Millie’s Library, and KBS’s drama recap content.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)