Trend Korea 2014: The Year in Consumer Culture

Kim Ran-do reached a wide audience through books about youth and growing up. Their themes resonated with the interest in comfort and self-care that was often described in South Korea in the early 2010s as “healing.”

Kim taught consumer studies at Seoul National University and helped build the annual Trend Korea series with colleagues at its consumer trend research center.

The names behind Trend Korea 2014

Kim is the most recognizable name on the cover, but the 2014 book is a collaboration with Jeon Mi-young, Lee Hyang-eun, Lee Jun-young, Kim Seo-young, and Choi Ji-hye.

Looking back at 2013

The book reviews the year that has just ended and tries to name some of the changes that might matter in the year ahead.

The authors give ten trends from 2013 names meant to be easy to remember.

1. A city on edge
2. Nonsense and absurd humor
3. Scandinavian-inspired parenting
4. Enjoying something without owning it
5. Spending leisure time alone
6. An expanding interest in taste
7. The blurring of seasons
8. A time for detox
9. Life in a society running on empty
10. The appeal of a little inconvenience

The authors saw a shift toward more individualized ways of living. They also picked up on the appeal of speaking frankly, what Koreans sometimes call throwing a fastball.

They saw more interest in using or experiencing things without needing to own them. Restaurant coverage and mukbang were part of a growing attention to what and how people ate.

Detox became a subject of interest. Attention to health coexisted with long hours, energetic leisure, and the popularity of drinks sold as a way to keep going.

What the authors expected from 2014

The forecast gives the next year another set of ten keywords.

1. Swag and the appeal of a little swagger
2. Looking to the body for answers
3. Finding a niche within a niche
4. Fortysomethings who still play
5. Mixing and matching across categories
6. Building a place where people can participate
7. Making old things mean something new
8. Designing room for a surprise
9. When everyone can watch everyone else
10. Saying things straight

“Swag” became a familiar word for a style or attitude that looked effortlessly cool. The authors saw it as a sign that more people were looking for their own way to show a little flair.

They also expected more attention to the body and to health, and saw a market for products that addressed very particular needs.

Generation X was moving into middle age and bringing different habits with it. The book also looked at the ability of ordinary people to watch one another through digital media and expected the directness it had seen in 2013 to continue.

I came back to this volume about a decade later. The series had continued, but some things that had felt obvious when I first read the 2014 edition had begun to look distinctly of their time.

That may be the most interesting use for a book of annual trends. It records which changes people could already see and which words they reached for to explain them.

Book details

Trend Korea 2014

Authors

Kim Ran-do, Jeon Mi-young, Lee Hyang-eun, Lee Jun-young, Kim Seo-young, and Choi Ji-hye

Published

November 19, 2013

ISBN13

9788959892525

View the book on YES24

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