Internet and technology are a prominent part of South Korean lifestyle, it’s important to understand how each age demographic uses their online time. Especially when you’re wanting to market your product and see long term results.
📌 Peak Internet Use
Across the age groups the peak overall interaction time is from around 8pm to 10pm KST. Post work commutes home are often long for South Koreans, with a daily average total of 72.6 minutes (Source: Korea Herald). There is also a period of relaxation or disconnect after a busy day at work. Making this period of time a perfect way to optimize your results.
📌What do Koreans in their 20s to 40s do most when using the internet?
20s
- Watch online videos
- Watch OTT content
- SNS scrolling
30s
- Watch Online Videos
- Watch OTT content
- SNS Scrolling
40s
- Watch Online Videos
- Search portal site information
- Watch OTT content
What Kind of Online Video Clips do Koreans watch?
Watching online video clips was placed #1 for all age ranges, evenly sitting between 50-60%. South Korea has a large obsession with Youtube, gaining the second highest position in YouTube’s Monthly Traffic by Country with 8.25 billion visits. (Source: GlobalMediaInsight) Which is impressive considering per capita and the other countries in the report.
South Korean Men watch similar videos across the age groups. Using Youtube as their main platform to watch sports, gaming and influencer related content. However, women’s watch patterns vary between age groups, almost exposing what their priorities are in these different stages of their lives. Women in their 40s prefer cooking and local or overseas tv content. Music, influencer and beauty/fashion interest those in their 20s. While South Korean women in their 30s prefer TV broadcasts, travel, and real estate content.
How popular is OTT Service in Korea?
South Korea’s fascination with videos transfers over into OTT. It is the second most popular thing that Korean people in their 20-30s do, but for people in their 40s, it took third place. Search portal site information taking that 2nd spot, men placing it higher by 10% while women place the two things evenly.
Netflix is the overall most popular platform for watching these types of services at a general interest of 60-70%. However, the runner up platforms were just as competitive. Korean platforms TVing and Coupang Play often out-perform or even with the big foreign platforms like Youtube Premium. Women in their 20s prefer TVing as much as Netflix, while men in their 30s and 40s prefer it more than Youtube Premium.
Which Generation in Korea doom scrolls SNS?
Despite SNS being in the top 5 for all age groups, the 20% usage gap suggests South Koreans in their 40s don’t seem to prioritise these platforms as much as their younger counterparts. Both 20s/30s were introduced to social media extremely young and during socially developmental times of their lives. However, those in their 40s were already adults when SNS started changing our use in technology. Never influencing their need for social gratification.
Multifaceted apps like Instagram are the most popular way for South Koreans in this younger age bracket to communicate their lives to their peers. 90% of women placing Instagram as their #1 preference, while popular Korean platform Naver Blogs sits in #2 at 51%. Men also gave quite high stats, generally following with a 20% difference.
What is the Search Behavior of Korean people?
Whether it’s finding out the news or deals are going on, we’re always searching for something. Search portal site information is second for those in their 40s but is placed around 5/6 for those in their 20s/30s. Men in their 40s spend a significant amount of their time discovering what the internet has to offer.
It’s also worth thinking about whether these younger audiences are turning to other mediums, such as SNS, to find the information they’re needing. Finding recommendations for news, restaurants and products through what their suggested content says, rather than researching themselves.
Which Generations do Online Shopping?
Being well-presented is a huge part of Korean culture. Everyday is your fashion runway… even if that is shorts and slides. Globally, fashion and shopping is generally marketed towards women. South Korea isn’t exempt from this and it shows in how often people browse online shopping.
Men and women have one of the largest gaps in internet usage when referring to online shopping. Women in their 40s come out on top, spending 46% of their time shopping online. With a bit more financial freedom, many women in this age likely feel less restrained to shop. There is also no data about in-person shopping or native marketing SNS campaigns, which may cause the data to look as if those in their 20s/30s spend less.
Who is driving PC/Mobile Game Play?
PC games dominate the gaming industry in South Korea. “Pc Bang” or Gaming cafes are a regular sight when walking city streets and advertising campaigns are regularly seen on the posters in subway stations. Most popular games such as Valorant and League of Legends are often played with friends and long-term, spending years trying to finish levels or get a certain score.
Games have always been something that is prominently marketed towards a young, masculine audience. So it isn’t surprising to see that South Korea’s interest in games peaks with men in their 20s/30s compared to other respondents. As players get older, they outgrow their passion for these games or may not have the time for them anymore. Which can be an unfortunate reality for long-term players.
📌 Summary
Every age group is different, therefore you can’t approach the advertising as if one size fits all. Obviously there are even further niche’s that will affect your market, however, knowing where the general public spend most of their time is important to optimise your marketing. At Waterbe, we are uniquely positioned to access consumers from all backgrounds in Korea.
If you want to know more about the South Korean people, read more articles from the “Audience Insight” series!