'Trend Korea 2021' Online Publication Celebration "Rising and Falling Sectors Diverge"
[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] "It is difficult to explain the economic recovery trend after the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) with a general theory. If I had to explain it generally, it would be a 'K-shaped' recovery."
Professor Kim Nando of the Department of Consumer Science at Seoul National University’s College of Human Ecology revealed 10 key consumer trend keywords for next year at an online press conference held on the 14th to commemorate the publication of 'Trend Korea 2021.' The first keyword Kim selected for next year is 'V-nomics.' It refers to the changed economy after COVID-19. The 'V' encompasses meanings such as Virus, Variation, Value, and Vision.
Professor Kim has announced the top 10 consumer trend keywords every year since 2007. The term 'Untact,' widely used after COVID-19, was one of the 10 keywords announced by Professor Kim’s research team in 2018.
"At that time, it was expected that face-to-face contact would decrease, so we removed 'Con' from 'Contact' and inserted 'Un' to create the term. Some called it Konglish, but when I recently asked foreign reporters, they said it was an interesting word."
Professor Kim said that the most frequently asked question this year was whether a V-shaped economic recovery is possible after COVID-19. He explained, "If I had to explain it generally, it is K-shaped," adding, "At first, the economy dropped sharply for everyone, but from some point onward, it divided into sectors that rose and sectors that continued to fall, meaning polarization intensifies."
He continued, "After K-shaped polarization, different trends will appear by industry," adding, "There will be V-shaped sectors showing rapid recovery, U-shaped sectors with slow recovery, inverted V-shaped sectors that are hit when COVID-19 subsides, S-shaped sectors that grow rapidly in line with Untact, and W-shaped sectors that are immediately hit when social distancing is strengthened."
As can be seen from the fact that he coined the term Untact in 2018, Professor Kim emphasized that what COVID-19 changed was not the direction of trends but the speed. Non-face-to-face contact was already a gradually strengthening trend before COVID-19, and COVID-19 only accelerated that speed.
In the same context, Professor Kim predicted that the level of face-to-face contact after COVID-19 will not return to the pre-COVID-19 level. "After COVID-19 ends, not all office workers will return to commuting. Some jobs will still have telecommuting forms. A trend will emerge to find the golden ratio between face-to-face and non-face-to-face."
Besides V-nomics, Professor Kim selected Layered Homes, Money-friendly Generation, Best We Pivot, Rollercoaster Life, Oh Haun (One Day Exercise), Nth New Product, CX Universe, Labeling Game, and Human Touch as the top 10 consumer trend keywords.
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