[New Word Dictionary] Donzzul - Positive Influence That Keeps Companies on Their Toes

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Last year, a pasta shop owner in Mapo-gu, Seoul, posted a message on social media that became a hot topic. After visiting the district office, he happened to learn about the Dream Tree Card for children in food poverty. He thought that with only 5,000 won for a meal, children would face many restrictions in eating freely. Therefore, he announced that if children in food poverty visited his restaurant, he would not charge them for their meals. Netizens who saw this message began to exercise what is called ‘positive influence,’ where consumers voluntarily reward the business owner’s good deed unrelated to profit, saying, “We have to support the owner with money.” Following this pasta shop, self-employed business owners voluntarily gathered to form a community group to help children in food poverty, with about 600 places participating, spreading heartwarming news. The positive influence movement, a representative case of ‘meaning out’ (Meaning + coming out), where the MZ generation actively expresses their consumption behavior, suggested that consumer behavior can be a means of expressing political and historical opinions, as seen in the boycott movement against Japan that started in August last year. The clothing company Patagonia promoted the corporate philosophy of ‘If you don’t need it, don’t do it’ through its ‘One Wear’ event, and consumers felt satisfied that by purchasing this brand’s products, they were also buying into that philosophy. Last year, Patagonia Korea recorded sales of 45 billion won and announced that sales have grown by 35% annually over the past three years.

‘Donjjul’ is a word combining ‘money’ and ‘punishment,’ meaning to reward businesses or representatives who lead donations, volunteering, or social contributions with kind consumption. According to global research firm Kantar Worldpanel, more than half of consumers responded that ‘brands play an important role in social issues such as Me Too or racism,’ and Millennials and Generation Z (46% and 42%, respectively) are more likely to seek ‘brave brands’ than Generation X and Baby Boomers (31% and 22%, respectively). The MZ generation, for whom social media is part of daily life, shares a lot of information about companies, brands, and businesses in real time and does not hesitate to express their opinions through immediate consumption. As consumer sensitivity and awareness improve, companies are required to respond quickly to their philosophy and social contribution activities. Christie Nordhjem, a marketing professor at Georgetown University, points out, “For companies, doing the right thing such as social contribution activities is more of an obligation to protect consumers and expand the consumer base than just to induce positive influence.”

Example

A: Hey, I heard the macaron shop in your neighborhood is good, so I went to buy some, but it was closed. Did it go out of business?
B: What are you talking about? The owner used to work at a hospital before opening the shop, and when COVID-19 broke out and there was a shortage of medical staff, he closed the shop to volunteer.
A: Seriously, are there people like that these days?
B: Exactly. The whole neighborhood is ready to give him a big ‘donjjul’ when he returns.
A: Really? I should join too. Let me know when the shop reopens. Let’s go together and give him a ‘donjjul.’ Haha.