CEO Score, Analysis of 2023 New Year's Address Keywords of Top 10 Domestic Groups
1st Place is Customer (35 times)
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] The word "crisis" has surged in prominence in the New Year's addresses of South Korea's top 10 conglomerates this year. This is analyzed as reflecting concerns about the global economic situation.
On the 3rd, CEO Score, a corporate data research institute, surveyed the frequency of keywords in the 2023 New Year's addresses of the top 10 domestic conglomerates. The most frequently mentioned keyword was "customer" (35 times).
Following were ▲growth (34 times) ▲future (34 times) ▲crisis (29 times) ▲technology (28 times), ranking 2nd to 5th in usage frequency. Next were ▲environment (25 times) ▲value (24 times) ▲newness (24 times) ▲change (23 times) ▲global (world, 21 times), in that order.
"Customer" maintained the top spot in mentions for three consecutive years. However, the frequency decreased significantly over the past three years: 56 times in 2021, 40 times in 2022, and 35 times in 2023. Instead, the frequency and ranking of the keyword "growth" were 35 times (2nd) in 2021, 28 times (7th) in 2022, and 34 times (2nd) in 2023, returning from 7th place last year to 2nd place this year.
The keyword "crisis," ranked 4th, had not even appeared in the top 10 over the past three years. This is interpreted as reflecting the heightened alertness of conglomerates amid adverse conditions such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, escalating US-China tensions, and the intensifying global stagflation crisis. In fact, the keyword "difficulty," which has a similar meaning to "crisis," was ranked 15th with 17 mentions. As a result, words reflecting the current economic chill, such as crisis and difficulty, were used a total of 46 times in this year's New Year's addresses of the top 10 conglomerates.
The conglomerate that used the keyword "crisis" the most in its New Year's address was Shinsegae, mentioning it 13 times. This is seen as directly reflecting the crisis situation in the distribution industry, which is facing the "three highs" of the economy (high interest rates, high prices, and high exchange rates).
In this atmosphere, keywords such as future and growth tied for 2nd place in usage frequency. Also, to overcome difficulties, the top 10 conglomerates frequently used keywords like technology and change in their New Year's addresses. Many companies are facing crises and are positioning themselves to widen the gap further through technological super-gap and business restructuring.
On the other hand, "global (world)," which has played a major keyword role in New Year's addresses every year, showed a declining trend over the past three years: 23 times (7th) in 2021, 26 times (8th) in 2022, and 21 times (10th) in 2023. This decline is attributed to major countries such as the US and the EU (European Union) shifting their economic policies toward protectionism with measures like IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) and CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) amid the global economic crisis.
Additionally, the keyword "COVID-19," which had a high frequency in New Year's addresses, disappeared from the top 20 rankings this year due to the recent easing of quarantine measures.
Meanwhile, this survey extracted and ranked major keywords from the full texts or press releases of New Year's addresses announced by the top 10 major conglomerates. In Samsung's case, the New Year's address of Samsung Electronics, its representative company, was used as a substitute. Hyundai Motor Company, which previously belonged to the top 10 conglomerates, was excluded from the survey as its announcement was scheduled for the 3rd.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
