1020 Generation's Purchase Rate Up 51% in Q1
Korean Poetry Purchases by 1020 Generation Up 65%
Works by Young Poets Rise to Bestseller Rankings
Interest in poetry collections has been steadily increasing since last year. In particular, riding the wave of the ‘Text Hip’ trend, which signifies that reading is cool, the purchase share of the 1020 generation has noticeably grown.
According to the reading culture platform Yes24, domestic poetry collection sales increased by 46% last year, followed by a 34% increase this year (compared to the same period from the beginning of the year to March 10).
This year, the 1020 generation accounted for about 20% of poetry collection buyers. This share has steadily increased from around 13% in 2020 to 20% this year. While it had been rising by about 1 percentage point annually, this year saw a significant increase of 4 percentage points (compared to the same period from the beginning of the year to March 10).
In particular, the purchase growth rate among the 1020 generation is strong. Although poetry collection purchases (both Korean and foreign works) by the 1020 generation declined in 2023, they grew by 49% last year and 51% this year as of March 10. Korean poetry, in particular, has been highly popular. Purchases of Korean poetry increased by 54% last year and 65% this year as of March 10. It is analyzed that young poets securing fandoms through social networking services (SNS) partly influenced this trend.
As interest in poetry collections among the 1020 generation grows, works by young poets are making it onto bestseller lists. Unlike 2023, when works by well-known established poets were mainly spotlighted, three out of the top 10 poetry collection bestsellers this year are by young authors. In the poetry collection bestseller rankings from January to March this year, Go Seon-gyeong’s A Tomato Harder Than the Heart and Shower Gel and Soda Water ranked 3rd and 5th respectively. The 9th spot was taken by Cha Jeong-eun’s Tomato Cup Ramen. The purchase rates by the 1020 generation for these works were 61% for Tomato Cup Ramen, 52% for Shower Gel and Soda Water, and 46% for A Tomato Harder Than the Heart.
Several young poets, including teenage authors Baek Eun-byeol (As Long as I Remember, the Longest), Yoo Seon-hye (Try Reading Love and Extinction Differently), Yoo Su-yeon (Love and Gently Fade Away), and Lee Je-ya (Outside of Sincerity), made it into the top 30 poetry collection bestsellers in the first quarter.
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