2027 K-Consumer Trend Insights

Preface 005

Ten Keywords

Age of Ennui Society 023
Life ROI 051
Plasticity in the Form Factor Shift 073
‘Have-a-Go’ Economy 093
All Is Saved: Homo Archivarius 117
Seamless AI Integration: Vibe Working 143
Hold On to Your Customers: New Retention Strategy 169
Every AI Needs the Human Edge 193
Embracing Menopause: the ‘Half Signal’ 219
Power of Taste Capital 241

Authors 265

With this idea in mind, we have chosen ALPHA SHEEP as our slogan for 2027. Rather than simply following the flock and allowing ourselves to be swept along by the currents of the times, we should be willing to break away from the herd: to think for ourselves and become the first to put our own ideas into action.

Sheep may appear gentle, but they can also be remarkably stubborn and aggressive. Being docile does not mean being powerless. In a modern society swept by the powerful currents of socioeconomic polarization and artificial intelligence, 2027 will be a year in which we need, more than ever, not only to navigate the trends around us but also to exercise the initiative and drive to act as an ALPHA SHEEP.

Fragmented, meaningless flows of algorithmic information also make it difficult for an experience to become truly our own. For an experience to become ours, it needs a minimum amount of time. Like an egg that must be left undisturbed to incubate, individual stimuli need time before they can ripen into a coherent experience and become “my story.” What we lack today is precisely that time to ripen. We move on before something has even had the chance to become interesting, so our experiences repeatedly end at the opening chapter. As we jump to the next stimulus before the previous one has matured, we begin more and more things while completing fewer and fewer.

ROI, along with various other investment terms, has permeated our daily lives. Economic logic is spreading through every aspect of our existence like a tumor. In this age of AI, as life becomes increasingly efficient yet dehumanized, are we perhaps losing things more precious than ROI in our relationships and the way we plan our lives?

Maximizing ROI does not necessarily bring the happiness we expect. Psychologist Barry Schwartz uses the term “maximizer” to describe the compulsive tendency of a consumer to seek the best product at the best time and at the best price. His research suggests that, paradoxically, the stronger this tendency, the less happiness people feel. Even after making the best choice, maximizers dwell on the alternatives they passed up and experience regret. Professor Choi Incheol(최인철) of Seoul National University’s Department of Psychology, a leading expert on happiness research, explains in his latest book, The Good Life(굿 라이프), that rather than becoming maximizers, happy people choose satisfaction, thinking “This is good enough.” In other words, the very effort to boost ROI in pursuit of a better life can paradoxically push us further away from happiness.