4 in 10 young Koreans consume celebrity products

Four out of 10 South Koreans aged 10-29 have spent money on goods related to celebrities such as music albums or character dolls featuring K-pop stars, a survey showed Friday.

According to the survey of 1,142 adolescents, teens and young adults conducted by Hyungji Elite, a school uniform brand, from May 8-19, 40 percent of the respondents said they have purchased celebrity-related products before, followed by 25 percent who said they have bought goods related to movies including animated films.

As to why they are willing to spend money on celebrity goods, 71 percent of the respondents answered the goods symbolize affection for their favorite stars.

Some 43 percent said they spend between 30,000 won-50,000 won ($22-$37) on each item, while 28 percent said they buy goods worth less than 30,000 won.

Of the remaining 29 percent who said they pay more than 50,000 won on celebrity items, the proportion of middle and high school students accounted for 54 percent, followed by college students (35 percent) and others (11 percent).

The continued popularity of celebrity products boosted by the roaring K-pop boom across the globe is reviving the fate of perishing compact discs and other physical formats of music, industry data showed.

In 2022, the combined sales of the top 400 music records in the physical album formats came to 74.19 million copies, up 29.9 percent from the previous year, according to the Korea Music Content Association.