[Korean Culture & Language] Consumption Trends


Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!


Consumer behaviors and tastes change as the economy evolves. Many consumers today are more concerned with the psychological benefits than the functional benefits of their purchases. 

The term ‘가성비’ is an abbreviation for “가격 대비 성능 비율” and it’s literally translated as “price to performance ratio’. It was first coined among IT-related communities in Korea, since it was important to know the level of PC’s performance for its price. The word became extremely popular in 2010 and started being used for many different products, services, and even people (not a nice way to describe a person though). The meaning of the word has been altered, however, and used more as “cost-effectiveness”. According to Interbuz, Xiaomi portable batteries, coffee at McCafe, and IKEA were some of the best examples of high 가성비 products in Korea in 2017.
(https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=businessinsight&logNo=221060013295) 

How to use ‘가성비’ in a sentence: 

  1. “이 침대는 가성비가 진짜 좋다!” -> “This bed is very cost-effective,” meaning the quality of the bed is very good compared to its cost.

  2. “그 음식점 가성비 짱이었어” -> “That restaurant was really cost-effective,” meaning that the quality of food was really good compared to its cost.

Time has passed, and people now care more about “가심비” or “나심비” than “가성비”.
While 가성비 reflects functional benefits of a product, 가심비 reflects emotional benefits. It literally translates as “price to heart ratio”. The idea of 가심비 is much more subjective than 가성비.  A person who highly values 가심비 tends to choose products or services that make them feel safer or happier. A flower bouquet is a good example of a 가심비 product. Flowers make you feel good, but they are not normally used for anything else. Going to a fancy restaurant and eating good food is also a good 가심비 consumption.

나심비 is an abbreviation for “나의 심리를 만족시키는 비율,” which is literally translated as “price to my emotional fulfillment ratio”. 나심비 also reflects emotional benefits like 가심비, but more of self-expressive benefits. Unlike the two other terms above, 나심비 doesn’t have the letter “가” in it. It means that someone who values 나심비 doesn’t care much about the 가격(price) of the products or services. For example, they live in a studio apartment but drives a Porsche. Some people might judge, but others say what’s the harm if it makes them happy? 

One of the famous YouTubers in Korea, Producer dk (link below) asks a girl what she thinks of a minimum wage worker buying a $3,000 headphone. She answers, “It’s their choice. It should be fine as long as they can afford it, and are saving enough on other products that it doesn’t exceed how much they earn.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-mnVVVxC0I


What do you think?

Are you more of a 가성비 consumer? Or 가심비/나심비 consumer?  

In my next article, I will cover 텅장, 카푸어, and 하우스푸어. These are the words related to 나심비.

댓글

댓글 쓰기

이 블로그의 인기 게시물

[Korean Culture & Language] Switching between the liver and the gallbladder

이미지
Hello, this is Uptempo! “Saving face” has always been a very important part of Korean culture. Most Koreans try hard to “ 체면을 세우다 (build one’s face),” and “ 체면을 지키다 (maintain one’s face),” and not to “ 체면을 잃다 or 체면을 구기다 (lose one’s face).” ‘ 세우다 ’ means ‘to build’ ‘ 지키다 ’ means ‘to keep’ ‘ 잃다 ’ means ‘to lose’ ‘ 구기다 ’ means ‘to crumple’ or ‘to damage’ ‘Saving one’s face’ means ‘to build one’s reputation,’ ‘maintaining’ one’s face’ means ‘to keep one’s reputation,” and ‘losing one’s face’ means ‘to lose or damage one’s reputation.’ However, some people are more concerned about their profit than “saving or maintaining their face.” They “ 간에 붙었다 쓸개에 붙었다 한다. ” ‘ 간 ’ means ‘liver’ ‘ 붙다 ’ means ‘to stick’ ‘ 쓸개 ’ means ‘gallbladder’ It is directly translated to “It sticks to the liver for a second and then moves to the gallbladder to stick to it for another.” It describes the behavior of someone who switches between two opposing teams or groups for completely selfish reasons. The...
자세한 내용 보기

[Korean Culture & Language] Stagnant Water

이미지
Hello, this is Uptempo! Stagnant water, often referred to as ‘standing water,’ provides an ideal breeding ground for biofilms. It is unsafe to drink water that has been left out or pooled in one spot for a long time because it contains bacteria or fungi that may carry various germs. Consuming them can cause waterborne diseases like legionella.   Stagnant water may also corrode metal and damage utility infrastructure. Photo by   Jordan Whitfield   on   Unsplash There is an old idiom in Korea ‘ 고인물은 썩는다 ’. It is translated as ‘ stagnant water will certainly go bad ’. ‘ 고인 ’ means ‘ stagnant ,’ or ‘ pool of’ ‘ 물 ’ means ‘ water’ ‘ 썩는다 ’ means ‘ to spoil’ https://youtu.be/jNWHNL1OWig Today, ‘ 고인물 ’ is used as a slang term to describe someone who has spent a significant amount of time in a particular social group or organization, most commonly an online community . The term originated from a gaming community, and it refers to someone who has spent a lot of time playin...
자세한 내용 보기

[Korean Culture & Language] Squid Game/Red light green light

이미지
Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! Korean Culture & Language / Squid Game / “Red Light, Green Light”: a somewhat literary critique Translation is not just about delivering the meanings of words; it’s also about delivering the experiences that those words inspire. Therein lies the difference between literal and liberal translation. And “Red Light, Green Light” is a liberal translation of the following phrase: Korean 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 sound Mu-gung-hwa kko-chi pi-yeot-seum-ni-da meaning Mugunghwa flower has blossomed Mugunghwa is the national flower of South Korea, and it’s a very pretty flower, but of course it is not well-known outside of Korea. For this reason and others, I presume, the Netflix translator(s) took the liberty to drop the literal meaning of the original phrase while conveying the rules of the game. But I can’t help but feel a little dissatisfied with this translation, because it sacrifices the musical and poetic elements of the game that I love. So in this piece, I will t...
자세한 내용 보기