[theqoo] "MOM, BUY ME A HANNI WALLET"... COPYING IDOLS, AGE GROUP OF LUXURY ITEMS CONSUMPTION GOING DOWN QUICKLY

Earlier this year, Choi Jae-in, 31, an office worker, was asked by his high school niece if they could buy her a luxury purse. "When I asked her what she wanted for her high school graduation gift, she asked me if I could buy her a Gucci purse advertised by NewJeans Hanni," Choi said. "I couldn't buy her one because of the parents' disapproval, but I kept thinking about what my niece said about all her friends having one luxury purse, and I felt sorry for her."

There is a growing trend to imitate the consumption of famous influencers and celebrities. It's called "ditto consumption". Just as one measure of a celebrity's popularity is the presence or absence of fashionable items that characterize an era, there have been fads in the past. However, experts believe that the rise of social media and influencers has accelerated the pace and contagion of ditto consumption.

The problem is that luxury marketing using celebrities has a stronger effect on younger demographics. While there is nothing wrong with buying luxury goods, the excessive consumption of luxury goods by teenagers and young adults who cannot afford it is likely to be a burden on their parents or future generations.

"Luxury brands are using young ambassadors to secure future customers," said Kyung Ok Heo, a professor of consumer life, culture, and industry at Sungshin Women's University. Prof. Heo believes that the trend of fashionable consumption has been intensified by the recent trend of social media. "Synchronized consumption occurs very quickly through social media, which has a large impact and transmission power," he said. "In particular, teenagers and young adults seem to be greatly affected by the rapid sharing of information through social media. Even though they have low purchasing power, they tend to rely on their parents for support or go for small luxuries," he explains.

This has led to criticism of luxury brands that use idol group members as ambassadors. K-pop idols have a strong influence on teens and 20-somethings, and by endorsing brands, they encourage them to buy luxury goods.

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original post: here

1. People who are criticizing NewJeans and Jang Wonyoung here are hilarious. There are countless idols who are ambassadors of a luxury brandㅇㅇ so do you think that it's fine if actors are ambassadors but not idols? I'm not sure about that

2. I do feel like the age demographics of luxury consumption has been going down. Even if they are not ambassadors, most idols wear luxury clothes on stage... But luxury goods are typically something parents buy, and most families can’t easily afford these expensive items just because their kids ask for them. It seems that in households where only the parents used to buy luxury items, now the kids are getting them too.

3. For instance, Blackpink members became ambassadors after they were already adults and had been in the industry for a few years. In contrast, NewJeans members were quite young when they started, which led to concerns from the beginning

4. It’s genuinely harmful. The trend of young idols becoming ambassadors has been concerning for a while.

5. Everything aside, "Ditto consumption" has been a word coined for a long time but it's a f*cking joke how people are using it because they think that the word came from NewJeansㅋ

6. I’ve had friends with elementary school-aged children ask me when I got my first luxury item because their daughters want Miu Miu products because of Jang Wonyoung. It’s not an unfounded issue.

7. Idols are openly advertising luxury brands more than ever. This isn’t just about one group but is a widespread trend, and it’s understandable that it’s causing concern. Idol culture doesn’t primarily target middle-aged people but influences younger audiences. Young fans see idols and want to be thin like them and buy luxury items. The fan culture doesn’t always seem healthy.

8. Personally, I think having young idols as ambassadors is harmful. A lot of teenagers indeed want to emulate them. Middle and high school students are often seen carrying luxury cardholders. Wealthier, older fans aren't usually influenced by young idols to buy these items, but the younger fans are definitely impacted.

9. So the North Face padded jackets were just aegyo...

10. I don't care, fighting to the idols mentioned in this post~

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