The University of Tomorrow's 20-something Research Institute has released infographics that offer insights into major data that allows for a look into this year's generational trends and insights. The data covers 14 key areas that are released across 11 annual topics, ranging from finance to food, drinking, beauty, electronics, and media, and allows readers to view this data at a glance.

'Point accumulation' is the most important benefit when using credit cards

This year's financial and tech data released in March took a look at preferred credit card benefits. Credit card users within the past year were asked what benefits they considered most important when using credit cards. 'Point accumulation (50.0%)' took first place, followed by 'cashback (39.8%)' and 'transportation and fuel discounts (19.7%)'. It appears that people feel that point accumulation is a big benefit because they can use the points for a variety of purposes. In fact, 'point accumulation (65.2%)' was the most frequent response when asked about benefits they've actually used, showing that point accumulation is a familiar and effective credit card benefit.

'Shinhan Card (21.7%)' was the most popular response when asked about the most frequently used credit card, but the results differ for Generation Z. Generation-specific details about frequently used credit cards, card companies and banks, brand images, and real estate-related perceptions can be found in the Finance & Tech (March 2023) data.

Generation Z's favorite cafe brand is 'Starbucks,' followed by 'Mega Coffee'

As of January 2023, the number of coffee shops across the country reached 93,414. This is a 50% increase compared to January 2020, before the pandemic. With so many cafes popping up everywhere, which cafe franchises are Generation Z choosing? When asked what cafe franchises they prefer among Generation Z individuals who visit cafes at least once every three months, 'Starbucks (25.9%)' came out on top. This was followed by 'Mega Coffee (14.2%)' and 'EDIYA Coffee (9.9%)'.

Three years ago, 'Starbucks' also topped the list in a survey regarding dietary habits, but it's noteworthy that 'Mega Coffee' rose to second place this year after coming in fourth in 2020. In addition, 'Compoze Coffee' and 'Gong Cha,' which were not in the top five, tied for fourth place, highlighting the growth of low-cost coffee franchises.

Preferred hangover cures vary by generation… Generation Z favors 'Sangkwe Hwan stick-type'

The year-end and the beginning of the year are times when mentions of drinking and hangover cures increase. Data on consumption and drinking (April 2023) investigated drinking habits and hangover cure consumption methods by generation. A total of 71.8% of respondents said they had taken hangover cures when drinking within the past year, and the most frequent response when asked what products they had tried was 'Condition (42.0%)'. Preferred hangover cures differ by generation. Generation Z prefers 'Sangkwe Hwan stick-type (jelly type)', late millennials prefer 'Sangkwe Hwan (pill type)', early millennials prefer 'Yomyeong (drink type)', and Generation X prefers 'Condition (drink type)'.

Hangover cures are purchased to reduce one's own hangover, but they are also purchased as light gifts for acquaintances at drinking gatherings. According to a report on the '2023 Drinking Trends as Seen Through Social Big Data,' keywords related to hangover cure purchasing factors showed a steady increase in the 'gift' keyword since 2020. Quantitative survey results also showed that 'being given by people around me' was among the top reasons for consuming hangover cures.

What are the user images associated with Galaxy, iPhone, and Z Flip?

Data on consumption and electronics (February 2023) investigated the images associated with Galaxy, iPhone, and Z Flip among 1,200 men and women aged 19 to 53 across the country. For Galaxy users, the most frequent response for occupation was 'Management, Finance & Accounting (52.7%),' followed by 'Legal (51.8%)' and 'Industrial (51.5%).' This is in contrast to iPhone users, whose top occupational category was 'Students (63.0%)'. Meanwhile, responses for Z Flip showed that 'Arts (36.3%)' and 'Marketing, Advertising & PR (35.3%)' were the most likely occupations for its users, showing that it has established an image that is distinct from Galaxy. Further details on user images based on age, gender, personality, and interests can be found in Part I of this data.

Generation Z's top 3 most frequently used places to buy things: Online boutiques, H&B stores, convenience stores

According to the 'Online Shopping Trends' released by the Statistics Korea, online shopping transactions for the month of October surpassed 20 trillion won for the first time. With the online market booming, the University of Tomorrow's 20-something Research Institute compared major places of purchase for different product categories in a consumption and general (September 2023) survey. While 45.7% of all respondents said they had used 'comprehensive online shopping malls' when buying clothes and fashion goods within the past six months, the highest response among Generation Z was 'online boutiques' such as 29CM and Musinsa at 39.2%.

A similar trend is observed when it comes to cosmetics. While 'comprehensive online shopping malls (44.6%)' were the top place to purchase cosmetics within the past six months, Generation Z chose 'offline H&B stores (35.9%)' as their top choice. In addition, the percentage of respondents who said they purchased from H&B store online malls was 22.2%, which is 8.6%p higher than the overall percentage. Overall, Generation Z appears to be actively using H&B stores. While 'large supermarkets (53.3%)' were the top place to buy food and beverages excluding alcohol, the highest percentage of Generation Z respondents said that 'convenience stores (51.1%)' were their main place of purchase.

What is an appropriate amount of money to give as a wedding gift to friends and acquaintances?

With rising prices recently, concerns and controversies regarding wedding gift money have been frequently seen on various online communities. In response, the University of Tomorrow's 20-something Research Institute surveyed 1,500 men and women aged 15 to 62 nationwide to see how much they thought was appropriate to give as a wedding gift to friends and acquaintances, and how much they would be willing to give a close friend.

Focusing on the results of late millennials (aged 28 to 34), who are likely to attend many weddings, the average amount they considered appropriate for wedding gifts to friends and acquaintances was '84,000 won'. In addition, '100,000 won' was the most frequent response at 51.7%. Excluding Generation Z, who have a high proportion of students and most frequently gave '50,000 won' as an appropriate amount, '100,000 won' was the most frequent response across all generations, suggesting a perception that '100,000 won' is the standard amount for wedding gifts. Meanwhile, late millennials responded that they were willing to pay an average of '237,000 won' for close friends.

Generation Z's topic of interest in open chat is 'games'

According to the media, content, and platform data (July 2023), 85.9% of 1,500 men and women aged 15 to 53 across the country who said they had used media and content within the past month had used online communities within the past month. The highest usage rate was for 'portal-based cafe communities (63.8%)' such as Naver and Daum, followed by 'self-owned website communities (39.0%)' and 'open chat communities (37.9%)'. Notably, Generation Z had a higher usage rate for open chat communities at 47.6% compared to other generations.

A closer look was taken at KakaoTalk open chat, which is the most popular type of open chat. The most frequent response for the topic of open chat rooms they had joined within the past month was 'daily life (22.9%),' followed by 'economy & finance (19.6%)' and 'travel (14.1%).' The top category differed slightly by generation. The top category for Generation Z was 'games (19.2%),' followed by 'daily life (25.4%)' for late millennials, 'economy & finance (32.9%)' for early millennials, and 'daily life (30.4%)' for Generation X, showing distinct areas of interest by generation.

Job seekers' desired starting salary is 44.52 million won

What are the criteria that job seekers use when choosing a company to join? According to a job-related survey conducted by the University of Tomorrow's 20-something Research Institute (May 2023), 'salary (28.4%)' was the most important factor. Their desired starting salary averaged '44.52 million won,' and looking at the results by major, the average desired starting salary was 41.28 million won for humanities and business majors and 46.95 million won for science and engineering majors.