Editor’s Note
This article highlights key findings from the 2024 Fashion Jewelry Consumer Survey, revealing a record low purchase rate and a trend toward increased imported consumption, signaling a polarized market.
According to the ‘Fashion Jewelry Consumer Survey 2024’ released by the Jewelry Industry Research Institute under the Wolgok Jewelry Industry Promotion Foundation (hereinafter referred to as Wolgok Research Institute), both the size and purchasing power of the national fashion jewelry market declined last year.
This survey was commissioned by Wolgok Research Institute to Gallup Korea Research Institute, which surveyed and analyzed the consumption trends of 1,500 men and women nationwide regarding purchase quantity, price, location, etc.
First, the size of the national fashion jewelry market (excluding imports) was found to be 575.3 billion won, a 17% decrease compared to the previous year. The fashion jewelry purchase rate over the past year (based on the survey point) was 13.4%, hitting a record low. This means the purchasing population has decreased by about 2.42 million people over the past five years since 2020. Non-buyers mainly cited ‘lack of interest in fashion jewelry (54.1%)’ and ‘reducing unnecessary spending (12.0%)’ as reasons.
However, the average purchase price and number of items per buyer showed a slight increase. The average price of fashion jewelry purchased in the past year was 63,416 won, up from the previous year. This is attributed to rising raw material prices, with ‘silver’ reaching a record high of 87,254 won.
While purchasing power for domestic products decreased, purchases of imported brands rose significantly. Male customers’ brand preference was 39.2%, higher than females (15%), and brand preference among those in their 20s was the highest at 21%.
The average number of purchases per person was 1.77, a slight increase from the previous year. Among them, the main consumer groups for fashion jewelry, ‘women (1.86 pieces)’ and ‘those in their 20s (2.17 pieces)’, were above the average.
The main purchase purposes were ‘expressing my own individuality (48.4%)’ and ‘changing mood/enjoyment (27.3%)’. Notably, over 50% of those in their 20s and 30s cited ‘expressing my own individuality’ as their purchase purpose. ‘Design and style’ accounted for 79% as the purchase decision factor.
The proportion of online purchases decreased by 3.8 percentage points to 13.2% compared to the previous year, indicating a post-pandemic recovery in offline purchase share. However, those in their 20s (18.3%) and 30s (14.2%) still had a high proportion of online purchases. For jewelry purchase channels, recommendations from acquaintances (34.1%) had a greater influence than online advertising.