Every year during the year-end holiday season, there are products that sell like hotcakes. As the new year approaches, so-called 'resolution products' such as diet supplements, self-development books, foreign language textbooks, and health functional foods gain sudden popularity. Resolution products refer to items necessary for setting and achieving new year goals. Recently, the behavior of consumers spending freely for self-satisfaction and leisure has become more pronounced than before, leading to an increase in consumers investing large sums in resolution products.
According to convenience store franchise GS25, an analysis of sales data from December 20 last year to the 3rd of this month showed a sharp increase in sales of typical diet products during the two-week period. Sales of protein bars, which are consumed to increase muscle mass, rose by 32% compared to the previous two weeks. Other meal management products such as salads (16%), boiled eggs (14%), and chicken breast (14%) also recorded double-digit growth rates during the same period.
E-commerce platform Curlie has prepared a new year diet management project aimed at consumers who boldly purchase resolution products at the beginning of the year. According to Curlie, on the first day of this event that started on the 3rd, chicken breast was sold more than double compared to the average in November.
Lotte Shopping's subsidiary Lotte On has included 50,000 won chicken breast gift sets and 30,000 won probiotics gift sets on the new year holiday gift list. Considering that this year's Seollal holiday comes earlier in January than usual, resolution products have been prominently featured.
The new year is a good time to make new resolutions or break bad habits. According to the polling firm YouGov, one-third of American adults have made a resolution for the new year. Of those, more than half hope to succeed in 'eating healthily (19%),' 'exercising (17%),' or 'losing weight (15%).
In Korea, resolution products have gradually changed over time. In the early 2000s, sales of nicotine cessation aids such as lozenges and gum surged every year-end. Foreign language learning textbooks, including TOPIK and OPIc, also regularly appeared on the new year's resolution product list. Prior to that, computer textbooks for obtaining certifications were sold in large quantities at the beginning of the year. These products gradually disappeared as nicotine cessation initiatives advanced and internet lectures for learning foreign languages became established.
Until the early 2010s, diaries and new notebooks were also among the products that saw a sharp increase in sales every new year. However, since the mid-2010s, coinciding with the spread of smartphones, they have become harder to find.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, home training supplies and investment books gained popularity. As social distancing measures made gym facilities unavailable, consumers began purchasing home training devices that can be easily used at home, such as yoga or Pilates.
As liquidity flooded global stock markets, consumers began listing stock, cryptocurrency, and real estate investment books as resolution products. Since January of last year, when the situation transitioned into a full-blown endemic, hiking and outdoor products have been selling like hotcakes at the beginning of the year.
Brand positioning expert Kim So-hyung, a consultant at Davis & Company, noted, "Psychologists commonly advise that for resolutions to be successful, intentions and methods must be clearly defined. The act of purchasing specific products that aid in executing resolutions highlights the execution intention and determination, thereby helping consumers to avoid the phenomenon of abandoning resolutions quickly. From the corporation's perspective, the repeat purchase effect is significant."