The Most Popular Domestic Character is 'Pporong Pporong Pororo'

'Kakao Friends' Surpasses 'Sanrio Characters'
Ministry of Culture and Korea Creative Content Agency Announce 'Character User Survey'
'Sanrio Characters' Lead in IP-Based Products

The most popular character in South Korea was found to be 'Porong Porong Pororo (14.4%)'. According to the recently published report "2023 Character User Survey" by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, 'Kakao Friends (12.6%)', 'Sanrio Characters (9.4%)', 'Crayon Shin-chan (7.9%)', 'Pok?mon (7.4%)', 'Disney (4.2%)', 'Catch Tinyping (3.9%)', and 'Pengsoo (3.0%)' were surpassed to be recorded as the most preferred character. Its preference nearly doubled compared to last year when it ranked second (8.6%). It especially received the most support from teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s. 'Kakao Friends' was most popular among people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s but relatively less favored by children aged 3-9 (ranked 9th) and teenagers (ranked 5th).

Regarding character usage, the frequency of using physical character products was 'once a week or more' at 39.0%, and 'less than once a week' at 51.9%. Among the latter, '2-3 times a month' was 15.7%, 'once a month' was 13.8%, 'once every 2-3 months' was 26.4%, and 'rarely use' was 7.5%. The frequency of using digital character products was 'once a week or more' at 61.3%, and 'less than once a week' at 19.6%, with 'almost daily' being the highest at 23.6%. The proportion of those who have purchased physical character products was 76.1%. The age group that purchased the most was clearly children aged 3-9 (98.2%). Teenagers (80.8%), people in their 40s (76.8%), 30s (74.6%), 20s (73.8%), 50s (64.5%), and 60s (61.0%) followed in order. More than half of the types were dolls (57.8%). Next were figures and plastic models (39.0%), DIY and hobby toys (36.2%), and action, remote control, and cars (21.6%).

The best-selling dolls were 'Porong Porong Pororo (21.1%)' and 'Sanrio Characters (21.1%)', and figures and plastic models were led by Gundam (17.9%). In DIY and hobby toys, 'Porong Porong Pororo' stickers, coloring books, clay play, and blocks (20.8%) were popular; in action, remote control, and cars, 'Hello Carbot (22.4%)'; in infant toys, 'Porong Porong Pororo' bath play, character role play, and melody pads (36.6%); and in gaming goods, 'Pok?mon (19.8%)' had the highest share. In the survey on annual average spending by physical character product category, the types with a high proportion of spending over 100,000 won were 'figures and plastic models (16.2%)' and 'action, remote control, and cars (14.4%)'. These spending levels were higher than those for dolls (4.0%) or DIY and hobby toys (4.6%).

The most important consideration when purchasing physical character products was 'design (47.4%)'. This was followed by 'liking the character (42.8%)', 'product quality (27.3%)', 'character recognition and popularity (26.6%)', and 'price (24.4%)'. Most purchases were for personal ownership (68.4%), with the remainder for gifts. Among those who did not purchase physical character products, the biggest reason was 'too expensive (25.2%)'. 'Considered wasteful' was 20.9%, 'not useful' was 20.6%, and 'no products they liked' was 17.9% in order.

The report also included a survey on the usage status of character IP-utilized products. According to this, the proportions of purchased character IP-utilized product types were similar for stationery and fancy goods (46.0%) and food, beverages, and quasi-drugs (45.6%). Next were miscellaneous goods and accessories (43.1%), fashion clothing (31.3%), and household and daily necessities (16.8%). The most purchased stationery and fancy goods (31.0%), miscellaneous goods and accessories (28.8%), fashion clothing (19.8%), and beauty and cosmetic products (18.3%) were 'Sanrio Characters'. For household and daily necessities, 'Kakao Friends (26.9%)' led, and for sports, leisure, and automotive goods, 'Porong Porong Pororo (18.0%)' showed dominance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.