KRICI Develops 'Construction Sentiment Index' Based on Media Big Data

The Korea Research Institute for Construction Industry (KRICI) announced on the 18th that it has developed the Construction Sentiment Index (CoSI), an indicator that quantitatively measures the public’s perception of the construction economy based on media big data.

The CoSI quantifies the social sentiment trends in the construction economy by analyzing patterns and frequency of economy-related words repeatedly appearing in the media. KRICI emphasized that the index is distinctive in its broad reflection of changes in public sentiment and social perception, which have been difficult to capture until now.

As more data accumulates, the CoSI is expected to help diagnose the overall direction of the industry and shifts in public sentiment. Construction companies can use it to adjust the timing of sales and groundbreaking, as well as to analyze investment timing. The financial sector can leverage CoSI to assess the impact of household loans and interest rates. Government and public institutions can use it to monitor fluctuations in perceived economic conditions resulting from policy or regulatory changes.

According to the report released by KRICI, out of approximately 23 million words extracted from media reports, 2,080 words closely related to the construction economy were selected. Each word was assigned a sentiment score (negative, neutral, positive), and the frequency and network structure were analyzed to calculate the CoSI.

Analysis of media big data over the 12 months from October last year revealed that finance and housing-related keywords such as "household→loan," "collateral→loan·housing," "regulation→loan," "supply→housing," and "transaction→apartment" were repeatedly linked, forming the core axis of economic sentiment.

The weekly average CoSI was around 98.7, consistently remaining below the neutral line of 100, and a downward trend was also observed in the second and third quarters of this year. This was analyzed as a result of financial and policy factors-such as household debt, rising interest rates, and regulatory burdens-combining with instability in the housing market centered on apartments in Seoul, leading to a decline in perceived economic conditions.

Yoo Wiseong, a research fellow at KRICI, stated, "The CoSI is a new analytical framework that connects public opinion with trends in the construction economy. It is meaningful in that it can more sensitively detect economic changes and enhance the responsiveness of policy and industrial decision-making."

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