What defines real Gangnam style?

Korean rapper Psy is now credited for an ultra catchy tune and the Internet’s favorite dance. However, “Gangnam Style’’ in real-life appears to have more to do with department stores, expensive hairdos and golf than invisible horse riding, according to figures from the country’s biggest credit card company.

Gangnam literally translates as “south of the river’’ and refers to the affluent neighborhoods in southern Seoul where streets are heavy with high-end stores, luxury shops and posh restaurants, and houses are overvalued as much as French wine and New Year’s resolutions. The government estimates that around 7 percent of the country’s economic wealth is concentrated in the Gangnam area.

Predictably, the shopping behavior of Gangnam people differs greatly from the consumption patterns shown in the rest of the country, Shinhan Card officials said.

The collectively richer residents of southern Seoul spend a lot more on personal health and are more likely to vacation overseas. They frequent department stores, beauty shops and hair salons and prefer country clubs over theme parks, judging by the transaction records of Shinhan’s Gangnam customers.

“Credit cards have become the major payment method as people will swipe plastic when even using as little as 1,000 won. So I think we can say that credit card records provide the accurate picture of the real `Gangnam Style,’’’ said a Shinhan Card spokesman.

“Our Gangnam customers spent more than the rest on traveling overseas and also spend considerably more at hospitals and drug stores. This is a striking difference from low-income families, which devote most of their spending on daily necessities. For our non-Gangnam customers, most of their transactions were from gasoline stations and discount malls.’’

Shinhan’s 550,000 Gangnam customers spent 167.8 billion won (about $150 million) at hospitals and drugstores in the past six months, roughly translating to 300,000 won per person. During the same period, the company’s remaining 13.83 million customers spent 2.4 trillion won on the same items, or 180,000 won per person.

By the size of spending, overseas travel ranked fourth on the consumption list of Shinhan’s Gangnam users behind hospitals-drugstores, discount malls and Asian restaurants. For non-Gangnam customers, overseas travel came in 10th. Golf was the 18th largest spending item for Gangnam card users, while the majority of non-Gangnam customers weren’t playing the sport that doubles as a status symbol here. <The Korea Times/Kim Tong-hyung>

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