By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter

Young Koreans are "media junkies" according to a recent Synovate survey of Asian young people, spending nearly 14 hours each day on average reading online and offline media.

The 13.7 hours covers time they spend on the Internet, watching televisions or DVDs, reading newspapers or magazines and listening to the radio.

The survey polled some 13,000 people aged between eight and 24.

"With so much time spent on media, there is every reason to believe that brand communications have filtered through and influenced purchase decisions," John Storey, a research director of Synovate in Korea said Sunday.

"It's vital that smart marketers continue to engage with this young audience to build a loyal consumer base," he said.

"Young people in Korea have certainly embraced multi-tasking. They are watching TV and also talking on the phone. They are on the Internet with the radio on in the background," the official said.

Analysts said the result reflects Korea's greater broadband- or Internet-related penetration rates.

Korea is one of the world's most-wired countries with some 80 percent of the total population having reached Internet-related literacy.

Online retail sales have steadily been soaring here, as alternative technologies such as mobile WiMAX are gaining broader appeal to young trend-setters.

"The rising proliferation of mobile broadband is having a significant impact on interaction habits in terms of viewing and spending," an analyst at Hyundai Securities said, adding portable mobile devices have become staples in the lives of the young.

But critics say the government needs to step up efforts for greater care to some "media-addicted" youths, who stay up all hours to watch TVs or play online activities avoiding friendships in the real world.

"As on- and off-line media have become a bigger part of our shared culture, we are going to have to effectively deal with this," said Ko Young-sam, a senior manager at the Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity & Promotion (KADOP), said.

yckim@koreatimes.co.kr