By Han Sang-hee
Staff reporter
For fashion-savvy men and women, television is the easiest way to tune into the latest trends. Nowadays, cable channels offer various programs from both home and abroad, and it's up to viewers to pick the most suitable show to fit their taste.
Browsing the shows aired here, one may find that local offerings tend to feature only one side of fashion and also discover the need for more entertaining, creative ideas to attract the eyes and ears of viewers. What is fashion without a bit of innovation and creativity, anyway?
Fashion programs in Korea follow a common pattern: the more information, the better.
Many shows here offer advice on the act of purchasing: where to buy what, how to get the best deal, and which season or time is the best to open your wallets.
``It hasn't been long since viewers have shown such a vast interest in fashion. We have a limited amount of time to produce and make such shows and one of the most important factors is the budget. Limited time and budget doesn't allow for a lot of possibilities, and the fastest and most effective way to satisfy viewers is to offer them useful information,'' Lee Woo-chul, chief producer of cable channel OnStyle's production team, told The Korea Times.
Satisfying viewers under a tight budget is one thing, but Koreans being info-savvy is not a trend, but actually a cultural trait.
``Korean consumers are relatively shy when it comes to making decisions about purchases. On the other hand, consumers in the United States and Western cultures tend to follow a more individualistic tendency, thus have more confidence in their decisions,'' wrote Yeo Jun-sang, marketing expert and writer of the book ``The 33 Immutable Laws of Marketing in Korea.''
``We (Korean consumers) compare choices with others, and we also look for external factors that will justify our decisions,'' he added.
This explains why Korean viewers and consumers are interested in getting their hands and eyes on as much information possible, which leads producers to continuously come up with such shows.
Another easy example to gauge the interest of viewers is to visit the program's Web site. Most comments are about products aired during the program, asking where viewers can purchase them. Numerous comments are posted after every episode, and viewers can get even more information through the Web site.