Viral Marketing - Honey Butter Chip in South Korea

Sieun Yeom (Claire)

Have you ever heard of ‘Honey butter chip’ before?

This is one of the South Korean chips that caused the nationwide fever between 2014 and 2015 and was rarely found in most markets Buying this chip and reviewing it online was part of the trend in South Korea

Surprisingly, the company that made Honey butter chip did not advertise on TV at all. The secret behind this craze was through social network services, viral marketing Viral marketing is the spreading of information about a product or service from person to person through word of mouth or sharing through the internet or email (Kagan, 2022). After consumers have tried out the chip, they have mentioned and spread it through social media. In particular, the fact that celebrities mentioned Honey Butter Chip on their SNS had a great influence on people

However, social media advertisements were often used in other products at the time as well. Then, why did Honey butter chip become so popular among the products?

The answer is ‘natural reviews’ of consumers. Unlike other businesses which intentionally provided SNS advertisements by themselves, the naturalness of consumers’ honest reviews has appealed to and attracted people. In addition, a Twitter post called ‘lists recommended by a convenience store worker’ had the last critical shot. Rather than a "taste" review, it focused on the "honey butter chip's purchase failure experience," which captured interest and curiosity about the chip (Lee Kyung-jin, 2014).

People were “laughing and crying over one bag of chips” as they were immediately out of stock. The situation went extreme to the point where stores were limiting the number of bags a person can buy, and some stores have even made waiting lists with signs on their doors that chips are out of stock Later on, an app called ‘Honey butter search’ was launched. This smartphone app informed people about the stock of Honey butter chip in nearby stores, within 5km. It worked by app users reporting availability of chips in the stores, which developer explained was using the power collective intelligence (Park Kyu-Tae, 2018)

The sale of Honey butter chip has been a success exceeding 10 billion won (8,025,814 U in three months of its launch (LEE SO-AH, PA EUN-JEE, 2015) The craze of Honey butter chip proved that viral marketing in South Korea h significant impact on businesses and has become of the marketing tools. The fact that South Ko smartphone penetration rate was 83%, ranking fo in the world in 2015, (Hyun Yoon-kyung, 2015) marketing could be concluded as a very effe way to promote their products in South Korea growing number of people have access to m phones

Viral marketing has several advantages, suc widespread information, rapid growth, and relat low costs, but there are also risks that compa need to be aware of Negative word-of-mouth can cause serious problems because these are negative trends or negative attitudes toward business For example, in the case of Honey butter chips, some consumers were expressing disappointment or dissatisfaction with the product.

The fact that the word of mouth online has a great impact, these kinds of negative reviews can stimulate people and hurt their businesses. Also, it is difficult to measure the results of viral marketing and to evaluate their sales results.

The Honey butter chip craze has truly shown that viral marketing works and thus, is very effective in South Korea. It has created a trend in society to buy and review the chips. These days, most businesses use viral marketing to promote their products. On the assumption that businesses are considering side effects and risks, viral marketing is truly one of the most powerful marketing methods

How honey butter chips sold themselves. Korea joongAng Daily. (2015, March 29). Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2015/03/29/industry/How-Honey-ButterChips-sold-themselves/3002451 html

February 4, 2023, from https://www.mk.co.kr/news/business/6431017

Kagan, J. (2022, December 31). Viral marketing: What it is, how it works, examples, pros & cons. Investopedia Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://www investopedia com/terms/v/viralmarketing.asp