The “Gaewoon Myeongdang” is rising between 2030s. It is a way to not only pray for good luck by buying four-leaf clovers or talisman goods, but also find a place with good energy and refresh yourself. The range of places has expanded from Gwanaksan, a natural landmark, to Grand Hyatt Hotel, an urban landmark. Experts say that young people tend to seek psychological stability through invisible factors such as luck amid uncertain future. 2030s visited the venue after hearing that Grand Hyatt Seoul is a famous place based on feng shui and geographical features. Notably, posts verifying the work clothes were posted on social networking services (SNS). After hearing that a cup of tea in the hotel lounge brings in a work clothes, the publisher who visited the hotel posted a video that there were four works. The post received so much attention that it received more than 3 million views and more than 2,000 comments.
There were also young people who came to receive good regularity as well as work clothes. On-site staff also said that there are many customers coming for luck recently. “Recently, more and more people are asking about the energy of stones all over the hotel lobby,” said A, who works at the desk in front of the hotel entrance. “One or two people a day ask directly. No one used to ask this, so even the employees are amazed. Many young people come.” A Grand Hyatt hotel official said, “It has been known for 30 years that hotels are geomaniacally good,” and added, “There were many people who had business meetings in the lounge to get energy such as stones and water.”
As Grand Hyatt Seoul has become famous as a refreshing place, content targeting each hotel lounge is also being posted in conjunction with the owner. Currently, contents such as “Hotel Myeongdang where many trees are lifted” and “Hotel Myeongdang where owners with insufficient energy go” are posted on SNS. Earlier, Gwanaksan Mountain was also famous for its high energy of fire. This trend also affected the market for the owner-pulling and fortune-telling platform. According to WiseApp and Retail, the number of installers for the owner-pulling application (app) has been increasing continuously from 2023 to 2026. Postelers increased 132% from 1,499,291 as of March 2023 to 3,479,703 last month. During the same period, the number of fortune tellers increased by 72.6 percent from 1,922,476 to 3,318,937. The way fortune is treated is changing by filling up the energy that is lacking based on fortune-telling.
Experts analyzed that these changes are based on “control fantasies” and “availability heuristic.” This means that when you feel refreshed through the spread of SNS, you immediately think of Gwanaksan and the Grand Hyatt Hotel as places that come to mind, and when you actually visit them, you will have the illusion that you can feel refreshed.
“In behavioral economics, luck is not an area that an individual can control,” said Lee Hong-joo, a consumer economics professor at Sookmyung Women’s University. “To see an uncertain future, such as employment, investment, or life, by visiting a certain place to change the outcome or receive good energy means to transform something that is out of control into something that can be controlled. It can be explained as a kind of control fantasy.”
Professor Lee then said, “If the case of receiving such luck is repeatedly posted on social media several times, you will continue to be exposed to success stories. In other words, it is customary to say that you will do well if you go there, and it creates the illusion that you will get lucky. “The phenomenon imprinted in people’s heads can also be interpreted as a concept of availability heuristic,” he explained. Availability heuristic refers to a tendency to prioritize what comes to mind immediately rather than looking for something about a problem or issue.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
