ASMR contents through trigger: Focusing on the cases of ASMR YouTube in Korea

Abstract

As SNS became popular and the single-person media market grew, new contents and forms of content that did not exist in the past were created. ASMR is a case in point. ASMR is a “tingle” that feels thrilling or psychologically pleasant in a specific body part by the stimulation mechanism “trigger,” which is difficult to explain, but it is also understood as a pleasant feeling. ASMR, which was unfamiliar to Korea about 10 years ago, has now become a popular content not only abroad but also in Korea. However, the majority of previous studies that sanction ASMR in Korea are limited to studies that analyze the effects or reactions of audiences, viewing motivation, and use in the advertising industry. This paper aims to categorize the production method by using ASMR videos as basic data. The types of triggers will be subdivided and examined, and a framework will be established to analyze ASMR images based on the presence or absence of narratives in the video, the audience's point of view, and the time of recording. In addition, after analyzing ASMR videos that became popular in Korea using this production type framework, implications were derived. Popular ASMR content in Korea tended to use object sounds and talking sounds as the main triggers, and complex triggers were used without using one trigger. In addition, the number of reality imitation situations or fantasy situations was dominant in proportion over realistic types of content without narratives. It is expected that this study will spark various interests in related follow-up studies as well as various fields that will use ASMR.