People Ask AI What Clothes to Buy—and Then Buy Them: Six in 10 Purchase AI-Recommended Items

[Financial News] Artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing consumers' choices when selecting fashion products and using financial services. Among users who searched for fashion product information with AI, 59% purchased products mentioned by the technology. In addition, 67% of people who had signed up for financial products said they were willing to use AI agents for complex financial tasks.
CJ MezzoMedia announced on the 1st that it had published its 2026 Industry Analysis Report, which examines conditions in the fashion and finance markets as well as consumers' purchasing and media-use patterns.
The report was based on an online survey of about 1,000 residents of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and the five major metropolitan cities. It also analyzed media data from ADLY, the company's AI-powered integrated advertising operations platform, along with monthly advertising spending trends. The survey included people who had purchased fashion products within the previous three months and those who had signed up for financial products within the previous year.
In fashion, 39% of respondents said they had used AI to search for product information. The rate was highest among teenagers, at 57%. Among users who searched for products with AI, 59% went on to make an actual purchase, while the figure for people in their 40s was above average at 66%.
Recommerce, or the buying and selling of secondhand fashion products, was also identified as a major change. The rates of experience with purchasing and selling secondhand fashion products were each 42%. The most common reason for buying secondhand items was their low price, cited by 72% of respondents. CJ MezzoMedia noted that fashion companies are expanding their own secondhand trading services, including MUSINSA's MUSINSA USED and Hyundai Department Store's BUY BACK SERVICE.
Demand for sportswear was also notable. Respondents participated in an average of 2.2 sports, and 78% had purchased sportswear for those activities. The main purchasing channels were portal sites, outlet stores and open marketplaces, in that order. People in their 20s through 40s tended to use online channels, while teenagers mainly used official offline stores.
Respondents mainly searched for fashion product information on online fashion platforms, Instagram and YouTube. Short-form videos were the most commonly encountered type of advertisement, and 46% said they had searched for or purchased a product after seeing an advertisement.
According to the company's advertising data, the media spending shares in the fashion sector were 25% for Google, 17% each for NAVER and Meta, and 16% for Kakao. Outdoor advertising accounted for 7%. Advertising activity was strongest in May and September, when the seasons change, and in December, when year-end promotions are common.
In finance, the report highlighted the evolution of AI services from AI assistants that help users check accounts, analyze spending and receive product consultations to AI agents that carry out tasks such as creating financial plans and comparing and signing up for products on users' behalf.
Among users who had experience with financial AI assistants, 70% used them at least once a week. The most common reason for satisfaction was the analysis of personal spending habits and tailored recommendations, cited by 49%.
Some 67% of respondents said they were willing to use AI agents for complex financial tasks, including investment and asset management as well as insurance and tax management. Investment and asset management ranked highest among the expected areas of use, at 69%. CJ MezzoMedia projected that as automated transactions by AI agents increase, payment methods will also shift toward forms that are easier for software to handle. It identified stablecoins and deposit tokens as new payment infrastructure options.
The rate of experience with financial super apps, which bring together multiple financial and lifestyle services in one place, was 67%. The most-used services included spending and shopping at 65% and stocks at 54%. Respondents used an average of 10.5 financial apps. The company predicted that financial platforms will evolve from internet banking and super apps into AI banks that use customer data to handle everything from product recommendations to payments.
Respondents mainly searched for financial information on financial institutions' mobile apps and portal sites. YouTube was the most frequently encountered advertising medium, while the most common format was in-stream advertising shown before, after or during video playback. Advertising spending in the financial sector was distributed among Google at 30%, NAVER at 19% and online video services (OTT) at 12%. Spending was most concentrated in March, when the new school year and new seasons begin.
[email protected] Yoon Hong-jip Reporter