A marriage information company, Duo, has faced sanctions from fair trade authorities for advertising that it holds the largest number of professional and prestigious university members without objective evidence.
The Fair Trade Commission announced on August 26 that it has issued a corrective order and a public announcement regarding Duo's false and exaggerated advertising practices, imposing a fine of 345 million won (approximately $3.45 million).
According to the commission, Duo used phrases such as 'the industry’s largest number of professionals at 5,135' and 'the highest number of prestigious university members at 16,479' in internet articles, its website, blogs, and bus advertisements starting in November 2022.
However, Duo classified its professional and prestigious university members based on its own criteria and did not investigate or compare the membership numbers of competing companies using the same standards. It also failed to provide objective data to support its claim of having the largest number in the industry.
Duo categorized professionals to include doctors, dentists, traditional medicine practitioners, veterinarians, pharmacists, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, patent attorneys, accountants, tax accountants, and appraisers. Its prestigious university members included graduates from medical schools, universities in Seoul and the metropolitan area, local national universities, military academies, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
Additionally, Duo's advertising related to external audits was misleading. From April 2022, it claimed to be 'the only external audit target corporation in the industry' and 'the only electronic disclosure company recognized by the Financial Supervisory Service in Korea.' However, the commission's investigation revealed that during the same period, competing marriage information companies were also disclosing audit reports through the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system (DART).
The number of professional managers was also inflated. From November 2022 to June 2023, Duo promoted that 'the industry’s largest number of 230 professional managers provide personalized management at a 2-to-1 ratio.' However, as of October 2023, only 188 managers were specifically engaged in member matchmaking. The figure of 230 included general staff.
The Fair Trade Commission determined that the size of professional and prestigious university members, as well as the number of professional managers, significantly influences consumer choices. Since consumers cannot verify the actual content and quality of services before joining marriage information services, accurate information based on objective evidence must be provided. Consequently, the commission imposed a corrective order, a public announcement, and a fine of 345 million won.
According to the Korea Consumer Agency, the number of damage relief applications related to domestic marriage brokerage services has increased annually, with 1,188 cases reported from 2021 to June 2024. The average contract amount per person rose from approximately 2.9 million won in 2021 to about 3.56 million won in 2023, marking a 22.7% increase. Given that this market involves relatively high contract amounts, the accuracy of information influencing membership decisions, such as member composition and manager size, is increasingly important.
In response, the Fair Trade Commission is pushing to amend the Display and Advertising Act to raise the fixed penalty limit for unfair advertising from the current 500 million won to 5 billion won when it is difficult to assess the sales amount related to such advertising. A commission official stated, 'We will continue to monitor unfair advertising to ensure that accurate information is provided, which is crucial for consumers' rational purchasing decisions in the marriage information service sector.'
* This article has been translated by AI.
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