Piles of blind boxes, Cosplay, game Krypton... The behavior of Generation Z's "mothers seeing and fighting" has made them gradually become the main force of the new consumption era. Behind these seemingly "ridiculous" behaviors may be bringing huge business opportunities to the new consumer sector. At the beginning of the new year, six CEIBS professors made a guest appearance on the In-depth interview program "Generation Z, New Consumption" of People's Daily, taking you into the new trend of young people's consumption and interpreting the new needs, new culture and new economy of Generation Z. In the first program, Zhang Yu, Associate Professor of Strategy at China Europe International Business School, provides you with an in-depth understanding of the group characteristics of Generation Z and the new consumption behavior it represents.
1
What a group of people Gen Z is
"Generation Z" is a term from the West called "Generation Z", which originally referred to people born between 1995 and 2009. According to this definition, according to goldman Sachs' latest research report, about 251 million post-95 people in China currently belong to Generation Z.
What kind of people are Gen Z? The huge "difference dividend" brought about by China's reform and opening up and economic take-off has led to the high consumption habits, consumption willingness and consumption strength of Generation Z, so they are called the generation that dares to consume. Growing up in the era of vigorous technology, their consumer needs are also extremely personalized and diverse, more willing to pay for their own preferences, and more likely to have an impact on the consumer market.
Generation Z's characteristics are mainly related to the environment in which they grew up:
First of all, Gen Z grew up in an era of high economic prosperity, especially in China, where family economic conditions have improved greatly compared to the past.
Second, they grew up in an era of rapid development of technology, especially digital technology, so they have been digital natives since birth.
The environment in which they were born and grew up had a huge impact on their consumption concept and consumption behavior: they are willing to consume, they are more daring to consume, and they are more demanding of consumer products, objects of consumption and consumer experience.
2
Generation Z has five intergenerational characteristics
Compared with the previous generations, Generation Z has very obvious intergenerational characteristics in terms of consumption behavior, which are mainly manifested in the following five characteristics.
First, the pursuit of convenience, like to be alone. The vast majority of Generation Z is an only child, the unique growth environment, resulting in them will often pursue a solitary, convenient experience, with which there are many consumer goods specially produced for this group, such as self-heating hot pot, self-hi pot and other convenience foods; on the other hand, they have a lot of time will be spent on social networks or online entertainment, offline they also want to have group interaction, so there are many punch cards or trend gathering places offline; and at home, they may also have their own virtual playmates such as handmade, pets, etc.
Second, enjoy research comments and interactions. Gen Z is highly educated, actively researches and comments on things or consumers of interest, and likes to interact with netizens. Therefore, whether it is the Little Red Book or the B station, their comment area is very happy and has a lot of information.
Third, the pursuit of health, green, "beauty is justice". Generation Z grew up in a more economically generous environment, and when consuming, it is not only the pursuit of food and clothing or cost performance, but also the pursuit of something more socially meaningful. For example, they attach great importance to individual health, the social environment and sustainable human development. Compared with previous generations, Gen Z values the quality of consumption and experience, pursues personalization and diversity, and is more willing to pay for content, but also has more stringent requirements for content.
Fourth, pursue individuality and differentiation. Because they grew up in different environments and experiences, they have a greater pursuit of beauty and taste than previous generations. Specifically, many Generation Z consumer products have a high appearance value, and the design of the appearance is very novel and fascinating. At the end of the day, this generation is quite sought to be individual and different.
Fifth, the consumption environment is different. In the past ten or two decades, the country's comprehensive national strength has been continuously improved, and the country's production and supply system have been rapidly improved, making the consumption environment of Generation Z have great material richness and broad choice space, so there are more choices and richer experiences when consuming.
3
New consumption vs traditional consumption, why is it better
It is difficult to have a precise or complete definition of "new consumption", but compared with traditional consumption, new consumption is better in the following four aspects, so as to win generation Z better.
Consumption targets are different. Traditional consumption may simply be the purchase of physical products, while new consumption is not only for physical products, but also for digital products or experiences. New consumption can also be the consumption process, the enjoyment and experience of the process.
Consumption is different. Traditional consumption is more of physical consumption, and new consumption has the integration of reality and virtuality, such as online IP and virtual objects will have offline derivatives. Therefore, the object and experience of new consumption are a mixture of reality and virtuality.
Consumption scenarios are different. The most representative consumption scenario of Generation Z is social networks, such as Xiaohongshu, which is dominated by young women, and Tiger Punch, which is dominated by young Generation Z male groups, and the number of monthly active users of the two social networking sites has reached nearly 100 million. The second is that games and e-sports, whether it is mobile games or social games, have attracted a large number of Z generation consumer groups, such as the glory of the king that everyone is very familiar with. The third is video content, whether it is a long video platform such as iQiyi, Tencent, Youku, or a medium video platform such as Station B, or a short video platform such as Douyin and Kuaishou, more than 60% of the main consumers or movie-watching forces are The Z generation crowd.
The core of consumption is different. The core of new consumption is more about the integration of people and products, and the integration of consumption process and consumer experience. The consumption of a product from the beginning to the possession to the final retention is a complete process. For example, there are many peripheral products of consumption behavior, such as a hot drama or an Internet celebrity punch card, there will be a lot of peripheral, IP derivatives, these peripheral products such as limited editions, hidden models, etc., many of which have become the collection of Generation Z.
4
Generation Z, which has thousands of faces, what is the consumption logic
Pursue a limited edition
Because Gen Z is very unique in its consumption behavior, limited editions are very popular among Gen Z. They will spend a lot of energy and cost to pursue limited edition products and experiences.
The pursuit of diversity, while forming subcultural circles and communities
While pursuing diversity in consumption behavior, Generation Z has also formed different subcultural circles and communities according to their different hobbies.
The pursuit of independence and equality is not the same as the clouds
Generation Z's biggest feature is the increased pursuit of independence, equality and individuality. They will think that what they have may not be the best, but it is good to have characteristics. I don't want people to follow the crowd, and I don't want to go with the flow.
Generation Z in various countries is a consumer group chased by merchants and manufacturers, especially in our country. There are 250 million Generation Z people in China, the population base is quite large; Generation Z economic conditions are relatively rich, and because most of them are only children, family resources will be concentrated on them, and they are more capable, willing, and courageous to consume, so they are the potential of many businesses to tap the rich potential of consumption. In terms of brand loyalty, Gen Z will also be more supportive of their favorite brands.
5
The three major trends of new consumption of Gen Z cannot be ignored
In the future, there are three major trends in the new consumption of Gen Z that deserve attention.
Pay attention to the consumption upgrading needs of Generation Z. There are huge opportunities behind the growth and consumption upgrading of Generation Z, such as Generation Z has a higher pursuit of housing, decoration, etc., and their raising and education of children have also brought many development opportunities to these fields.
Focus on the fusion of reality and virtual, online and offline. At present, the very hot topic is the virtual world and the metacosm, the metacosm is actually a comprehensive integration of the real world and the virtual world, it is the mapping of the real world in the virtual world such as consumption objects and consumer experiences.
Generation Z's view of consumption has new characteristics. For example, in the past few years, they have shown a strong love and confidence in domestic brands and national brands, and they no longer pay too much attention to or believe in foreign brands as in previous generations, so it seems that we need to pay more attention to and pay attention to their consumption concept and consumer experience.
"Z Generation • New Consumption" series of programs, January 10-15 will be broadcast daily on the WeChat video account of China Europe International Business School, global people, Tencent video, iQIYI knowledge, NetEase News, Sina Finance, Sohu Business School and other media platforms synchronously launched, so stay tuned!
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Edit the | Suga Weiwei
Responsible editor | Yue Dingjun
The source of the program is | People's Daily "Global People" new media
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