Author |Lu.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, the post-90s girl Orange, who incarnated as a "pure buying warrior", was carefully taking stock of the New Year's goods piled up in the living room: smart home appliances for her parents, snack gift bags for her younger brothers and sisters, and tobacco, alcohol, tea and ...... for her elders on the first day of the Lunar New YearIn order to reward himself for a year of hard work, Orange also went to the gold shop to create a gold ring for himself a year ago.
Xiao Ke, a college student who had just returned to Dalian, took out "Huangpi Three Fresh" and fried lotus root balls from the refrigerator, and while searching on his mobile phone for how to make these ingredients into dishes, he introduced these dishes to his parents as special foods that are often eaten in Wuhan during the Chinese New Year; Er, a Hanfu lover who lives in Guangdong, specially placed an order for a new horse-faced skirt for the Year of the Dragon before the festival, and wore this set of "New Year's clothes" in Zhuhai Yuanmingyuan Xinyuan out of a set of photos; In addition to the common rabbit meat and sausage in the local area, there is also a Ya'an specialty "10-year-old sturgeon caviar" ......
Nowadays, the first batch of post-90s young people and even post-00s have begun to take over the "power", and as an indispensable ritual during the Spring Festival, the "burden" of buying New Year's goods has been handed over to the shoulders of young people. The "2024 Spring Festival Youth Social Media Trend Insight Report" released by Xiaohongshu pointed out that young people aged 18-35 have become the main decision-making force for this year's New Year, which makes the statement that "young people don't love the New Year" self-defeating.
Unlike the parents' preference to buy new shoes and new clothes for the whole family, and to hoard food and drink, young consumers are focusing on a new and affordable, while pursuing cost performance, hidden local specialties, personalized homophonic Spring Festival couplets, and ** jewelry with value preservation and face are all on the list.
From head to toe, "Dragon" reappeared
In the context of the traditional custom of wearing new clothes and celebrating the New Year, the New Year's robe is also an indispensable expense. Young people who pay attention to the "sense of ceremony" choose to change a set of "Year of the Dragon**" from beginning to end during the Spring Festival, when they need a sense of ritual the most
Alimama Business Guide pointed out that contemporary young people buy New Year's shirts as the most popular search words, and the growth rate of the transaction index has reached 31%. On the ** platform, the search popularity of horse face skirt reached 403w, the transaction grew by 249%；The trading index of cheongsam and New Year's robe also increased by more than 30%. According to JD data, since January, the turnover of women's Hanfu with "dragon" elements on the JD platform has increased by 2 times year-on-year. Obviously, in the Year of the Dragon, which has special significance, national style dressing has set off a new trend.
On the occasion of the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, netizen Er Er bought the woven golden horse skirt and other products of the "Spring Banquet", and she told the Surprise Research Institute that as a Hanfu lover, she can better understand the meaning of "Dressed in the Country" and "Splendid China" by wearing Hanfu. "Plus the ** of the horse-faced skirt is not too expensive, two or three hundred is enough to buy a satisfactory one. And the Hanfu matches the atmosphere of the New Year very well. In order to match the Hanfu, Erer will also buy additional accessories such as hairpins and Yingluo necklaces.
Erer wears Hanfu to take a photo.
In addition, the Natal Year suit and "Dragon Element" goods specially provided for the Spring Festival have also created a batch of natal "Little Dragon Man" and "Limited Little Dragon Man". According to the data of the New Year's Festival battle report released by Kuaishou, red socks, red **, and red scarves have become the top 3 must-have for the New Year. On Tmall, the search volume of "Year of the Dragon" related product terms has increased by 640 times year-on-year since the end of December, and the search volume of "Year of the Dragon Limited" has skyrocketed by 3093% month-on-month in 2 weeks.
From the 1 yuan "Dragon Luck Head" hairpin, the 10 yuan paper-cut dragon dance, the 100 yuan "I Am Alone" one-stop pillow of the Palace Museum, and then to the 1,000 yuan Wedgwood "Oriental Legend Dragon and Phoenix Cup", the "dragon content" on the product shelves directly overflowed the screen. For the limited theme once every 12 years, the merchants have shown the greatest sincerity.
Wedgwood's "Oriental Legend Dragon and Phoenix Cup".
While most people create a sense of festive atmosphere through consumption, there is also a group of young people who choose the ** of "having both face and lining" as the ritual sense of the New Year. Alipay data shows that during the Wufu Festival, the post-90s and post-00s accounted for half of the live broadcast consumption, and the sales of jewelry doubled, and continued to occupy the top spot in the "Wufu New Year's Festival".
*Next, some ** brands are specifically targeting young people who love to hoard golden beans and launch a series of Year of the Dragon-themed accessories. However, because of the soaring price of gold, many young people began to bring gold bars and style drawings into the gold shop, so that the topic of "young people queuing up to strike gold before the Spring Festival" appeared on the hot search.
The master of the gold shop is making rings.
The post-90s girl Orange shared her gold mining experience with the Surprise Research Institute, she said that the current gold price is not particularly cost-effective, and the brand premium and inflated labor costs make the finished product too high. "Take the old store I bought** as an example, the necklace weighing more than 15 grams costs more than 18,000 yuan, which is indeed too expensive for ordinary people. ”
In contrast, Orange found that gold in the gold shop can meet the needs of "wearing gold and silver" in the New Year at a low cost, but the style will be relatively simple. But compared with the real gold ** saved by striking gold, the style may not be the most important. Because if you carefully disassemble the cost of gold, you will find that from the beginning of the consumer, "gold" has won at the starting line.
A gold bracelet made of oranges.
The research institute observed the gold price of jewelry of major brands and found that as of February 4, the gold price of Chow Tai Fook was 629 yuan, Chow Sang Sang 627 yuan, Lao Fengxiang 629 yuan, and Lukfook jewelry 629 grams, while the cost of buying a gold bar in major banks fluctuated around 490 yuan. **The difference between the brand and the bank's gold bar is close to 140 yuan per gram, if calculated based on a common gold bracelet with a gram weight of 20 grams. The cost of buying ** brand is about 12,580 yuan, while the cost of bank gold bars is 9,800 yuan, a difference of 2,780 yuan. And the higher the grammage, the larger the total spread.
Nowadays, young people who are gradually accepting and integrating into the investment philosophy of ** have a perception of ** not only in appearance, but also because of the cultural connotation and the attributes of value preservation and appreciation. There is not only the "lining" to maintain the value, but also the "face" to wear out, as well as the emotional value of pleasing yourself, ** is undoubtedly becoming one of the primary choices for young people to buy New Year's goods.
Look for the "hidden model" and turn over the red clay specialty
Every year before the Spring Festival holiday, college students are one of the first groups to return to their hometowns. However, this year's college students are busy packing the souvenirs into their suitcases before packing their bags and heading home.
On social platforms, many college student netizens posted their own list of specialties: from wolfberries in Ningxia, Pu'er tea in Yunnan, twist flowers in Tianjin to hot pot base in Chongqing, the main feature is a corner of the world, "north and south**" In addition to these local specialties that have long been famous, there are also many "hidden" specialties that have also been excavated by college students.
Xiao Ke, who is a junior in Wuhan, told the Surprise Research Institute that in previous years, when she went home in previous years, she would usually only bring two boxes of Zhou Heiya's duck goods at the train station, and would not specially prepare any special New Year's goods. But before this year's holiday, she specially purchased a wave of local specialties from Hubei.
Because many friends went to Wuhan last year to go on a special forces trip, when they went back, they made a strategy in advance to buy what specialties to take home. To be honest, it's the first time I've heard of a lot of things, but I heard them say they taste good, so I'm thinking of bringing some back when I go home this year. ”
According to Xiao Ke, when choosing special products, she did not choose the common gift boxes in tourist stores, but went to the "small shops" frequented by locals to find "hidden models". "For example, the local fish cakes, fish balls and meatballs called 'Huangpi Sanxian' are said by local students to be eaten during the Chinese New Year. In addition, there are spring rolls with local vegetables, fried lotus root balls, and braised vegetables. Because the spring rolls in the north are all bean paste, I have never eaten vegetable filling, and it is relatively novel. Then lotus root balls and braised vegetables are also local specialties. ”
The small "Huangpi Three Fresh" that can be planted with grass
Xiao Ke said that the special forces trip not only brought fire to tourist attractions, but also made many young people from other places unexpectedly learn about the local food and special customs of unfamiliar cities. "These things aren't technically specialty, but they have a strong local flavor that makes them feel very smoky. ”
In addition, there is also a list of some young people's specialties from the "specialty exchange".
At the beginning of the year, Harbin, a new top city, exchanged special products with Guangxi, allowing all provinces to set off a big agricultural survey. From cranberries in Heilongjiang to caviar in Sichuan, to foie gras in Anhui and South American prawns in Gansu, many hidden specialties have become famous all over the world, subverting many people's stereotypes of traditional "local specialties", and uncovering the unknown side of various provinces.
Many netizens found that the "native products" in everyone's eyes may not be earthy at all, and they are more cost-effective. According to the data of the "2023** Hidden Native Products Report", Yunnan, located in the southwest border, relies on the unique geographical environment and unique climatic conditions, and various "foreign specialties" are cultivated in Yunnan for mass production and localization, including the precious wild edible fungus black truffle.
*Black truffles sold on the platform.
In front of the Chinese people who are full of fireworks, truffles have returned to the essence of being a "fungus", and they are gradually fading away from the "noble" temperament, and they have also become commoners, and truffles have even become a side dish for braised pork, rice noodles, and xiaolongbao, and they will be put into moon cakes and zongzi during the New Year's holidays. Not only that, high-end ingredients such as foie gras and caviar are also "replaced" in Anhui and Sichuan in China, but many people say they don't know.
Xiao Ye, a post-95 generation living in Chengdu, said to the Surprise Research Institute: "As a native of Sichuan, the specialties in my impression are rabbit heads, cold rabbits, and bowl chickens, and my family can eat at least ten rabbits a year, but I have really never heard of caviar, and Pixian bean paste is more famous in comparison." When Xiao Ye tried to find out, he found that Ya'an's caviar production ranked second in the country.
I was even curious to search for Ya'an caviar's **, about 10 yuan a gram, wasn't it hundreds of thousands of dollars a spoonful before? I seemed to have picked up a bargain, so I quickly ordered 10 grams to try it. When young consumers like Xiaoye began to search for "what are the local specialties in my hometown" on the Internet, they were dazzled by unexpected specialties, and finally placed orders frantically, and the agricultural exploration triggered by Heilongjiang cranberries was carried out in a mighty way.
Ya'an caviar that Xiaoye bought.
In the context of the highly developed market of social ** and e-commerce platforms, it has become inevitable that "hidden" local products are constantly being excavated. However, for the consumer market, it is more noteworthy that the perception of "local specialties" by young consumer groups has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Young people have an unimaginable sense of identity and interest in culture and history, and the pursuit of superiority is gradually being replaced by fireworks. Therefore, they expect to find a unique consumer experience from traditional local old brands, and it is also because of this emotional resonance and personalized consumption needs that "local specialties" can be revitalized.
The 40-year changes of New Year's goods are a history of consumption upgrading
The New Year's list is like a mirror, reflecting the changes in life and the changes of the times. The definition of New Year's goods in each era is not the same, in the sixties and seventies of the last century, the concept of New Year's goods was relatively simple, people's needs focused on grain, oil, rice and noodles and other foods that could solve the problem of food and clothing, and the meaning of the New Year was to "eat a good meal".
Since the 80s, with the social and economic development and the steady increase of national income, people's expectations for the New Year have become "wear well and use well", and the types of New Year's goods have become more abundant, in addition to traditional food and daily necessities, new categories such as household appliances and clothing have also emerged.
In the 90s, the potential of the mainland consumer market was explored by Taiwan-funded enterprises such as Hsu Fu Chi and Want Want, and the peak season of New Year's goods consumption has also become a new battlefield for brand marketing. Coca-Cola, White Rabbit, and red wine have become the "top stream" of this era, and at the same time, the main scene of New Year's goods procurement has transitioned from wholesale markets to large shopping malls.
Nowadays, the younger generation born in the Internet era has changed both the New Year's goods list and the purchase channels, they are better at online shopping one-stop buying, and the life concept of "freeing your hands and benefiting the whole family" is also reflected in the purchase of New Year's goods.
However, while the consumption of New Year's goods is on the rise, the Internet popular meme of "it may be a little naïve for primary school students, but it is just right for young" reveals the lethality of "childhood memories" to young people. As a result, young people learned to keep up with their parents, began to pay attention to old brands and local specialties, and also felt the true fragrance law of the "exquisite province" consumption concept.
According to the results of a social survey conducted by China Youth Daily in November 2023, 865% of the young people surveyed made it clear that the consumption concept of "the flower, the province" can enhance the sense of control over their lives. Just like the friendly local products and the huge potential for value retention, they have become a must for young people - they can not only satisfy the desire to consume, but also will not empty their wallets.
Over the past 40 years, the great changes that have taken place on the New Year's goods list have made people see the improvement of Chinese consumers' income and consumption level, and the iteration of the consumer market from category, scale to channel pattern. When the younger generation of consumers becomes the new "New Year's goods manager", the consumer market behind the New Year's goods list has also opened a new round of iterative upgrading.
Compared with the parents' generation, they will give priority to practicality when buying New Year's goods, and they are more concerned about the "newness" of the goods at the time level. Today's younger generation pays more attention to the pleasure, ritual and emotional value of buying New Year's goods.
For example, young people who pursue a "sense of relaxation" are good at improving the quality of life through reasonable consumption, and in order to have more rest time, smart home appliances such as sweeping robots, dishwashers, and massage chairs have become popular items for the new year. Douyin** data shows that during the New Year's Festival, the GMV of the home appliance industry increased by 140% year-on-year compared with the same period last year, with 61 brands having more than 10,000 transactions and 17 popular products.
Therefore, it can be seen in the current young people that they are willing to pay for emotional value, but they will also share money-saving strategies and resist consumerism in Douban's money-saving group; They will spend impulsively for "metaphysical" goods, but they are also becoming more and more rational in their living expenses.
The three seemingly incompatible terms of "making money", "spending money" and "saving money" have all been fully reflected in the consumption behavior of this generation of young people. A new era of consumption is dawning when the sophisticated poor and rational consumption coexist, and the younger generation of consumers moves to the center of the consumer market.
Between "pleasing others" and "pleasing oneself", young people are increasingly inclined to choose the latter. In order to make their salary income worthy of the consumption level, most young people have never stopped struggling, although they shout "lie flat". Just like the constantly iterating New Year's goods list, young people are also conscientiously practicing the diversified consumption concept of this era in their own way.
The oranges, Xiaoke, Erer, and Xiaoye in the text are pseudonyms.
Kunpeng Project