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Small town youth specifically refers to young people aged 18 to 35 living in small and medium-sized cities, and they are exuding infinite vitality.
Without the pressure of survival, as the development of the Internet has shortened the gap between information dissemination and purchasing channels, they have more consumption space.
Relevant data shows that small-town youth aged 18 to 35 living in small and medium-sized cities have shown great purchasing power in terms of national fashion brands, online car purchases, electronic equipment, and healthy eating. Coupled with the advancement of urbanization, The emerging and diverse offline consumption methods have greatly stimulated the purchasing power of young people in small towns, making them the main force in economic growth.
Wang Peng, an expert from the Intelligent Governance Center of Renmin University of China, said that the consumption upgrade of young people in small towns is a manifestation of increased happiness.
At the same time, we should also pay attention to the consumption overdraft caused by irrationality under various business routines.
Consume to improve quality of life
After graduating from university, Zhang Yang returned to his hometown in Gongyi City, Henan Province and worked in a public institution.
During the 4 years of work, he drove to work at "two o'clock and one line" every day, with a stable life and a decent salary.
Faced with the local housing price of five or six thousand yuan, he is not as stressed as in big cities. In addition, living with his parents saves more than half of his expenses, and his daily consumption is very considerable.
However, due to the impact of the epidemic in recent years, Zhang Yang's consumption is mostly concentrated in the field of games.
"You can spend about 600 yuan a month on games." Zhang Yang explained that this is just an average.
In order to get a better gaming experience, he spent 9,000 yuan on the Internet to buy a gaming computer in the first year of work, and then spent 3,000 yuan to install a switch game console.
This year's "6.18", he used 7,000 yuan to buy a laptop and put it in his work unit, in order to cope with the outbreak of quarantine at any time.
There are also x-boxes, gamepads, sensor keyboards... Until now, he can't count how much money he has spent in the game field.
"Consumption is to buy what you like." Zhang Yang said that when he has a certain economic foundation, he does not have to worry about the pressure of survival. This is the life he wants.
Xiaotong and Zhang Yang, who live in Hebi City, Henan Province, share a similar outlook on consumption. The 27-year-old is now a handmade video blogger.
As a freelancer, she has flexible time, and she has more time to do what she likes, such as raising pets, fitness, eating food, traveling, etc.
According to the "2022 Young People's Consumption Trend Report on Domestic Products", the top 5 cities with the growth rate of users buying domestic products are Lishui in Zhejiang, Jixi in Heilongjiang, Xuzhou in Jiangsu, Luohe in Henan, and Quanzhou in Fujian.
From a geographical point of view, the faster growth is concentrated in small and medium-sized cities.
With the support of mobile Internet in these small and medium-sized cities, young townspeople represented by Zhang Yang and Xiaotong have quickly become a new force in consumption upgrading.
Comprehensive upgrade from online to offline consumption
In recent years, Zhang Yang has clearly felt that his life has changed a bit.
By chance, Zhang Yang was introduced by a colleague to play offline script killing.
"The script killing shop opened in a residential building." Zhang Yang was deeply impressed by the game experience that time. Eight small town youths of similar age spent a pleasant afternoon in character interpretation and reasoning.
This was unimaginable when Zhang Yang was in college. He recalled that the only entertainment modes during the holidays were watching movies and going to Internet cafes.
Today's entertainment has become rich and diverse, script killing, escape room, pottery workshop, cat cafe, yoga studio...
With the development of the city, a series of rich offline entertainment methods have greatly stimulated the consumption desire of young people, and virtually increased their purchasing power.
When Zhang Yang went to play script killing recently, the price had risen from the original 88 yuan to 120 yuan. Even if the price increased, it did not dampen everyone's enthusiasm. On the contrary, it was necessary to book in advance.
The social function accompanying the game allows Zhang Yang to buy new clothes and put on every time he goes, and order a cup of milk tea.
Qu Tingting, a vocational school teacher in a county in Dazhou City, Sichuan Province, also felt the same way.
Just turned 30 years old, she has experienced the creation of Michelle Ice City and Gu Ming Milk Tea Shop from scratch. She has also witnessed the continuous upgrade of the cars of her colleagues, and she has also experienced the surprise that the students she taught began to give gifts to strange anchors.
Online and offline, today's young people are influenced by all kinds of new things.
"In the past, there was no place to spend money, but now there are places to spend money. I can't help it." Qu Tingting told reporters that she occasionally ordered a Starbucks when she was tired from correcting homework.
Consumption upgrade improves happiness
"Although the absolute value of young people's consumption in small towns is not high, the relative value is high, coupled with a huge base, forming a group with huge spending power, which shows that their happiness index is constantly rising." The Chinese people Wang Peng, an expert at the University's Intelligent Governance Center, said.
Wang Peng analyzed that there are two internal and external reasons for the upgrading of young people's consumption in small towns.
The internal reason is that the cost of living is low and controllable, a considerable number of people have stable income, and they have good habits of wealth management and savings; the external reason is the upgrading of the entire consumption environment and the continuous development of the urbanization process. more forms that meet the needs of consumers.
In addition, Wang Peng also pointed out that behind the consumption upgrade, there are also some cases of extreme consumption of young people in small towns, that is, consumption expenditure is significantly greater than conventional demand and daily income.
"Such problems require the joint efforts of various social parties to carry out publicity and education, and guide young people to establish a correct and rational consumption concept."
According to the "2021 "Hundred Cities, Thousand Streets, Ten Thousand Stores" Consumption Index Report compiled by Outlook Think Tank and China Minsheng Bank - Record of Domestic Consumption Recovery under the Normal State of Epidemic Prevention", among the top 20 cities with extreme consumption health in 2021, small and medium-sized cities 60%.
This also shows that after experiencing impulsive consumption and curious consumption, young people in small towns are changing their consumption concepts and consumption habits towards a more rational, healthier and more balanced direction.
Our reporter Qiao Ran