The concept of consumption is changing from "consumerism" to "pragmatism"
Are these young people starting to race?
The impact of the epidemic has brought uncertainty to the lives of young people, and it has also allowed Douban’s “Stinging Men’s Federation” and “Stinging Women’s Federation” groups to quickly grow and “out the circle”. Young people on the Internet have joined various “scrapping groups” ". In the online world, they do not shy away from saying "choose" or "poor", but take pride in "changing".
For a time, some "Moonlight Clan" began to try to learn frugality from the minutiae of life. They shared "0.9 yuan to solve a lunch", "cut their own hair", "bicycle commute" and other money-saving experiences in the group; published "want to drink milk tea and ask to wake up" "the fifth month of closing the flower" "0 consumption One day, post all kinds of posts that require supervision, such as "posting as proof."
Meet friends and exchange tricks. Sharers relish and viewers are interested. For example, in the "The First Clothes of the Kings' Contest Is Not as Old" event organized by the Men's Men's Group, nearly 400 netizens participated actively and gained more than 6 million views. Some people sold out the skirt pants they bought when they were 6 years old. Now he is 26 years old, and the skirt pants have become shorts; others have the jackets handed down from grandma.
Behind these young people's "pick" behaviors, there are some elements of ridicule, but they also contain the psychological changes of the times that make the best use of everything and refuse excessive consumption.
Consumerism turns to pragmatism
A sense of security has changed Jia Xiaoyu's consumption concept to a certain extent.
During the epidemic, Jia Xiaoyu was unemployed and lived on his previous deposits. For the first time, he realized the importance of "money".
The post-95s began to reflect on his previous consumption concept-after buying a shirt for 1,000 yuan, you need to buy pants for 1,000 yuan and shoes for 1,000 yuan to match, and then buy a bag for 2,000 yuan to appear that this body is not a fake .
"But actually, do I really need these things?" After getting a negative answer, Jia Xiaoyu decided to become a "trick" person.
The reason for the change is, on the one hand, that she discovered the aging of her parents and hopes to save her parents a pension. On the other hand is the sense of crisis brought about by the epidemic. She hopes that she will not be troubled by money anytime in the future and can live a stable and secure life.
There are many young people who share the same thoughts with Jia Xiaoyu. The Central Bank released the "Quarterly Survey Report of Urban Depositors in the First Quarter of 2020" on April 28. Residents leaning towards "more consumption" accounted for 22.0%, down 6.0 percentage points from the previous quarter; residents leaning towards "more savings" accounted for 53.0%, an increase of 7.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Ge Yanxia, a researcher at the Academy of Social Development Strategies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that due to the impact of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, some young people have zero income for several months, which not only reduces the current quality of life, but also lowers their expectations for the future.
The reporter observed that, except for some ridiculous posts, the content shared by many team members is not lacking in economical and practical ways to save money.
The girl Liu Yu (pseudonym) got a lot after 1995. She was born in an ordinary family and worked in the food industry in Guangzhou after graduation, with average salary. Recently, she has targeted supermarket discount times and clearance areas, used rebate shopping software, and checked in to receive points every day. She also updated a bookkeeping post in the "pick group" to record every day's expenses with little detail. "For example, I will often buy drinks for a while. The bookkeeping makes me find that I spend too much money on this. When I want to drink again, I will control myself." She said.
Once, like most post-90s and post-95s, Liu Yu was also a "spent as much as possible" person. The experience of going to the hospital once made her fully aware of the need to save money. A few months ago, she went to the hospital for a fever and spent a few hundred yuan. When waiting for the result, there was a patient next to him who was going to be hospitalized and needed a deposit of 1,000 yuan. "At that time, I thought, fortunately, I still have more than 1,000 yuan, but fortunately I did not spend it."
In the following days, Liu Yu deliberately controlled his own expenses. "Cheap is not our principle of shopping, it is what we need." She gradually summed up the consumption concept she pursued, and also broke through the logic behind the prevalence of consumerism-many businesses attract people with certain gimmicks, "Must have a lifetime The words "must-have" caught everyone's attention and created the illusion of "this is what I need".
"Friends" summed up a variety of money-saving tips: "Shopping should be the same as company procurement, cost analysis and comparison of competing products. I have seen the hotel selling a particularly delicious mooncake, I just skipped the hotel and found I bought it from the Taobao shop of the foundry"; "I can "pull grass" by imagination, such as telling myself that milk tea, snacks, and wasting money, and getting fat, suppressing consumer desire"; "I never look at clothes and shoes on Taobao. Instead, they watch auction real estate channels, and some real estate can still provide loans for as long as more than 200,000 yuan, which can motivate themselves not to buy other depreciated goods."
Ge Yanxia analyzed that buying a product carries the material and spiritual needs of consumers. These young people's consumption concepts are changing from "consumerism" to "pragmatism", that is, their spiritual needs in consumer behavior have weakened . "The spiritual needs of young people are no longer as strongly dependent on consumption as they were in the past, and to a certain extent, it is conducive to the return of young people’s consumption concepts to rationality; of course, this change will also lead to a weaker demand for luxury goods, which may give the consumer market The supply side brings some new challenges and changes."
Reap the fun in "trick"
When frugality becomes a habit, young people hope to find more fun in the "stabbing" behavior.
Song Peng (pseudonym), who was born in 1988, clearly remembers the reason for his first posting in the "men's federation of sting men", "a pair of slippers, the upper of the shoe is broken, hook it up with a pin and continue to wear it." In an instant, as Beibu's sadness emerged, he decided to provide a more positive attitude to life in his own way, making the saving behavior interesting and unrelenting.
Using idle items to make handicrafts is Song Peng's money-saving trick. This boy from an ordinary coal miner family in Tongchuan, Shaanxi, came to Beijing alone a few years ago. The fast-paced work pressure made him breathless. Instead, he went back to the rented house and looked at the simple furniture, daily necessities, and toys he made, which made him relaxed.
He told reporters that all his handmade products were made locally, using online shopping courier boxes and disposable chopsticks, and the production process was also mind-boggling. "A Transformer that has been produced since the age of college, I designed every part, I have gained a lot of fun, and the value is already inestimable."
In the eyes of friends around him, Zhang Million (a pseudonym), the operator of the "Millions" public account, is also a "save money" expert. He used to live in a hotel with a price of 700 yuan for a price of 6,000 yuan; he bought 20,000 yuan In business class, I got two extra tickets, which is more cost-effective than economy class... All this is like what he wrote in his public account introduction-"High quality life ≠ high cost".
In fact, the pursuit of a higher "cost-effectiveness ratio" is something that this Beijing guy born in 1989 has been doing. In his view, in a limited life, one should not save money by lowering one's expectations, but should meet or exceed one's psychological expectations as much as possible within the range of expenses one can afford. Such ideas can stimulate young people's motivation, but every goal should be down to earth.
Zhang million said frankly that he has a normal family background. After graduating from college in 2011, he worked in a state-owned enterprise. At that time, he only had a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan. It was difficult to eat better. So he set the first small goal, "eat better than before." After this goal was achieved, he set a small goal of "affordable genuine game"...that is, while achieving each goal, he found the mystery that really brought him a sense of security-the volume of knowledge.
This concept of "saving money" has been recognized by some young people, and it has also become the motivation for Zhang million, who is engaged in technical work in an Internet company, to continue to operate the public account in his spare time. Now, as soon as he has time, he will update the "play" of hotels, airlines, credit cards, and in more and more research, learn what he has not mastered, improve his network, and get more opportunities. With fun.
Thrift and thrift in exchange for choice
"Just like the "idiot" spiritual idol-Asian actor Liu Yuling said, if you have enough deposits, when an accident occurs, or when someone forces you to dismiss you, you can respond loudly. Yours'." A group member said that many young people want to save money and give themselves more choices.
The 27-year-old Zhengzhou girl Yuan Jie is a member of the "Sorrowful Heart Saving Team" In April this year, she and her mother bought a house with a down payment of 450,000 yuan, of which 300,000 yuan was her total savings in the four years after graduation.
Earlier, the mother and daughter had different opinions on the size of the house, but when Yuan Jie took out all the deposits, the mother decided to respect her daughter's opinions. At that moment, Yuan Jie felt the joy of "economic independence".
So, in a "heart-saving group with more than 400,000 members," she set a new goal for herself: to save another 200,000 yuan as a dowry before getting married.
But Yuan Jie also realized that saving money is not suitable for all young people, "such as those who are aggressive and can use money as a cost-exploring person. But ordinary people like me should learn to compromise with themselves, Develop a good consumption concept early, enhance the ability to deal with risks in the future, and gain a sense of security in controlling your life."
After being no longer enveloped by consumption exceeding expectations, the choices of young people in daily life also seem to be more in line with their own intentions.
The post-90s Shanghai girl Chai Panqian (pseudonym) worked steadily and cultivated a life-saving lifestyle from the influence of her parents. She believes that hard work and simple life are a positive attitude towards life, and she feels that people who control desire can do great things. She watched a variety show in Hong Kong and said that a boy was stingy, but she just saved money and bought a small apartment. The blind date "worth" went up to a new level, found a satisfactory object, and could freely decorate the house. Working for the landlord again changed the face of life.
Open source and throttling is a lifestyle recognized by Song Jialong, a young employee of China Railway Lanzhou Bureau Group Co., Ltd. With a rural family background, Song Jialong knows that it is not easy to make money. During college, he earned living expenses by doing part-time jobs, setting up stalls, and taking pictures of the graduation season. After working, he also hopes to bring more security to him through the growth of account numbers.
"Saving money means planning for the future." The post-90s said his thoughts. He rides a bicycle to and from get off work, and clothes are not washed frequently. In his spare time, he takes full advantage of his photography expertise, contributing to some magazines or shooting weddings. After a few years, he bought a house, had a deposit, and took root in the city. At the same time, he has become more self-disciplined, more planned and more efficient in his work, and can spare more time after work to focus on his photography hobby.
"We are all experiencing a huge change in the economic and social environment. Uncertainty is the main feature of a period of time in the future, including people's future income and consumption." Ge Yanxia said, similar to the behavior of "grouping" members, essentially It is a group mutual aid behavior. Under the impact of uncertainty, it helps us to accept and adapt to uncertainty and improve our ability to deal with risks. She believes that in the long run, young people should also try to avoid blindly following trends and overdrafting, and spend more money on improving their abilities, such as participating in education and training, while ensuring a basic life security.
The post-85s young teacher Chai Minquan of the School of Management of Lanzhou University mainly studies consumer behavior. He believes that from the perspective of social psychological mechanism, young people have the psychology of pursuing novelty and following the trend. Some people think that the behavior of members like "pick up" is very interesting or a little funny, so they are willing to participate, follow the trend and follow the trend, "but It is not a very long-term or a very common phenomenon."
From Chai Minquan's point of view, "revenge to save money" is the same as the "exquisite poor" in the past. It originated from the media, the public, and academic research. It has strengthened the novelty or heterogeneity of the behavior of the younger generation. People are more and more "stuck", and their more rational consumption behavior is a natural change after experiencing the hardships of life in the course of life.
"We don't want to overstate or exaggerate this phenomenon, so as not to in turn affect public opinion on young people's normal consumption concept." Chai Minquan believes that behind the young people's outlook on money and consumption is a broad system of social values, which requires various All levels lead the cultivation.
China Youth Daily · China Youth Daily reporter Wei Qimeng Wang Hao Source: China Youth Daily
June 19, 2020 version 08