Are you willing to pay for interest?
Paying for hobbies is becoming more and more common in today's consumer market, especially among young consumer groups.
From a deep level, interest consumption is an expression of young consumer groups' own emotions and personalities. In the circle composed of interests and hobbies, they have gained spiritual support.
However, at the same time, interest consumption may also cause consumers to spend a lot of money, and there is a risk of developing into impulsive consumption and excessive consumption, which requires reasonable guidance.
I buy it because I like it
"This is a diffuser stone, and you can add essential oils to make it emit fragrance. If you don't use it much, I recommend scented candles, which are sturdy and not afraid of falling or falling. Liquid fragrances are the easiest to operate, just open the lid and put them in the house. That's fine, but the cap is a one-time use, so you can't put it back on when you open it." When it comes to fragrances, museum worker Carrian is very familiar, and can be described as an "expert".
Carrian is familiar with the use methods, advantages and disadvantages of various fragrance categories, and has researched the main products of major brands, which stems from her habit of purchasing fragrances during her postgraduate studies.
"I initially bought a scented candle out of curiosity. It feels good to use. The more I buy, the more I pay attention to it."
Carrian's consumption preferences actually represent the aspirations of many "post-90s" and "post-00s": the purchased products are not necessarily just needed but must be interesting.
Figures, blind boxes, trendy games, cultural and creative... These products that may not be considered in traditional consumption concepts are becoming more and more popular among young people, and there is one word behind them - "like".
Because I like it, I buy it, and I don't care too much about the price and the quantity that I have.
This is a major feature of interest consumption.
Why is interest consumption rising?
Ge Yanxia, an associate researcher at the Institute of Social Development Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that after the material life is getting richer, the spiritual and cultural needs of the people are increasing, and the consumption field has ushered in a series of new changes. The importance of cultural value attributes in consumer decision-making is growing.
"Compared to the older generation who pay attention to the practical use and cost-effectiveness of products, young consumer groups are more inclined to consume based on interest and pursue the 'price ratio'." Song Sigen, director of the Consumer Behavior Research Center of Shanghai University of Applied Sciences, said that emotionality is very important to young people. Shopping has a great motivating effect. They are not so obsessed with price, and liking and satisfying emotional needs have become an important criterion for consumption, which reflects the changes in the proportion of rationality and sensibility in the consumption behavior of Chinese people.
Understanding the fragrance market trends through Weibo, Douban and Xiaohongshu is an indispensable part of Carrian's interest consumption.
Compared with the officially released content, the user experience posted by other users on the Internet made her more excited about the new product.
Song Sigen pointed out that social media is the driving force for the rise of interest consumption. "The Internet makes consumption emotions infect each other, and individual consumption psychology is awakened in a large area."
In the process, social media acts as both a glue and a catalyst, connecting consumers with the same interests.
Ordinary consumers have also aroused great enthusiasm for related consumption due to the recommendations of key opinion leaders (KOLs) and sharing their experiences with each other.
A survey by the China Youth School Media showed that 83.02% of the interviewed college students would pay for their interests because of their joy and inner satisfaction.
In this regard, Ge Yanxia said, "The phenomenon of consumption that expresses personal emotions will become more common in the future."
To circle friends, increase recognition
Even if he imagined it several times in his mind, when he actually stood at the gate of Universal Beijing Resort and saw the tourists coming in "dressed up", Xiao Wang couldn't restrain his excitement. Special scarf.
In the Harry Potter Park, there are not a few people who "dress up" more carefully than her. Some people wear black wizard robes and hats; some hold wands and wave them in the air; colorful wigs...
These peculiarly dressed people have a common name - "Ha Mi".
In this circle, people often dress up as wizards in the play, or embellish red-yellow/yellow-black/green-silver/blue-white elements on their bodies that represent different colleges.
In Xiao Wang's view, it is indeed out of tune with the surroundings, but it is necessary.
"First of all, we use this to show our identity as a 'Ha fan'; second, we use this method to 'make friends'. Sometimes when we walk on the road and see strangers wearing red and yellow scarves, even if we don't talk, we will I can identify myself as my own.”
Like the "Ha fans" and "Ha fans" circles, almost every interest has formed a consumption circle.
Liu Liming, an associate researcher at the School of Communication and Design of Sun Yat-Sen University, told reporters that interest consumption and fan culture are closely linked, and the two subjects highly overlap.
Paying for IP, idols, peripherals, etc. enables them to strengthen their cognition of "who I am", build an identity mark, and identify other members in the circle, so as to gain a sense of belonging.
It is worth noting that the carrier of identity is not necessarily a specific item. Paying to participate in activities and purchase services because of interest can also achieve the purpose, such as watching games because of admiring the same athlete, and buying performances because of the love of the same musical. tickets etc.
In Xiao Wang's experience, even if she doesn't show her identity as a "Ha fan" with too many costumes, just the act of making a special trip to the Harry Potter Park will enable her and other people who come here to find a common language .
In addition to expressing emotions, interest consumption can also reflect the cultural identity of consumer groups to a certain extent.
Liu Liming pointed out, "This is because the interest in consuming products and services has cultural added value."
Not only that, but there are many subdivisions of cultural identity types in addition to identity based on differences in product or service type.
"For example, the national trend products represented by the Forbidden City Cultural Creation and the development of traditional Chinese culture can arouse everyone's confidence in the national spirit, national value and national aesthetics. Another example, such as 'Bingdundun' and 'Xuerong' Many consumers will also purchase products related to major events and activities such as Rong' to express their recognition and support for the country's development and progress, and continue to strengthen their sense of national identity." Liu Liming said.
Healthy consumption, avoid impulse
Tongtong, who works in a middle school in Beijing, loves blind boxes. From school to work, she has witnessed this niche hobby "out of the circle", and her blind box cabinet is getting more and more full.
From the earliest domestic rise of Sonny Angel, to the popular Molly and Pucky, to the popular Skull Panda today, these popular blind boxes have made her All purchased.
"Every time a new product comes out, I can't help 'choosing my hands', and at first I just wanted to pick one that I like the most, but I think it looks good when I pick and choose." Tongtong said, "The so-called 'cutting leeks' in the blind box circle says It’s me, but sometimes I really can’t stop.”
Paying for interests and paying for emotions will inevitably fall into the trap of impulsive consumption.
Taking the blind box as an example, the concept map released by the merchant is very beautiful, and coupled with the eye-catching style name, consumers may not have seen the real thing, and they have already aroused the desire to buy.
According to a survey by China Youth Daily, about 44% of the respondents spend less than 1,000 yuan per year for hobbies, 26% pay 1,000-5,000 yuan, and only 19% spend almost nothing.
"According to the general unit price of 69 yuan for the blind box, it is almost a dozen or so a year, with an average of one per month." Tongtong explained.
The lottery attributes of the blind box and the hidden models set up attract players to buy "top" and "enter the pit" one after another.
In the Weibo topics of some blind box brands, many consumers post or leave messages expressing their desire to sell the purchased products, and some of the same blind boxes even have more than one piece, which means that they have repeatedly purchased the same series, just to draw the centerpiece.
Not only blind boxes, but any interest-oriented consumption may develop into impulsive consumption and excessive consumption.
Searching second-hand commodity trading platforms is not difficult to find. There are a large number of product sales posts with the words "I bought too much with one shot of my forehead", "I liked it at the time, I don't want it now, and I want to take it away". Stationery, to hundreds of thousands of yuan to do, trendy toys, everything.
Based on this, in the eyes of some people, interest consumption seems to have been labeled as "spending money" and regarded as "irrational".
Ge Yanxia quoted the utility theory in economics and put forward a different view, "The so-called 'utility' is a psychological feeling and subjective psychological evaluation of people, and it is the degree of satisfaction consumers feel when purchasing goods and services. This kind of satisfaction Feelings can come from the practical attributes of goods and services, as well as the emotional value contained in them. From this perspective, we cannot generally think that interest consumption is irrational, after all, it satisfies a certain emotional need of buyers.”
In reality, more and more consumers purchase peripherals (IP derivatives) carefully, trying to achieve the unity of hobbies, emotional expression and practical functions.
Despite having loved the Harry Potter series for over a decade, Xiao Wang has a very limited number of accessories, just a wool scarf and two keychains.
"Wear a scarf to keep warm in winter, and usually take a keychain to hang a badge, and another spare." In Xiao Wang's opinion, "Wands, badges, LEGO Harry Potter series building blocks, etc., are exciting but flashy and expensive. , I bought it and put it in the cabinet to eat ashes."
"In interest consumption, emotion itself is the object and goal of consumption. However, in terms of purchase behavior, it still includes cognitive evaluation, information search, careful comparison, and careful purchase." Song Sigen said that when paying for emotion, it should be as much as possible. Choose practical products and cultivate healthy consumption concepts.
"We have to pay for happiness, not impulse."