---
title: "10 Keywords to Understand Consumption in China Today"
description: "Looking back at the past year, let's understand consumption in China today through these 10 keywords. The internet never lacks hot topics, but what it lacks is a sensitive and curious heart towards them. History is about to turn a new page, whether it's the turbulent international situation or the 'cold wave' spreading on social media. Standing at the end of 2018, you see not only a rising China but also a China swept by a material frenzy. Looking back at the past year, let's understand consumption in China today through these 10 keywords."
author: "褚伟"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2018-12-23"
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# 10 Keywords to Understand Consumption in China Today

> Looking back at the past year, let's understand consumption in China today through these 10 keywords. The internet never lacks hot topics, but what it lacks is a sensitive and curious heart towards them. History is about to turn a new page, whether it's the turbulent international situation or the 'cold wave' spreading on social media. Standing at the end of 2018, you see not only a rising China but also a China swept by a material frenzy. Looking back at the past year, let's understand consumption in China today through these 10 keywords.

**Looking back at the past year, let's understand consumption in China today through these 10 keywords.**
The internet never lacks hot topics, but what it lacks is a sensitive and curious heart towards them. History is about to turn a new page, whether it's the turbulent international situation or the 'cold wave' spreading on social media. Standing at the end of 2018, you see not only a rising China but also a China swept by a material frenzy. Looking back at the past year, let's understand consumption in China today through these 10 keywords.
**1. Knowledge Retail**
In recent years, riding the wave of knowledge payment, the product attributes of knowledge have been more deeply explored and displayed. Knowledge producers fully utilize their knowledge to gain income; knowledge consumers purchase, use, and benefit from it.
Knowledge, as a commodity, is systematically produced, listed, purchased, and consumed. This differs greatly from the knowledge we received in classrooms during childhood. First, the consumer group has stronger self-awareness, as this is more spontaneous learning; second, knowledge itself is more personalized, practical, and utilitarian.
Most advocates of knowledge payment come with the mindset of improving themselves or solving problems. Precisely acquiring the knowledge they need and effectively converting it into skills is the best experience for all knowledge learners, consciously or subconsciously. Knowledge new retail may focus more on the applicability and effectiveness of knowledge for learners, directly addressing the pain points of knowledge consumers, rediscovering the value of knowledge, and redefining the knowledge economy.
The first half of the knowledge service, characterized by anxiety healing, head harvesting, and audio breakthroughs, has ended, and the second half has just begun. In the second half, knowledge new retail is the most important opportunity for breakthroughs. Wu Sheng, founder of Scenario Lab, calls these three expressions of knowledge new retail: live streaming leverage, scenario-driven, and traffic integration.
**2. Consumption Upgrade**
Ding Lei once proposed the concept of 'new consumption' at a summit.
In his view, new consumption focuses on changes in consumers' consumption concepts and behaviors. 'Previously, everyone pursued how to buy; now everyone pursues how to buy better and with higher quality.' This concept aligns well with the current consumption psychology of young people.
Regarding consumption upgrade, there is a common misconception in the current market that equates consumption upgrade simply with price increases, believing that only when consumers buy more expensive products and bigger brands does it count as consumption upgrade.
The younger generation pays more attention to emotional value factors. They have higher standards for convenience, quality, and diversity, and are relatively less sensitive to price. Consumption demands are more personalized, quality-oriented, differentiated, and refined, with higher requirements for quality of life and a greater emphasis on good service experience.
**3. Sinking Market**
The sinking market, simply put, refers to the user group including third- and fourth-tier cities and rural towns, also known as the 'non-mainstream' market by the media.
All incremental markets have a life cycle, and often the greater the dividend, the shorter the dividend period, which is due to China's typical competitive market environment.
Since the reform and opening up, the total number of people with university degrees in China has not exceeded 80 million, accounting for only 4-5% of the total population. This seems to indicate that there will be unlimited space and market in the future. From Pinduoduo to Kuaishou to Qutoutiao, the opportunities in the sinking market are so numerous that they are beginning to segment, extending from the e-commerce field to the video field, and will explode in more fields in the future.
**4. Influencer Marketing**
In the early days, influencer selling was about investing in people without nurturing them; whoever was hot got invested in, simple and crude. Influencers at this stage liked two elements: sex and curiosity. They directly stimulated users' senses, triggered a large flow of traffic at a certain time, and then showcased the cooperating brand or product.
Today's influencers are no longer living people but symbols or personas (character settings; their every word and action online and in the media is playing a specific role).
The interaction between influencer e-commerce represented by Zhang Dayi and consumers is continuous. Through constant probing and adjustment, they understand each other and form recognition. Influencer e-commerce fully utilizes the platform advantages brought by the current internet, continuously outputting personalized communication content through complex and diverse interactions.
**5. Consumption Stratification**
Consumption stratification refers to the intensification of fragmentation among different social groups.
Due to the vast territory, living habits of people in different regions vary greatly, and the large population base makes the fragmentation of different social groups in the same region more significant.
Consumption stratification is an extension and manifestation of social stratification in the consumption field (or symbolic field). In contemporary urban society, three types of consumption—conspicuous consumption, fashion consumption, and entertainment and leisure consumption—have become the main consumption types for urban residents, and their stratification phenomenon is increasingly obvious, becoming the main form of consumption stratification. With the continuous expansion and improvement of leisure tools (media, measures), coupled with the diversification and marketization of entertainment and leisure acquisition methods, communication methods, and participation methods, entertainment and leisure consumption has become an important part of urban social life.
The user patterns accumulated by each app are not so much a manifestation of diversity but rather a filter of user consumption levels. Whether it's JD's Jingzao, NetEase's Yanxuan, Alibaba's Hema Fresh, or the controversial Kuaishou, Qutoutiao, and Pinduoduo, they act like funnels, dividing different users into different fronts. Although this front is not clear-cut and is often tempted by price, users will eventually choose one or two apps as their regular apps.
**6. Buddhist Youth**
There is a group of young people who advocate letting things take their natural course, not being demanding, and taking things as they come. They have their own opinions but don't want to express them, are not eager for wealth and honor, and are not saddened by poverty and lowliness. In love, they don't make solemn vows, don't create dramatic scenes, and don't stick together all day. Although they have feelings, they don't care about the other's attitude, don't force things, and let fate decide.
At work, if criticized by the boss, they say sorry; if praised, they say thank you, treating it flatly. If unhappy, they resign without hesitation. They don't nitpick over items bought on Taobao; if they don't like it or it doesn't match the description, they accept it if usable, or put it aside if not, remaining very calm.
Many times we often ignore the existence of this group; they may be your friends, colleagues, or close friends. There are not a few consumers with this mindset.
**7. Single Economy**
According to statistics, the number of single men and women in Beijing and Shanghai has exceeded one million, and China has set off a fourth wave of singlehood. While the single wave worries more parents, it inadvertently stirs up the prosperity of the 'single economy.'
The current single group is mainly concentrated in the middle class with education and strength. Compared to the traditional concept of 'passive singles' who are both physically and economically disadvantaged, or have physical or psychological defects, the most significant feature is their subversive change in ideology.
They are representatives of self-indulgence, actively choosing to be single to enjoy life. Compared to married people, they are keen on consumption, indifferent to savings, have a strong sense of self, and feel good about single life. Words like 'high education, high income, high pressure; busy work, tasteful, and expectant' are the characteristics of this group, and it is precisely where shrewd merchants who want to pan for gold in the 'single economy' wave should pay the most attention.
In addition to single apartments and high-quality single dating websites and clubs continuing to thrive, commercial insurance emphasizing 'life security' and 'risk prevention' concepts, as well as financial insurance products centered on education and elderly care, should be the corresponding products that 'think what they think.' Promoting these concepts is undoubtedly a new market worth cultivating with great effort.
**8. Social Currency**
Social currency is the consumption of one's knowledge reserve by two or more individuals in society before gaining a sense of identity and connection. Or it can be said to be small talk.
Influencers are social currency. Most people in life are shy about expressing their opinions and emotions, while influencers have strong expressive abilities. Their funny lines and exaggerated performances actually express everyone's inner thoughts on their behalf.
Influencers turn themselves into social currency, buying the support of their fans.
Craftsmanship is social currency. Creators are mostly not good at socializing, but the works they create with their craftsmanship (composing, writing, photography, cooking, handicrafts, etc.) are scarce social currency. Audiences can connect with creators through their works, and can also use the works as social currency to buy other people's attention, comments, and likes.
This is a social society. Internet tools have successfully extended social interaction to games, e-commerce, and transportation.
**9. Platform Empowerment**
On the one hand, many business processes in large platform companies are shifting massively to the market; on the other hand, various spontaneous, autonomous, rapidly gathering and dispersing entrepreneurial alliances and communities are emerging in large numbers. Many innovators, based on hobbies and skills, quickly gather and disperse on a certain platform, engaging in sharing, cooperation, and even collective action. Under this collaborative relationship, more complex user value can often be generated.
For example, without live streaming platforms, many content entrepreneurs or influencers' talents would be buried. The emergence of live streaming platforms has created a stage for these streamers to interact continuously with users. Platform empowerment is not just about helping content creators monetize, but also organically combining human creativity with the creativity of the system network.
The new retail proposed by Jack Ma is a typical representative of platform empowerment, because e-commerce is no longer just a concept of selling and buying goods, but also the reconstruction, transformation, and upgrading of the entire retail industry in the new retail era, as well as the entire economy with retail as the dimension.
**10. Online and Offline**
Online ordering and offline consumption is the main model of O2O. This business model can attract more consumers who are keen on physical store shopping. The shortcomings of traditional online shopping, such as passing off inferior goods as quality ones and images not matching actual products, will completely disappear here.
The core of traditional O2O is online payment. Improved O2O turns online payment into offline experience before payment, eliminating consumers' distrust of various aspects of online shopping. Consumers can choose the most suitable product from the many products offered by online merchants, experience the shopping process in person, which is not only reassuring and secure but also a joyful experience.
In the future, there will be no distinction between online and offline, only between brand and experience. People-centered, convenient shopping methods, and comfortable shopping experiences are the eternal pursuit of retailers.
These keywords may soon be replaced by new ones, or they may exist for a long time. Regardless, we cannot escape living and growing in such a noisy consumption environment.
Source: Nanxun Net
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