---
title: "Consumption Has Not Downgraded; It's Just a Lack of Scenes to Awaken Desire"
description: "Liu Chunxiong comments: 1. While many debate consumption downgrade versus upgrade, few notice that consumption frequency has been declining since 2013. 2. The decline is due to a drop in consumption desire, which is unrelated to purchasing power. 3. The concept of 'scene' is valued because 'scenes create demand' and can awaken consumption desire. 4. Scene-oriented marketing may replace user-oriented marketing. As China's consumer market changes, if you're watching 2023, you'll see that consumption hasn't weakened; it's just that consumer needs have shifted."
author: "全食在线"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2023-07-14"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/mQ9As_TN-KIQWX83_zEUSQ"
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---

# Consumption Has Not Downgraded; It's Just a Lack of Scenes to Awaken Desire

> Liu Chunxiong comments: 1. While many debate consumption downgrade versus upgrade, few notice that consumption frequency has been declining since 2013. 2. The decline is due to a drop in consumption desire, which is unrelated to purchasing power. 3. The concept of 'scene' is valued because 'scenes create demand' and can awaken consumption desire. 4. Scene-oriented marketing may replace user-oriented marketing. As China's consumer market changes, if you're watching 2023, you'll see that consumption hasn't weakened; it's just that consumer needs have shifted.

**Liu Chunxiong's Comments:**
1. While many are fixated on whether consumption is downgrading or upgrading, few notice that consumption frequency has been declining. This has been a persistent trend since 2013. 2. The reason for lower consumption frequency is a decline in consumption desire, which is unrelated to purchasing power. 3. The concept of 'scene' has gained attention among marketers because 'scenes create demand'—scenes can awaken consumption desire. 4. Scene-oriented marketing may replace user-oriented marketing. Currently, China's consumer market is undergoing changes. If you're paying attention to the 2023 consumer market, you'll notice certain trends. Some say consumption is weak this year, some say it's downgrading, and others say consumers are unwilling to spend. But is that really the case? In May, I visited Dongguan. In the largest shopping mall there, I saw tea shops still had queues, snack streets were packed, and young people on the street mostly held a cup of milk tea. The viral popularity of Zibo barbecue this year shows that consumers still have spending power. **So the market hasn't weakened; consumer needs have simply changed.** For example, friends who used to drink Heytea might now prefer Mixue Bingcheng, and those who used to drink Starbucks might now favor Luckin Coffee, but the habit of drinking milk tea or coffee remains—just with different brands. In 2023, China's consumer market is undergoing the following changes: **Enhanced scenarization, products with emotional value gaining favor, and more rational consumption.**

**Enhanced Scenarization**
Previously, consumers preferred specific channels for purchases, such as offline hypermarkets, large supermarkets, and online e-commerce platforms. These had little scenarization; they merely provided aggregated product displays to help us choose products faster and in greater variety. But now, young consumers prefer scenarized shopping experiences, such as visiting snack discount stores or ice cream wholesale stores. What makes these different from traditional channels? They are more scenarized. The internet-famous decor of snack discount stores easily immerses consumers in a youthful scene, while the 'one-piece wholesale' price advantage of ice cream wholesale stores easily draws consumers into a 'bargain' scene. In recent years, whether restaurants, tea shops, or even clothing stores, they all emphasize building consumption scenes to help consumers integrate into the store more quickly and shop more immersively. **Undeniably, scenarization will be a mainstream trend in future consumption.**

**Emotional Value Gains Favor**
A few days ago, LV collaborated with three coffee shops in Shanghai: consumers who bought a book worth over 500 yuan at the coffee shop received an LV tote bag, attracting many young people to queue. Another example is Sam's Club launching a giant instant noodle bucket, whose price was once speculated to over 500 yuan, yet it remained hard to find, with even offline purchases limited in quantity. What do these two phenomena indicate? Some say it's 'foolish people with money,' others say young people are easy to exploit. But is that really so? We found that most consumers who bought the LV canvas bag and the giant noodle bucket posted on social media immediately after getting the product, rather than using them for their intended purposes. **This shows that these products satisfy consumers' emotional value; even if they spend a lot, they gain psychological satisfaction.** From blind boxes to low-alcohol drinks, from cultural creative ice creams to co-branded products, all are designed to satisfy consumers' emotional value—whether for self-pleasure, showing off, comfort, or stress relief. **Emotional value is a powerful tool for brands to increase average order value.** Moreover, emotional value is somewhat intangible, with no specific standards, only attracting those who resonate. So when we see people queueing for hours or paying high prices for products, don't judge them based on your own emotional value, because your concepts, needs, and emotional attributes may differ. What exists is reasonable.

**More Rational Consumption**
Do consumers lack money? Look at the number of travelers during the Dragon Boat Festival or the tourist numbers in popular cities; we find that consumers aren't broke—they're just unwilling to spend. Before 2020, China was in an upward phase of consumption upgrade. Brands seemed to think that creating a highlight would produce a hit product, and with a hit product, consumers would follow. During this period, many new consumer brands emerged, such as Zhong Xue Gao, Florasis, and Xiaoxian Dun. But since the end of 2022, we've clearly sensed that consumers have become more rational and no longer impulsively buy new products. The most direct manifestation is the rapid growth of snack discount stores and ice cream wholesale stores across the country. Young people who used to spend lavishly are now consuming rationally. The decline in Double 11 and 618 enthusiasm is partly because live-streaming e-commerce platforms offer long-term discounts, reducing the need for stockpiling, and partly because consumers are indeed unwilling to over-consume. **But rational consumption does not mean consumption downgrade.** For example, consumers prefer high-quality products, healthier formulas, and more nutritious combinations. Recently, the snack chain brand Panda Momo has gained significant attention. This brand, focusing on fresh snacks, has opened thousands of stores in a short time and attracted capital interest. Unlike snack discount stores that emphasize extreme cost-effectiveness, Panda Momo focuses on freshly cooked and sold items, operating as a short-shelf-life snack store. The reason such stores are favored by consumers is that they help consumers achieve consumption upgrade. Traditional stir-fried snack shops are mostly in wet markets with simple environments, but Panda Momo has upgraded its stores, products, and services to enter shopping malls and popular streets. Another phenomenon is that high-priced ice cream sales may be lower this year, but that doesn't mean consumers have stopped eating ice cream. We see that offline DQ stores, affordable ice cream, and even imported family-size ice cream are selling well.

**Opportunities Under New Changes**
Behind changes in consumption demand often lie new opportunities. **The strengthening of consumer demand for scenarization is an opportunity for offline stores.** How to attract traffic through themed stores, how to retain customers through store services, and how to encourage orders through product assortment are key considerations for offline stores. **Emotional value presents an excellent innovation opportunity for brands** and a source of inspiration for differentiated products. Since different groups have different emotional values, brands can develop different types of products for consumers of different ages and segments. **Rational consumption gives rise to new channels.** Rational consumption means many consumers no longer deliberately stockpile, which offers new opportunities for instant retail. For example, small community convenience stores at the entrances of residential areas, branded convenience store chains offering home delivery, and O2O models that allow ordering online and offline all meet consumers' needs for not stockpiling and for quick shopping. In this consumption transformation, brands need to leverage their differentiated advantages to align with current market demands and thus satisfy diverse consumer needs. But it's worth noting that in today's market, the fear is not brand innovation but brand homogenization, because homogenization means lack of competitiveness, and products without competitiveness or selling points will inevitably resort to price wars to gain market share, which won't last long. So we must embrace change and see the opportunities behind it. **Therefore, consumption has not downgraded; upgrade has always been ongoing!**


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