Click to read the original article for details Internet-famous snacks are on the rise—have you tried them during the pandemic? Reports show that during the pandemic, food and beverages became the fastest-growing industry after cleaning supplies and pharmaceuticals. More notably, following the beauty consumption wave in 2019, the trend of live-stream shopping has spread to the snack industry. Sales data from Viya's live-stream room on April 1, 2020, shows that snacks have become a pillar best-selling category. Although the pandemic hindered the restaurant industry, it did not stop snacks from becoming a new wave of consumption in China. Sales of subcategories in Viya's live-stream room on April 1, 2020 (Source: iiMedia Data Center) Although China is the largest consumer country, with Double 11 and 618 triggering heated discussions about shopaholics, our snack consumption still lags behind the world. In 2019, per capita snack spending in the US was as high as 860 yuan, in the UK 742.1 yuan, while in China it was only 75.3 yuan. Even Japan, which is closest to China in social and dietary culture, had per capita snack spending of 501.4 yuan, more than six times that of China. It seems our "shopaholics" are not pulling their weight. However, with rapid economic growth and rising disposable income, the snack industry shows vast market potential. In 2019, China's snack market size exceeded 500 billion yuan, and with increasing market penetration, the compound annual growth rate has remained above 6%. -01- Labeling Snacks: Does This Marketing Work? In recent years, as "post-00s" and "Gen Z" become the main consumers in the snack market, brands are racking their brains to find novel selling points that can ignite consumption. The most mature method is the labeling model. Ordering takeout only is called the lazy economy; not wanting to go out is the otaku economy; being young and unmarried is the single economy. "XX economy" has become a distinct phenomenon in China's snack market. If your brand cannot be labeled with an "XX economy" tag, you might as well not claim to understand consumers, and even investors will think you don't understand macroeconomics. The snack brand Single Dog, focusing on the single economy and targeting China's 240 million single consumers, launched "single dog food" potato chips in early 2018. These chips quickly went viral online with a self-deprecating label. Many consumers shared them jokingly on WeChat, Weibo, and other social platforms. However, whether this labeling model, which uses the pain point of being single as a selling point, can be widely and long-term accepted by young people remains unknown. Besides "XX economy" labels, there are also more labels like "XX-ization" for snacks, such as health-oriented, nutrition-oriented, experience-oriented, fashion-oriented, and even internet-famous-oriented. As snacks, it is natural to meet consumers' health, nutrition, and experience needs, as well as highlight their identity. But when labeling becomes a competitive trend in an industry, product innovation seems to have stalled. Looking at the development of the snack industry in recent years, homogenization among snack companies is increasingly evident, and competition across snack categories follows a fast-rise-fast-fall internet-famous model. As early internet-famous snack companies, Three Squirrels, Bestore, and Be & Cheery have formed a tripartite balance. However, there is little difference in their product types, quality, or packaging, and thin profits have become the industry norm. Even the booming live-stream shopping can only help snacks break the ice and trigger a sales surge, but they are soon overwhelmed by the next wave. For snack brands to achieve long-term growth, they must return to the original purpose of snacks and understand why snacks are irresistible. The key difference between snacks and main meals lies in the "snack" part, not the "food" part. "Snack" means leisure, anytime, anywhere, and according to mood. This is the essence of snacks and the nature of human appetite. Philosopher David Hume once said, "The human body is a very complex machine, so much so that its operation seems full of uncertainty to us." But consumer appetite always shows some universal and certain characteristics, which is the addictiveness of snacks. In his book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, Michael Moss summarizes: The weapons in the food industry competition are simple and tempting—using sugar, fat, and salt in food to turn people into food addicts! In fact, our addiction to snacks can be divided into two main reasons: Substance addiction: Ingredients promote hormones; Non-substance addiction: Interaction forms habits. These two types of snack addictiveness also point to the essential product and marketing strategies: snack emotionalization and snack gamification. -02- Snack Emotionalization: Ingredients Promote Hormones Substance addiction to snacks refers to promoting hormone secretion through snack ingredients, causing the brain to produce various emotions. Research in food health and psychology shows that food taste is closely related to emotions. ● Salty: Salty snacks are associated with anxiety. Salt can affect the kidneys, and weakened kidney function can easily trigger anxiety. ● Sweet: Sweet snacks can soothe excitement, keeping people calm and happy, but they can also lead to satisfaction and greed. ● Spicy: Spicy snacks are stimulants that can resist pessimism, but overconsumption can lead to irritability. ● Sour: Sour snacks can inspire intelligence and promote digestion, but overconsumption can easily lead to annoyance and depression. ● Bitter: Bitter snacks in moderation benefit the heart and small intestine, but overconsumption often leads to disappointment and dissatisfaction. In short, we eat when happy and when sad, when married and when heartbroken, when promoted and when unemployed. Even when dieting, we need to eat well to have the energy. The subtle relationship between taste and emotion can be felt in languages and cultures around the world. Our ancestors created a series of words to express emotional experiences through taste. Delicate happiness is called "sweetness," heart-wrenching sorrow is called "sourness," and in modern times, when facing embarrassing scenes, we call it "spicy eyes." In English culture, "sweet" means sweet and also pleasant and lovely; "bitter" means bitter and also angry and painful. Why is there such a close connection between taste and emotion? In fact, it is a remnant of human survival evolution. In ancient times, humans needed enough food to survive and reproduce. When food was obtained, the brain secreted dopamine and endorphins, producing pleasant emotions. This motivated humans to be more enthusiastic about foraging, thus gaining a survival advantage. In civilized society, hunger no longer threatens human survival, but the addictiveness of eating has been retained. Moreover, the foods that make you gain weight most easily are those that were most effective for survival in ancient times. Among many tastes, sweetness is the most common addictive one. Human taste cells have relatively more sweet receptors, which promotes the release of more pleasant dopamine. Looking back at popular internet-famous snacks in recent years, the most common elements are chocolate, durian, cheese, and other ingredients. Merchants often use names like "lava," "exploding," or "flowing heart" to disguise the truth of high sugar and fat. But undeniably, these sweet ingredients, no matter how combined, are usually delicious and tempting. In the past two years, spicy flavors have gradually become a leader in the snack industry. However, spiciness is not a taste but a pain sensation. When eating spicy food, the body secretes endorphins, which can produce pleasure to soothe the pain, thus creating addictiveness similar to sweetness. In Kalsec's 2019 food survey, more than half of global consumers chose spicy flavors when dining, doubling compared to 2017. In the US, McDonald's reintroduced Szechuan sauce after many years, causing consumers to queue up to buy it. Turning to China, we can clearly feel the rising popularity of spicy snacks like crayfish, duck neck, and spicy strips. Even Shanghai and Jiangsu, surrounded by light Huaiyang cuisine, have made it to the spicy-loving list. Top 10 provinces by spicy-loving population penetration in 2018 (Source: CBNData) Surprisingly, in 2018, Oreo launched spicy chicken wing and wasabi flavors, with the slogan "You've never had salty-spicy Oreo," becoming a must-have for internet-famous reviews. The shift from sweet and sour light flavors to salty and spicy heavy flavors reflects changes in consumer lifestyles and concepts. In recent years, with increased social competition and life pressure, consumers not only need pleasant enjoyment but also emotional release. Heavy flavors have become a common choice for young people facing harsh realities. The snack trend has evolved from early candies and biscuits to fried puffed foods, then to nuts and soy products, and in recent years, braised meat products. The changes in market categories reveal the close relationship between consumer life, emotions, and snack tastes. Whether a snack has long-term growth potential depends not on how trendy its label is, but on whether it understands and solves consumer emotional problems. Next time you bite into Juewei duck neck and raise a glass of Jiangxiaobai, maybe you're not enjoying the snack, but loneliness... -03- Snack Gamification: Interaction Forms Habits Non-substance addiction to snacks is an emotional habit formed through interaction between the snack and the consumer. You might wonder how a snack, not a seductive woman, can interact with people and be addictive. During festivals, Chinese people have the habit of eating sunflower seeds. Holding, cracking, spitting shells, chewing—a series of repetitive actions that become more addictive the more you eat. But if you are given shelled seeds, you quickly lose interest. The principle is the same as the famous Skinner box experiment. A hungry mouse is placed in a box with only a lever. Each time the mouse touches the lever, a little food drops out. Gradually, the mouse develops the habit of pressing the lever to get food. Once this habit is fixed, even if the experimenter directly drops food into the box, the mouse will still run to press the lever first. Studies show that pressing the lever and getting food both promote dopamine secretion in the brain, producing pleasure. Similarly, when eating snacks is associated with a gamified behavior, even doing that behavior alone can bring the same pleasure as eating snacks. Eating snacks might be about the game itself. If you go to the supermarket, you'll find that shelves are almost all stocked with shelled sunflower seeds, not shelled ones. You can imagine that every customer might be the mouse in the box. Not just sunflower seeds, many nut snacks have similar situations. For example, macadamia nuts are known for being hard, and without an opening, almost no consumer would buy them. So many nut manufacturers pre-open the nuts halfway and include a key-shaped opener, specifically to let consumers enjoy the fun of opening. Be & Cheery also launched a new macadamia nut with the selling point of "300-degree large opening," trying to make opening easier and more enjoyable. The most famous interaction between snacks and consumers is Oreo. "Twist, lick, dunk"—this classic slogan is as catchy as "This year, don't accept gifts; if you do, accept Brain Gold." Whenever you hear it, you think of Oreo's black-and-white cookies with serrated patterns dipped in milk. This unique way of eating has become a childhood memory for a generation. The new instant coffee brand Saturnbird, which has been thriving in recent years, knows this well. Based on a unique IP visual style, Saturnbird created mini cup packaging with bright yellow, light red, black-gray, and other colors and numbers, instantly sparking consumers' desire to take photos. Moreover, some consumers buy Saturnbird coffee specifically for the packaging. These users like to collect the small cups, use them for children's pretend play, or as flower pots for succulents. Regardless of the purpose, the wonderful interaction between product and user fosters a deeper brand relationship. During the 2019 Double 11, Saturnbird's sales surpassed Nestlé's. Of course, there are more ways for snacks to interact with consumers. Doritos is one of Pepsi's most successful snack chip brands, with annual sales in the US reaching 1.5 billion yuan. Besides being a snack for binge-watching or afternoon tea, Doritos can also be paired with different foods. Doritos + chicken cutlet Doritos + cake Doritos + vegetables + dip Truly, "a hundred users, a hundred Doritos." -04- Conclusion Since the rise of phenomenal brands like Jiangxiaobai and Zhang Junya Little Sister, the snack industry has seen a flood of novel products under the banner of "internet thinking." Various "silly, white, sweet, cute, silly, and goofy" elements fill packaging and ads, but if this novelty cannot create deep interaction with consumers, it becomes superficial and flashy, rising fast and falling fast. Source: Tencent University (ID: tencent_university)