In the third consumption era, emotions can instantly ignite consumers' purchasing enthusiasm, but relying solely on emotional value makes it difficult for brands to retain users long-term. Emotions are merely the trigger point in the product consumption decision chain, a key moment of truth (MOT) for sparking interest and word-of-mouth, but not the entirety of the consumption decision. To truly capture and retain users, brands must shift to a 'multi-axis value' strategy, embedding emotional, experiential, exploratory, health, asset, algorithmic, and ethical value elements on top of functional satisfaction, based on users' real Jobs-to-be-Done. Only then can brands continuously win consumer recognition and loyalty, moving from the waves of emotion to the tide of value.
The Third Consumption Era: Emotional Highs and Value Fragmentation
The meaning of consumption has never been as fragmented and personalized as it is today.
In the past, people pursued functional satisfaction and cost-effectiveness, but today's consumers are more willing to pay for emotions. Experience and resonance have become key factors in product success. The extreme abundance of material goods has significantly reduced consumers' sensitivity to basic functional needs, while the new generation of consumer groups places more importance on emotional resonance and community identity.
In such an era of material surplus, consumer demand exhibits clear fragmentation and stratification:
On one hand, brands need to continuously capture short-lived and intense emotional hotspots to quickly occupy consumers' attention; on the other hand, they face the practical problem that hotspots are hard to sustain and emotional dividends rapidly decline.
Why are emotional hotspots difficult to maintain long-term?
First, emotional hotspots themselves are like bubbles, coming quickly and disappearing even faster; second, while a single emotional trigger can quickly ignite consumers' purchase interest, if the product itself cannot provide more lasting and deeper value satisfaction, the emotional dividend is hard to sustain.
Thus, for brands to stand out in the third consumption era, relying solely on emotional stimulation is insufficient; they must seek a balance between emotion and a multi-level value system.
Therefore, in the third consumption era, the fundamental challenge for brands is not the short-term emotional explosion, but how to start from fragmented emotional needs and build a systematic, multi-axis value matrix that continuously and effectively meets consumers' diverse and dynamic needs, thereby truly achieving long-term consumer loyalty and sustained brand value growth.
Emotion is Just the 'Igniter' of MOT
The Necessity of the Five-Layer Value Pyramid
Brand managers often become enamored with the instant prosperity brought by hotspots: a successful cross-industry collaboration or a clever IP marketing campaign can quickly ignite user emotions and drive a short-term surge in sales.
However, like setting off fireworks, the gunpowder ignites instantly, the sky lights up brilliantly, but the splendor is fleeting. We must admit that while emotion can ignite the flame of consumption, it cannot support the long-term continuation and accumulation of consumption value.
From a deep analysis, the emotional trigger point (Moment of Truth, MOT) in brand marketing plays three key roles:
Starting point: Users begin to pay attention and develop interest;
Trigger point: Users make purchase decisions;
Peak point: Users are willing to share and spread the word.
For example, Moutai ice cream once ignited a precise emotional trigger with the slogan 'If you can't afford Moutai, you can at least have an ice cream,' causing young people to rush to buy it. But this year, store repurchase rates have quickly declined, making it difficult to maintain the initial heat.
Another example is the 'internet cake brand' promoted by social media, which became popular with emotional marketing like 'surprise when cutting the cake,' but soon encountered basic issues such as taste, logistics, and after-sales service, ultimately ending in failure.
These cases expose the fundamental contradiction of the 'emotional economy': Emotion is an important node in the consumption journey, but it is by no means everything, nor is it the foundation for long-term business.
To solve this problem, we need to revisit systematic thinking about consumption value and return to a more basic level to establish a long-term stable value foundation.
The truly lasting value levels behind consumer behavior can be clearly described through a 'Five-Layer Consumption Value Pyramid':
Bottom Layer: Functional Value
This is the most basic level of consumption. The initial motivation for users to purchase is still functionality: whether the product is good enough, reliable, cost-effective, and solves the user's most basic problems.
Second Layer: Social Value
On top of basic functionality, consumption provides social symbols, allowing consumers to gain group identity and status labels. For example, Starbucks' city-limited cups and Uniqlo's KAWS collaboration T-shirts satisfy consumers' social needs beyond functional satisfaction.
Third Layer: Emotional & Cognitive Value
Emotional value includes not only pleasure and surprise but also cognitive inspiration and experiential memories. Brands need to create multi-sensory immersive experiences that form unique 'memory anchors' for users, rather than just short-term emotional stimulation.
Fourth Layer: Self-Enhancement Value
Users gain health improvements, economic returns, or personalized algorithmic experiences during consumption. For example, Nike's health management loop formed through running data, Pop Mart's blind boxes with secondary circulation economic value, and Netflix's algorithm-based personalized recommendations are all powerful drivers that continuously attract user investment.
Top Layer: Ethical & Social Impact Value
Today's younger generation of consumers increasingly pays attention to brands' moral stance and social influence, such as environmental protection, public welfare, and sustainable development. This value can give brands a higher sense of mission and form long-term user recognition.
We must see that relying solely on emotional marketing is no longer sufficient to support long-term brand growth in today's market. Emotion often only plays the role of an 'igniter' at MOT nodes, while long-term operations require a more complete consumption value chain system.
As the pyramid reveals:
Emotion stimulates demand, but functionality ensures the usage experience;
Social interaction strengthens belonging, but self-enhancement provides continuous growth motivation;
Ethical and social value gives brands a higher symbolic meaning, building long-term consensus and trust.
If brands want to achieve sustainable growth in the third consumption era, they must simultaneously possess a clear emotional 'ignition' capability and a stable five-layer value structure.
Pure emotional stimulation is like fireworks, brief and brilliant; only a stable value pyramid structure can truly serve as the foundation to carry emotional heat, helping brands navigate through temporary hotspots and build long-term competitive advantages and user loyalty.
Defining 'Multi-Axis Value':
The 5-Layer × 4-Focus Nine-Grid
In the third consumption era, consumer decisions are increasingly complex and nuanced, and single-dimensional product value can no longer meet users' diverse needs. To more systematically satisfy users' real needs, brands need to shift from a model that emphasizes only functional or emotional value to a more comprehensive 'multi-axis value matrix' perspective.
The core logic of the multi-axis value matrix is to use the 'Five-Layer Consumption Value Pyramid' as the vertical dimension and users' specific 'Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD)' as the horizontal dimension, establishing a more detailed and precise value planning system.
On this basis, we specifically introduce 4 new value focuses to supplement traditional functional, social, and emotional values:
On the horizontal dimension, we need to clarify users' 'Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD)', which are the specific goals, contexts, or desired outcomes of user consumption. For example:
Survival tasks: basic functions, efficiency improvement, safety assurance;
Social tasks: community belonging, identity symbols, community interaction;
Growth tasks: learning new skills, satisfying curiosity, broadening horizons;
Health tasks: improvement of physical and mental state, health monitoring and optimization;
Asset tasks: wealth preservation and appreciation, personal data management and optimization.
Nine-Grid Matrix:
Explanation of Three Key Value Channels:
Through such a systematic matrix combination, brands can accurately identify users' value demands in different scenarios, not only precisely triggering user emotions but also continuously satisfying users' diverse real needs, truly achieving a long-term win-win relationship between brand and user.
Four-Step Method for Building a Value Matrix Based on JTBD
In brand operations, the 'multi-axis value matrix' is a clear and effective tool, but how to implement it precisely? How to transform from an abstract strategic framework into executable specific plans for enterprises?
Around users' Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD), we can build a complete 'value matrix' through the following four steps:
Step 1: Scenario Decomposition – Capture Users' Real Tasks
Users do not simply purchase a function; they purchase to complete specific tasks (JTBD). Therefore, building a value matrix first requires clarifying users' jobs-to-be-done in real scenarios.
Methods and Tools:
User journey maps, user interviews, emotional curves
Key Actions:
- Identify core users and high-frequency scenarios;
- Confirm the specific tasks users want to solve in the scenario;
- Extract the key moments of truth (MOT points) that trigger user emotions.
Step 2: Axis Matching – Form a Nine-Grid Opportunity Map
After identifying clear jobs-to-be-done, map these tasks one by one into the 'Five-Layer Value Pyramid × New Focuses' value nine-grid.
Methods and Tools:
Value radar charts, competitor analysis
Key Actions:
- Compare JTBD with each cell of the value pyramid one by one;
- Clarify the brand's current state at each intersection (satisfied/blank);
- Confirm value gaps or unmet segmented value opportunities.
Step 3: Value Implantation – Fill Value Gaps with Products and Services
After identifying the gaps, the next step is to precisely meet users' unmet value needs through specific design of products, services, and marketing.
Methods and Tools:
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) design, experience blueprints
Key Actions:
- Design specific plans for 'value implantation';
- Clarify how products and services meet target JTBD;
- Test and optimize initial plans to ensure effective reach to users' real needs.
Step 4: Data Loop – Cross-Layer Data Metrics Feedback to Form a Long-Term Value Flywheel
Finally, to ensure the multi-axis value continues to function, brands need to establish a data loop system so that every user interaction and feedback can feed back into data, continuously optimizing each value dimension.
Methods and Tools:
Metric trees, data dashboards
Key Actions:
- Define core metrics across layers;
- Continuously track user data and feed it back into product and service design;
- Form a flywheel effect of long-term value accumulation.
Implementation Examples and Roadmap
From theory to practice, let's take Apple Watch and Pop Mart as examples to quickly review how brands skillfully use the 'multi-axis value matrix' to achieve long-term user satisfaction and sustained brand growth.
1. Quick Case Studies
The above two brand cases show that by providing clear value across different dimensions, each user interaction can produce a multi-value overlay effect, thereby building long-term sustainable consumption appeal.
2. Potential Risks in Brand Execution
Value drift risk: Too many value dimensions may blur the brand's core.
Response: Establish and clarify a 'North Star metric' to ensure core value focus. Show-off risk: Overemphasizing social and asset value may trigger controversy over flaunting wealth.
Response: Design a 'low-key mode' to provide different levels of external display options. Data and privacy risks: Users' health data and algorithmic recommendations have privacy and security issues.
Response: Establish a data transparency mechanism to ensure users' data sovereignty and right to know.
Catch the Waves, but Retain the Tide
Hotspots always rise and fall like waves, and emotions are like bubbles, brilliant but fleeting. Countless brands rise rapidly in the wave of emotional consumption but quickly disappear.
The reason is that they stay at the short-lived stage of 'igniting emotions' without truly establishing a multi-dimensional, long-term value system.
In the third consumption era, relying solely on the rapid ignition of emotions makes it difficult for brands to form long-term stable user loyalty and repurchase. Only by returning to systematic thinking about consumption value, starting from the base of the 'Five-Layer Consumption Value Pyramid', and through detailed user JTBD analysis, can brands build a multi-axis value matrix and truly solve users' multi-dimensional needs.
The multi-axis value matrix is not a complex conceptual game but a solid implementation tool. It helps brands clarify the real needs behind each user touchpoint, clarify the value dimension corresponding to each marketing activity, and clarify the long-term goal that each product design ultimately serves.
We must not only know how to 'catch the waves' but also how to 'retain the tide':
Waves are emotions, the MOT peaks where brands ignite demand and quickly gain visibility;
The tide is value, the solid foundation for brands to serve users long-term and achieve sustained growth.
Under the framework of the multi-axis value matrix, emotions can be freely ignited, but each emotional explosion should be channeled into a more lasting and solid value accumulation process, thereby achieving a positive cycle of 'short-term ignition → long-term growth'.
Chinese brands have entered the deep waters of emotional consumption. Only with patient cultivation can they steadily advance in the fierce and ever-changing market. Emotion is the opening move; value is the long race. What truly sustains brand prosperity is never the fleeting waves, but the vast tide behind them.
Catch the waves, but retain the tide – this is the way for brands to break through in the era of emotional consumption.
From August 19 to 21, 'New Distribution' will hold the 7th China FMCG Conference with the theme 'New Demand · New Supply' in Shanghai, bringing together top national brand owners, retailers, and excellent distributors and other frontline industry operators.
A special forum on 'Emotional Value and New Consumption' will be planned as one of the theme forums, helping FMCG peers deeply understand, from theory to practice, how to build a more complete and sustainable brand value system on the basis of emotional marketing, with multiple frontline operators sharing practical experience and implementation methods.
Welcome to join us to discuss this important topic in the third consumption era!
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