Recently, Shang Media and CIC jointly released the "2013 China Consumer Trends outlook" report, with a new perspective for everyone to reveal and interpret the 2013 years of consumption trends and changes.
In today's China, new consumption phenomena and consumption forms are appearing, rubbing, merging and even disappearing in real time with lightning speed. These new phenomena and new forms are fleeting, but some will change the consumer's consumption habits in the long run and bring new market opportunities. The report is designed to help marketers find their way around the complex mysteries of the future.
Christian Guinot, president of Shang Media China, said: "The Chinese market is one of the fastest growing and most changing markets in the world, and it is particularly important for Chinese marketers to grasp the pulse of the market and to understand the changes in consumer demand." The Shang media hopes this report will help marketers and advertisers motivate them to create new business models, products and service experiences for emerging consumers. ”
This is the third consecutive year of the Shang media report on consumption trends for the Chinese market. This year, the Shang media has been further improved on the basis of the 2012 research methodology, joining China's leading social media and social Business Research Consulting Agency CIC, combining traditional research methods with social media research to ensure that the 2013 Chinese consumption trends are more fully enriched.
"The advent of social media is rapidly changing our approach to consumer insights and market research, which is an important part of online word-of-mouth monitoring and social media research," said Sam Flemming, founder and president of CIC, Figaming. The dynamism, frankness and openness of social media provide another window into a more realistic understanding of consumer and market responses. With the help of social media research, we can see the trend of network theory more comprehensively, and helps the brand to use social media to provide consumers with innovative and timely forms of communication. CIC focused on the mainstream trend through social media research to show more vivid and specific consumer needs and related cases. ”
China's 10 consumption trends in 2013 were:
1. Pay for security
2. "Micro" consumption
3. Cultural consumption
4. I have my young
5. One's wonderful
6. New fashion of public welfare
7. Emotional consumption
8. Silver hair is also crazy
9. Universal Third Party
10. Through
The following are some of the major trends in the content and its implications:
Pay for the safety
Frequent food safety and quality safety issues make consumers gradually start to pay attention to the daily consumption of many unsafe factors. In the face of these, safe consumption has become an indispensable part of consumer life. Consumers are willing to spend more to find a sense of security, such as their enthusiasm for a sustained rise in insurance. At the same time, the development of social media has accelerated the awakening of consumer security awareness and closer to the truth, consumers through the platform began to pay more and more attention to and discuss various security issues.
"Micro" consumption
"Micro" word has become the current trend of consumer life. For businesses, "micro" is a more accurate mode of advertising for users to market, for consumers, "micro" is to enable consumers to use less money, use any time, anywhere can easily complete consumption. In contrast to traditional business models, these smaller miniature models are becoming a new hot spot. It makes the life of consumers more convenient, but also for businesses to create more business opportunities.
A person's wonderful
The growing number of single people in China has allowed more and more people to accept and accustom themselves to single life as a routine condition. At the same time, the single person's consumption desire and consumption potential can not be ignored, they do not have the burden of family, more "timely enjoyment of life" attitude towards life, more willing to spend money. So more and more businesses and brands are starting to look at the single people's wallets.
Silver is crazy.
According to the results of the six national census, our population aged 60 and above accounted for 13.26%, and the previous national census was up 2.93%, of which 65 and above accounted for 8.87%, up 1.91%. At the same time, today's Chinese elderly people no longer like the past "older generation" like the same keep money not spend, they have a new plan and attitude for the rest of their lives, they are willing to spend more money to pursue pleasure and quality of retirement life, this hidden market space is limitless.
Universal Third Party
Do you have anything that is difficult to achieve on your own? Then spend some money to help the almighty third party! I do not know since when, the third party intermediary services quietly rising, and become a part of our consumption life. It through an "intermediary" mechanism, to help consumers realize the original "not easy to achieve" the desire for consumers to establish a bridge for long-distance consumption, and to bring more convenience to consumers and faster. The carpool network is one example of a platform for pairing people with carpool needs. Overseas purchasing, for Chinese consumers to buy foreign products, but also a universal third party examples.
Shang Media planning and Insight Research director Lu Ying Yu further pointed out that: "The so-called ' trend ', is based on its logic behind the spread of the phenomenon summarized." Grasping the new trends will bring new ideas and perspectives to marketers and advertisers, and correct interpretation of the business opportunities behind the trend will bring them a huge first-hand advantage. "Based on the 2013 ten consumer trends, Shang media for marketers and advertisers to bring the recommendations are:
Integration Line down Channel
Consumers use online and offline media and platforms to take into account their needs for information or entertainment, the convenience of time and place, and the attributes of their products. Therefore, online and offline media integration will be the general trend, the key to success is whether marketers in the process of consumer decision-making and purchase in the online and offline information and communication media seamless docking, to provide consumers with a smooth and comprehensive experience.
Many of the trends in this report refer to cases of integration on line lines, such as online consumption in "micro-consumption", and micro-letters in "single consumption", and the innovations in digital technology allow people to interact better with each other. There are more relevant cases in the "Crossing out" and "omnipotent third parties".
The challenge for branding is how to better integrate its resources. For example, the use of offline physical stores to create brand image and product experience, while using social media to increase the search volume of information, relatives and friends of the relevant discussions and after the purchase of display and sharing behavior.
Developing Mobile Media Strategies
Mobile phones as consumers "the most intimate screen", consumers in the "emotional consumption" and "through the" experience to share their experiences after the most convenient media. At the same time, "micro-consumption" also relies heavily on powerful mobile media strategies to capture people's desire to buy in real time. Mobile phones are an important tool to meet the social needs of single people.
Mobile media strategies can be integrated with communication programs through the use of game mechanism, augmented reality, group buying and space positioning technology and E-commerce.
Foster Trust
"Trust" is one of the foundations of social life and economic trade. Therefore, the acquisition of consumer trust is the key to the success of the brand. However, from the "pay for security" we found that the Chinese market is full of trust crisis. Consumers are skeptical of many brands in the Chinese market.
In the face of "trust crisis", the brand can build up its honest image through the power of word-of-mouth of social media. At the same time, brands also need to monitor online word-of-mouth to see how they behave in people's minds. In this way, once there is a public relations crisis, the brand will be able to respond promptly and formulate relevant strategies.
Online trust is harder to develop for e-commerce brands. The praise from the social circle and the recommendation of the Internet community can ease the consumer's suspicions to some extent. However, consumers ' trust in online shopping is multifaceted, such as product quality, network security, order efficiency, return policy and service guarantee, etc. The success of E-commerce, the key is to carefully detect every shopping link may affect the trust degree of potential problems, and properly resolved.
Developing game mechanism
The game mechanism can be associated with anything and add infinite pleasure to it. In the brand communication or in the consumer purchase process to add a game mechanism to better enable consumers to interact with the brand. "Public good new fashion" and "micro-consumption" have "add up" concept, they need a can reach a breakthrough in scale management. Adding a game mechanism is a good choice, it can keep "repeat customers" and attract more people to join in.
Brands can try to extend their products and services to meet the needs of the two-age consumer population for "I have my young" and "grey-haired". They now have a stronger purchasing power and even embraced the idea of consumption. Not only that, their opportunities and time to learn (new things, products) will be more and longer, in their learning process to add some game mechanism can help optimize their learning experience, so that the brand in the hearts of consumers more affinity.
Develop social business
Social business refers to the use of social media strategies to predict, customize and improve the shopping experience of a model. In China, consumer buying process is interspersed with many social elements. In addition to the recommendations of friends and relatives, their confidence in the product is also from the user's proposal or approval, and their insights into the product from their social circle. They are active writers and readers of the use of goods (online shopping). Brands need to become consumers ' friends and mentors, build emotional bonds with them, and actively communicate and talk to consumers.
In the "public good new fashion", "emotional consumption" and "omnipotent third party" trend, we found that consumers need a "sun" platform. Brands can build this platform on their own website or brand page for consumers, so consumers can always experience the brand.