Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable. Hello everybody, welcome to Roundtable.
Coming to you from Beijing.
I'm He Young. Good to have you join us on a day's show.
Consumption may be taken on a new meaning in today's world.
Transcending mere ownership and becoming a canvas for self-expression, value alignment, identity shaping, especially for the younger generation, from embracing slow shopping to indulging in unique experiences, what we buy and how we consume may reflect what we hold dear to our hearts.
Can mindful consumption truly pave the way to an ideal life?
But one can hardly buy your way to happiness, right?
For today's program, I'm joined by Yushan in the studio and Steve Hathorley on the line, first on a day's show.
We take a deep dive into the city liveability report of 2024 conducted by China Youth Daily in collaboration with Polly developments and holdings, as well as the survey of a better life in China, initiated by China Media Group, the National Bureau of Statistics, China Post, and the National School of Development at Peaking University.
Here we're presented with an opportunity to understand how young people navigate the desire for new and exciting products, while staying mindful of sustainability and ethical responsibility.
So, Yushan, let's go to you first.
What categories of spending do young people most aspire to?
Well, as a survey shows, shopping, traveling, and food experiences remain the top three preferred leisure activities for most respondents, and among these, shopping is the most popular chosen by 68% of participants, while traveling follows closely with 65% of respondents favoring it, and also food experiences like train out different snacks and online, instant famous snacks that you can get on the street or any popular shopping malls or whatever comes in third selected by 63%.
Meanwhile, it is also found by the survey that, you know, outdoor sports and indoor entertainment in reach young people's leisure lives, as well, as data shows that hiking and cycling are enjoyed by 46% of respondents, besides that, around 40% prefer to rest at home and read, which is most likely my choice, and additionally, video game plus movies, and also karaoke gatherings are popular activities among young people too.
Karaoke? I thought that.
Yay! Oh, great. Yeah, Steve, I remember reading a few years ago, and these kind of reports come back all the time that in China, Karaoke has been taken over by the so-called Silver-haired population and young people.
Oh, no. Oh, no. I'm not suggesting anything.
Right, and apparently it's been out of the favor of young people for some time, but maybe recently there's more of a rebound of some sort, maybe.
But I thought you young folks had cooler things to do or what?
I'm not even aware that it was ever out of our interest, man.
Oh, really? Yeah, I mean, back when I was studying abroad, I remember the best experience was to gather with fellow classmates and friends and go head to karaoke, said even though it's way much pricier than doing it domestically.
But still, it's just a semi-entertainment, so my opportunity provided for you to get to know each other a bit better.
So, yeah. I was looking at different survey results from different markets, and I found one from 2017 because I just wanted to see where these numbers comparable or were they different to the ones that we just heard.
So, shopping, traveling, food experiences, sports, indoor activities, things like that.
This was from the United States and they broke it down into different categories.
But for the younger people in 2017, so this would be, what, seven years ago, eight years ago almost, they spent a lot of their money on expensive coffees, which I thought was quite funny.
Over $4, that was the price tag they put on it.
Everything was on the list, newest electronics were on the list, and eating at the hottest restaurant in town, and then outdoor activities like music or sporting events or things like that.
Interestingly, I thought, and I think we're going to talk about this, travel was not included on that list, and this is pre-COVID times as well.
Yeah, so I would think that people's mindsets might have changed a bit since, because a lot of people said that they have a newfound appreciation for nature and for live music events, as well as traveling outside of your home backyard, or I mean the city that you currently live in.
That sounds pretty nice.
Yeah, I know. And also, it's really nice that you guys mentioned different surveys, because based on another one that I was like looking at before, it's called the China Beautiful Life Survey.
So from the perspective of consumption, travel, as you guys mentioned, has once again, I mean once again, referring to this year following the same topping experience from last year.
So travel has once again topped the list of consumer intentions in 2024.
And more than a third of people plan to increase their spending on travel, reaching the highest level in five years, and Chinese cities such as Tian Shui, which is Central, Western, China's, Gansu Province, and also Kaifeng, which is I think in Huanan Province, in Central China, Mengli, and also Yanbin, which locates in North, Eastern, China's, Ziliin Province, and then, last but not least, the Insta Famous City Harbin, locating in Hailongjiang Province from the same area that got really popular earlier this year, and also Zipuo, which locates in Eastern China's Shandong Province, which was quite popular for its barbecue, I think sometime last year, right?
So these cities have emerged as vibrant hotspots becoming the most desirable travel destination of 2024 for many young Chinese.
And also, can I just say one thing that all these cities are not, that is they're not the mega cities that catch global attention, or even national attention, so it's interesting to see that people are looking for these sort of new travel hotspots, and it's the smaller cities, which for Chinese standards might be small, but if you look or compare internationally, Harbin in Hailongjiang Province is still a huge city, and it's the provincial capital, right?
So it's really great to see these new discoveries, as well as, you know, these localities can have some tourists dollars and yuan coming in, and that's something that's very important for local economies.
Interesting that people seem to be traveling more domestically in China, whereas in Korea, there's kind of an opposite trend happening right now.
People, young and old, I suppose, when they have their vacation time, they're really starting to compare.
I think they're comparing more now about prices and how much their vacation is going to cost them overall.
And one of the recent things in the news was the Cheju Island, which is a really popular tourist destination for domestic travelers and also international travelers.
It's kind of come into the spotlight for a bit of a bad reason where local travelers are saying, wait a minute, if we can spend the exact same amount of money and take a trip to Vietnam, for example, as opposed to Cheju Island, if everything's going to come out the same, sure, we have to pay for expensive flight tickets, but we're going to save so much money on hotels and food and things like that.
People are really starting to count their dollars and see where they're spending it and how they're spending it before they make any decisions about their vacation time.
I think a similar kind of calculation goes in the minds of all people, if not most people, we still need to check our bank account when we make consumption decisions.
And in China, I think traveling domestically usually is cheaper.
Yeah, yeah. But not always.
And it's really interesting because also another thing we need to consider here is that China is so massive.
So let's say for a resident in Shanghai, traveling to a foreign country such as Japan could be of a similar price range, if not cheaper, then going to Harbin.
Oh, really? Yeah. And that explains because geographically Shanghai is just closer to Japan that way.
Well, let's say Tokyo as opposed to China such a big country.
Yeah, as opposed to traveling domestically to lovely and super cool, temperature wise as well, Harbin.
So it's really interesting how people make these decisions and don't take it for face value.
There's a lot more we can dig into and learn.
And that's what I find to be fascinating.
So from slow shopping to sustainable living, what we buy and how we consume speaks volumes about our identities and priorities.
I'm asking you guys to get into the heads of consumers in China.
What are we thinking these days as we make consumption decisions?
Is there a bit of psychology we can go through?
Yeah, I mean, according to the research that I was mentioning just now, the primary factors, especially the young consumers, is that they consider a lot on their economic capability before just adding a lot of stuff into their shopping cart.
So according to the China consumption trend report, more and more consumers are reducing stockpiling and only buy what's necessary instead.
Some are buying less in quantity but opt for higher quality and durability.
And before making a purchase, some consumers would even conduct thorough research by comparing the prices on multiple platforms, reading reviews and reading in details.
And actually that's how I ordered delivery food now.
I compare from one platform and also I search for the exact same dish from the same restaurant but sold on a different platform and see which one is cheaper.
So that I'll just get the cheaper one instead of going all the way to pay more.
And all of these factors are pointing to the fact that young consumers nowadays are becoming more rational when making shopping choices.
I think that's what echoes with what you mentioned earlier, which is slow shopping in a way.
Yeah. Do you do any of this, Steve?
I mean, at the grocery store with yogurt, it's so weird and I don't know why I do that.
It's only yogurt but I'll spend like 20 minutes in the yogurt section and I count like the number of grams in each package and then I go over to the other yogurt companies and I'm okay, it was the price comparison here.
It's really weird and I have no reason for it whatsoever.
I've never compared food prices on apps before.
I think because I always just kind of assumed that they were the same for each delivery app.
But if you are able to save a little bit of money, then why not do it?
When you mention that term slow shopping, I'm not sure if this can be considered a new trend or not.
But yeah, it's taking into account all considerations before you make a purchase.
Can I find a better deal at a different store?
Or another example of slow shopping would be waiting for the right time as well.
For example, Black Friday, I'm not sure if there's kind of a Black Friday equivalent in China, but at least a time of year when you know that you can get a discount, then doing that as well.
Really taking your time and trying to make the best decision for your wallet is it's a trend right now, slow shopping.
Yes. Steve, I'm getting you equipped with this necessary shopping knowledge so you can utilize it to the max once you arrive in China.
That is. Oh. Getting you ready, you know, for the consumption prowess that you will put on display.
Gosh, what a pack. Getting me ready for the yogurt sections in the different grocery store.
Get it online, my friend.
There's double 11, which happens in November.
And that's the big one for e-commerce.
And the one that's mid year is in June and June 18th.
That is the big date for online e-commerce mark downs.
And yeah, so people are geared up towards these states and you know, prior the big day, usually you put stuff in your online shopping cart and then wait until the mark down and do the math and accumulate the coupons and everything and strike on the day.
That's one example of slow shopping, but it's even more than that actually.
It's taking into account the reason that you're making a purchase for things as well.
Simply assessing whether you need it or not.
In my opinion, it totally takes the fun out of shopping, which is one side of the coin, but the other side of the coin is instead of making spontaneous purchases, like buying that candy bar as you're checking out at the grocery store, you go home and you ask yourself, do I really need this candy bar?
Obviously, we're not talking about candy bars here.
For example, you know, like a new television or some sort of new tablet PC or something like that, really taking an assessment of your own life and seeing if you need to buy that thing or not.
Yeah, and that's why I think it's really important to remind everyone, not just for slow shoppers, but literally for everyone that it's crucial, of course, to think carefully before making any purchases, but don't let that exhaust your overall shopping joy and shopping experience because you're just trying to get things cost-effectively, not that you are making a life decision of sorts.
So some of us, I mean, me personally sometimes included, I tend to get a little bit anxious or overly hesitant about the decisions I might make, but yeah, that's just part of the process.
I think eventually we'll get used to that.
And people are different.
You know, you've got some people who really enjoy the process of comparison shopping and these days, especially with tech, savvy people, not only are you comparing prices, you're probably going down the rabbit hole of looking at customer reviews.
You're looking at ratings.
You're looking at, have a lot of people shared photos for this particular product and that's particularly important.
Let's say when you're doing online shopping for clothing and yeah, I think people are pretty smart these days, being immersed with online shopping and the internet for so many years to know what to look out for.
And also when we look at customer reviews, some of them are so carefully choreographed in terms of photos as well as the words and you're like, uh, AI or, okay, if not AI, then somebody just copy and paste it or it's almost fabricated.
Maybe it's a bot review or whatever and canceled.
Don't trust that. You know, like there are a lot of intricacies.
In a way, this is like online shopping literacy that people have acquired through these years and it's important to all be part of slow shopping or just, you know, the process of decision making.
And of course, I've probably put some people to sleep just by describing that process.
Not everybody's the same.
That's fine. Make your own decision, whatever suits you the best.
Not always the right decision though.
I went to the grocery store one day and they had a one plus one of this like industrial-sized mayonnaise jar like you'd have to own a restaurant.
There's no way one person could ever eat this much mayonnaise, but it was one plus one and it was only $9 and I thought, when am I ever going to get mayonnaise this cheap?
What an idiot. I brought all this home.
I was suddenly putting mayonnaise on every single food I could find just to try to eat it at the time.
So please use me as an example of don't use your eyes as the only indicator of whether you should buy something or not.
You'll probably have to host a whole string of mayonnaise parties for your neighborhood just so that your mayonnaise don't go bad, you know.
There's check the expired date, my friend.
Nobody wanted to come. I invited lots of people.
Okay. I'm interested. So, get me in.
Just so that we make sure your mayo doesn't go bad.
That's the worst thing ever.
But don't you think that these days just with all this online shopping that happens, it's just so much easier to do impulsive purchasing and that's terrible?
Well, anyway, and there are so many other like financial schemes that are rolled out to the profits on our vulnerabilities at the moment, you know, all this buy now, pay later, pay in installments, kind of payment schemes, you know, on the one hand, possibly good for the economy and really you can buy the stuff you want.
But on the other hand, this is risky for people, a curing debt and also, you know, high interest rate costs and all that stuff.
And also, we're seeing the younger generation apparently have adopted more ethical consumption philosophies.
And maybe that's, well, I guess that's a good thing.
And here I'm referring to the same survey.
Over 30% of respondents say that they adhere to a green and low carbon consumption philosophy.
And they're talking about simplifying the stuff they buy and also they want to declutter.
They want to make their lives a little bit simpler.
And while this might be going that far, but see if you agree with this interpretation, reflecting the return to a more authentic and lighthearted approach to life.
Steve, what do you think about this?
I think it's a trend now that young people are, and maybe it's not even fair to say young people just consumers in general now are paying a lot more attention to the companies that they're giving their money to.
They're making more ethical purchases.
They want to know what that company stands for.
And when I was going to university and I was going out and buying, you know, a new pair of jeans or something like that, I never even considered what the mission statement of the company was.
I just liked the jeans or not, but that's not the case anymore.
I found a survey from 2023 from the States.
They asked 2,000 young people their opinions about, you know, their need to support a brand when they're actually making a purchase of a brand in 80% said they're likely to base their purchases on the brand's mission or the brand's purpose.
This is something that's emerged in the last few years, I think, where consumers, young consumers are really paying attention to the companies that they're supporting.
Yeah. And one example, like a very down the earth example that I can raise from personal experience is that I noticed on say JD.com, they came with like biodegradable garbage bags.
And at first, nobody actually paid attention to it because, you know, normal plastic garbage bags like cost maybe like 10 or 15 yuan cheaper than the biodegradable ones.
But these days it's just like becoming more and more popular like among like shoppers in general.
I don't think that's like a trend just focusing on young people as well.
And also like for us, something that I noticed that's kind of trendy these days is the old for new policy that, you know, that basically apply to all aspects of life from phones.
I think maybe like electric appliances, that's the most common area that adopts this measure.
Like for iPhones and stuff, they always have this policy.
And I've seen like a lot of friends and colleagues, they've been doing that, you know, you can get a discount while returning your old phone.
And in the meantime, you can get a new one.
Yeah. Like, you know, credit as you shop for the latest model.
And also free recycling.
And you give your old device back to the company.
Hopefully you can trust.
Right. And that's a win-win for everyone by the sound of it.
Or just for my mom. Oh, did you?
Oh, nice. Um, second hand applications in Korea are super popular these days, which is, which is totally a shift in the way that people buy things before in Korea, you know, especially when people move to house or something, they always want something new, new sofa, new TV, something you want to decorate your home with new things.
But nowadays people are shopping more secondhand.
There's an app here called a Dangan or Carrot.
And you can buy literally almost anything, I think, on that app.
I've used it a lot. I've used it to buy a phone.
I've used it to buy electronics and sell electronics.
It's insanely popular.
And so many people are selling and buying secondhand these days here in Korea.
That's great for the economy.
And it's also just great for the environment as well.
That's what I do with phones.
I never have the latest phone.
I always have one before the latest phone.
So I just always buy it secondhand.
Yeah. And a lot of what we're talking about here falls into the notion of mindful consumption, more intentional and mindful as we spend our money.
Can mindful consumption make you happier?
I think before we evaluate our level of happiness from shopping, we kind of need to ask ourselves, do we really need to spend in order to be happy or do we just want to get something eventually?
Because a lot of the times I see, say for example, I see this dress, I think wow, it's so pretty, I want to have it and then out of some sort of passion, I just got it.
And then just realize that, okay, I have something very similar in my wardrobe already.
So we can be happier by seeking to simplify our desires instead of just increasingly, you know, just get whatever you want.
Because that sensation is just, you know, kind of if leads as time goes on, right?
Yeah, I mean, it depends on what makes you happy.
But people, this may be a different topic.
But I think people are always needing some sort of reward, right?
The reason you go to work from nine to six in the morning, if that's the kind of schedule you have, at the end of the day, at the end of the month, the end of the year, you need some kind of reward.
So retail therapy, right, is one way.
