“Hitchhiking culture” is very popular. Why do young people like to find hookups nowadays?

This article analyzes the recently popular "pairing culture" and explains how different brands use the "pairing culture". It is a very worthwhile article on the interpretation of new consumer culture and brand marketing guidance.

Recently, a social method called "Da Zi" has become popular among young people.

If you want to go to a restaurant, find a dining companion to share the bill; if you want to take the postgraduate entrance exam, find a study companion to encourage you; if you want to exercise, find a sports companion to lift weights with you;

Even taking a nap or watching a concert can be paired with it.

According to the WeChat Index, the search data for "Dadazi" reached a peak of 15 million in May and remained high for several months. On Douyin, the topic #饭兜子# received 7.45 billion views, and #游戏兜子# received 6.28 billion views.

Data from the Just So Soul Research Institute shows that among all the surveyed groups, nearly 90% of young people have heard of the term "hookup" social networking, and girls are more obvious in this aspect, accounting for as high as 92%. In addition, more than 60% of young people have clearly expressed their desire to find a "hookup".

So, what is this sudden explosion of hitchhiking culture?

Why has it become a new trend among young people?

1. The sudden rise of the “hookup culture”

The so-called "hitchhiking culture" refers to classifying personal needs and hobbies and making friends with different people in order to achieve more accurate and efficient goals.

For example, game pairs, travel pairs, concert pairs...any activities involving social needs or cooperation can form corresponding pairs.

Different from the traditional girlfriends, the number and form of partners are more flexible. If you want, you can have one partner for dining, one partner for shopping, and another partner for watching movies.

After all, your best friend may not have exactly the same hobbies as you, but your partner can be highly precise in terms of interests.

However, the word "dazi" is not a new concept that has only emerged in the past two years. It originated from the Shanghai dialect.

In the "Shanghainese Dictionary" published in 2007, "dazi" was defined as people who play cards together.

In other words, the old generation's Mahjong 3 missing 1 and the "travelers" that were popular on the Internet several years ago are, to some extent, a form of the culture of hooking up.

So, what kind of person can become a partner?

A survey by DT Research Institute shows that similar interests, being easy to get along with, and being generous are the three most important qualities people care about when choosing a partner. Among them, the proportion of similar interests is as high as 83.3%.

In other words, most of the partners initially came from the same interests and hobbies. As for whether they were acquaintances or not, the depth of their friendship was not that important.

Regarding the "hookup" culture, netizens have given their opinions.

Some people think that hooking up is just a bonus to social life, but some people also say that "you can live without a relationship, but you can never live without a hookup."

So, how did the "hookup culture" become popular? What does it reflect about the psychology of young people?

2. Why do young people love to find a partner?

Behind the popularity of "hookup culture" is the choice of young people to actively adapt to social changes.

Compared with those born in the 1980s and 1990s, those born in the 2000s, as Internet natives, can feel more "digital loneliness". The noisy communication in the digital age has not made young people feel less lonely. On the contrary, relationships are replaced by connections, and the absence of distance drives out closeness.

And due to the influence of the family planning policy, most of the post-00s are only children. They have no brothers or sisters to accompany them during their growth, so they are more eager to have someone to talk to, accompany and play with.

Watching movies, eating, playing mahjong... those activities that we once thought should be done with friends, lovers, and family members now seem to have been replaced by partners.

The essence of this phenomenon may be a downgrade of intimate relationships.

As long as we continue to expect the emergence of a "perfect relationship" in our hearts, we will run into obstacles between our ideals and reality.

After all, whether it is love or friendship, it requires high maintenance costs and requires continuous investment of time, emotions and money.

Young people are tired of dealing with this kind of intimacy, but they still have an emotional need for companionship in their hearts.

At this time, the emergence of "Daizi" provides everyone with a more relaxed shallow social relationship. People gather together because of the same hobbies and participate in an interest activity together.

But when the event is over, they go their separate ways and no longer intervene in each other's lives.

The emergence of "hookups" fills the emotional gap of young people, eliminates loneliness, and does not require them to take responsibility for each other. Therefore, it is welcomed by people in this fast-paced society.

In addition, the new generation of young people have a strong sense of self-awareness. They adhere to the principle of "pleasing themselves first" and do everything to please themselves. Those traditional polite and utilitarian social interactions can no longer meet their needs.

Therefore, this "hitchhiking culture" that is effortless, does not require fitting in, is free and casual, and does not require any grievances has become a new way of doing things for this generation of young people.

By making friends, young people can also improve their social efficiency and spend their fragmented time on what they want to do.

However, the "hookup culture" is not perfect. Most hookups come from online social media. There is a lack of in-depth understanding between each other and no constraints from social circles, so there is a lack of security.

Therefore, the editor would like to remind everyone here: Hitchhiking is good, but it has risks. When traveling with a hitchhiker, be sure to pay attention to safety and protect yourself.

3. How can brands make use of the “partner culture”?

The essence of the popularity of the dating relationship is the need of young people for hobbies and light social emotions.

If a brand wants to use the "pairing" culture to attract consumers' attention or cater to their emotional experience, it must avoid becoming a formality and not just putting on the shell of "pairing" to catch some popularity and be done with it.

Only by deeply understanding and understanding young people can we create marketing activities that are both popular and well-received. Below we analyze three brand marketing cases to see how they connect with the "partner" culture.

1. NetEase Tiancheng x Pizza Hut: Insight into consumer needs and strengthen marketing activities

In recent years, with the rapid development of the "pet economy", the relationship between people and pets has received widespread attention. Specifically, pet companionship, pet diet, pet entertainment and other better pet-raising experiences that satisfy pet lovers.

NetEase Tiancheng, a cute pet brand under NetEase, has a precise insight into the needs of consumers and has teamed up with Pizza Hut to launch two packages: "People and Pets Show Off Together" and "People and Pets Have Fun Together".

Among them, the pet snack "Frozen-dried Raw Bone and Meat Pizza" uses a balanced ratio of raw bones and meat, and selects chicken, quail, cod and other ingredients. It is known as an Internet celebrity snack suitable for pets of all stages.

In addition, NetEase Tiancheng also launched the "Non-human Dining Partner Douyin Challenge" event. Through sticker special effects, pets such as cats and dogs can be anthropomorphized to generate different "dinner partner outfits" to create a scene where people and pets dine together.

2. Soul: directly addressing emotional needs and strengthening social attributes

In the fragmented era, people's pace is getting faster and faster, and their social interactions are becoming more and more superficial. Most young people today are only children, and they have no brothers or sisters to accompany them during their growth, so they are eager to have someone to talk to.

As one of the apps with the highest penetration rate of Generation Z users in the social industry, Soul has been deeply engaged in interest-based social networking, reducing social pressure for young people and creating a stress-free social space to say goodbye to social anxiety.

Some time ago, Soul used AI technology to launch a series of posters with the theme "My partner and I are a bit compatible", which deeply fits the psychology of young people and uses nine sentences to explain the current popular "partner culture".

The poster focuses on 9 different dating scenarios, including restaurants, entertainment, weightlifting, night running, games, and movies. It accurately expresses the true feelings of young people looking for dating, narrates new expressions of emotional needs, and triggers group resonance.

3. HEYTEA x Fendi: Using contrast to expand influence

Sometimes, combining seemingly "completely incompatible" brands together can quickly attract users' attention, use the sense of contrast to reach new consumer groups, and thus achieve a marketing effect of 1+1>2.

For example, Heytea, a tea giant that loves collaborations, joined hands with luxury brand Fendi this year to combine the characteristics of both parties and launch joint products and peripherals, which quickly ignited social media and became popular on the Internet.

This is a win-win cooperation. Heytea can effectively improve its own status and stimulate sales by teaming up with Fendi. On the other hand, Fendi has achieved brand breakthrough through this joint venture and successfully captured a group of potential customers.

It can be said that if the co-branded "partner" is chosen well, the brand will have no worries about going viral.

4. Final

Finally, returning to the "partner culture" itself, in fact, every popular trend is an opportunity and innovation point for brand marketing.

Ultimately, the "hookup phenomenon" has become popular because it hits the emotional value of contemporary young people. Brands need to accurately understand the psychological needs of consumers, analyze their external behaviors, and then combine their own to create a further emotional experience for consumers.

In this way, we can occupy an advantageous position in the ever-changing market environment.

Author: Yan Tao Sanshou