Consumer Creators Are Rising

Today's consumers have begun to pay attention to the "values" behind the objects, and the future marketing topic will change from "how to produce attractive products" to establishing a "life" that allows people to feel the attractiveness of objects. With the rise of self-awareness, "consumers" are transforming into "consumers".

People say that consumption patterns have changed, but from a marketing perspective, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the change has occurred.

Kenya Hara, a Japanese international graphic design master of the Mesozoic era, once said that in this era, the mission of design is no longer to arouse people's desire to buy things they don't need, but to propose a "social common ethics."

The challenge facing marketing in the future is not "how to produce attractive products", but how to establish a "life" that allows people to feel the attractiveness of objects, which is particularly important.

The final mature form of consumption is a process of transforming consumption into self-fulfillment . As the author of the Fourth Consumer Age explains, the consumer society itself and the consumers' ultimate tolerance have been exhausted, and users are beginning to pay attention to the "values" behind the items.

To be honest, the satisfaction brought by material desires is only based on its unsatisfied stage. Once the desire is realized and the satisfaction disappears, users will feel disgusted with this extremely ironic IQ tax of the brand.

Behind this is not only a major change of the times, but also a major element that is reflected in the fact that under the trend of "the rise of self-awareness", "consumers" are transforming into "creative consumers".

1. Phase Transition

In the late 1970s, Japan's per capita GDP reached more than US$8,000. People's sense of happiness no longer increased with income, but rather with the increase in income, and the concept of equal consumption began to enter a new stage.

At that time, in PARCO Plaza, the only fashion shopping mall, various big-name advertisements presented the slogan "models rely on more than just their faces" to declare that consumers should pursue individuality and independent self; in 1983, "Crossing" magazine under PARCO Group first proposed the concept of "creative consumer".

Michiji Masuda is the executive director (board member) of PARCO. One day, Masuda said to the magazine staff: What is consumption?

It should be understood in two levels: "consumption" and "expense". Consumption means buying, while expenditure means creation. They buy fashion and design in PARCO, which is completely different from buying carrots and cabbages in supermarkets. Therefore, they are creative consumers.

my country's cultural attributes, consumption and storage preferences are similar to those of Japan, which is also an East Asian nation. Therefore, we can predict the changes in China's consumption by reviewing the changes in Japan's consumption. The changes in Japan's commodity consumption can be generally divided into four stages:

1. Necessary goods for daily life
2. Necessities for participating in social life
3. Products that can bring differentiation and express yourself
4. Self-enlightenment, inner enrichment products

According to the article "Dual Value Standards and the "Creative Fee" Market Structure" in the April 1983 issue of "Time Travel", first, commodities had to guarantee the minimum "food, clothing, housing and transportation" (1912-1941), and then, necessities for participating in social development such as radios, televisions, and cars began to rise (1945-1974).

Furthermore, differentiated, self-expressive products (famous brands, fashion, furs) representing personalized ideas began to become popular (1975-2004). Finally, after the explosion of material goods, users began to look inward, and everything returned to products that enriched the inner self, with interests, reading, and art emerging (2005-2034).

Creative consumption is the fourth stage, when the era changes from private ownership to shared development, consumption returns to simplicity from the pursuit of famous brands, people change from the pursuit of self to community consciousness (from concentration to dispersion, dispersion to niche), and material transformation is transformed into a people-oriented spiritual resonance.

According to Wind data, during Japan's third consumer era from 1975 to 2004, this indicator experienced a process from rapid growth to ups and downs, with the value ranging from US$4,600 to US$43,440.

As for the domestic situation, the per capita GDP in 2017 was US$8,808.98, and the total proportion of people aged 65 and above was 11.4%. The two indicators are similar to those of Japan in 1979 and 1990 respectively. Based on this, it can be judged that after five years, China is generally in the early stage of the fourth consumption era.

The Four Stages of Consumer Society and Consumption Characteristics

So, what are the differences between the two?

From a consumption perspective , the third stage of material wealth is achieved through possessiveness. In extreme cases, satisfaction is gained through a large number of purchases. At the same time, owning larger, more expensive, and more scarce items than others is something that people boast about.

In the fourth stage, people regard wearing mink and luxury as ostentatious, have no brand preference, and prefer simplicity and casualness. Domestic products should become self-reliant and experiential consumption will become an important trend. The old and new three items for weddings will alternate, and home appliances, cars, and new energy will become universal.

From an information perspective , China is in the third stage of the rise of social media, with opportunities and dividends everywhere. Toutiao, official accounts, Xiaohongshu, and short videos have created batches of bloggers.

People are more willing to use the platform to express their own individual demands by visiting stores and taking photos. The rise of sharing models such as FlowerPlus, Airbnb, and shared bicycles has brought many conveniences to life.

In the fourth stage, all major Internet platforms have equalized rights, and creators are in a long tail state (The Long Tail). This is similar to the situation of individual business entrepreneurship during the period of reform and opening up in my country. Opening shops and acting as agents have become online, and more and more creative economy and small and beautiful online studios have emerged.

From a financial perspective , in the third stage, thanks to the convenience of online lending, financial products represented by Ant Jiebei and JD Baitiao have become widely present in people's lives. Compared with traditional credit cards, the consumption model of "spend this month, pay back next month" among young people has become more popular.

In the fourth stage, as the post-80s and post-90s gradually mature, financial lending, digital payment and other businesses are gradually becoming compliant. Faced with various pressures and uncertainties, young people are gradually becoming familiar with various routines under the influence of consumption traps, extravagance, ostentatious consumption and high profits. They move from emotion to rationality and no longer believe in the marketing methods of merchants.

Indeed, we are standing at the port of the fourth stage, welcoming the arrival of the next cycle with industry as infrastructure.

So, what supports the development of makers? How do consumers evolve into makers step by step? We have to think about a key question: what kind of relationship exists between makers and the creator economy?

2. Advanced Consumers

The term creator can be traced back to 1996, when Bill Gates wrote in an article for Content is King:

"One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a personal computer and a modem can publish anything they create."

These characteristics lay the foundation for the creator economy. I wonder if he himself realized how prescient his words are today. At the same time, he also issued a warning that "if you want the Internet to flourish, you must allow content providers to be paid for their works."

Initially, the development of the Internet was a "user-co-creation system". In the early 1970s, the "Programmer Cultural Dictionary" was self-organized by the programmer network without any editorial commissions, fixed author team or remuneration.

Gradually, this mode of production has been continuously combined with knowledge and penetrated into various fields, giving birth to Wikipedia, Quora for knowledge questions and answers, Zhihu, and Douban for everyone to rate and comment on; Spotify, a music streaming media, and even combined with short videos to form Douyin and Tik Tok, which are popular all over the world; combined with short news content, Weibo, Toutiao, Xiaohongshu and other media appeared...

The development of a platform is naturally inseparable from "content". Users create gameplay, users create value, and create community mechanisms based on fans. These are all part of user-generated content. These contents can be collectively referred to as UGC (User Generated Content).

However, what role does UGC play for the platform?

In a broad sense, many platforms do not produce content. Their main purpose is to allow users to become content producers. At the same time, content determines the level of reader activity. The three (platform, creator, and reader) just form a feedback loop.

On the commercial level, the web2.0 Internet platform, as a medium, always restrains upstream capital, downstream brands and creators; the platform uses part of the money from capital and brand promotion as revenue and part of it to inspire creators.

27 years have passed, and no matter which platform, the 80/20 rule always applies. The development of social media has allowed creators to experience this firsthand. 90% of streaming copyright fees on Spotify abroad go to the top 1.4% of music creators, and the top 1% of anchors earn more than half of Twitch's income.

From this perspective, UGC and the platform present an inseparable circular feedback effect, which is very similar to the flywheel growth model (flywheel model) proposed by Brian Halligan.

But what does this have to do with creators?

First of all, as we all know, before the Internet, brands mainly reached users through television, print media, audio, video, and catchy promotional videos; the production of these contents can be attributed to third-party creative companies, and the media played a promotional role.

After the Internet, content formats have become diversified. Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu can stimulate more user participation through interactions on hot topics on the platform and related music. Combined with the platform's relevant content strategies, it not only brings more attention to creators, but also retains users.

Secondly, platform development is naturally inseparable from commercialization. Various brand appeals will be disguised as "soft ads" through the platform to reach consumers and achieve the so-called "grass-planting marketing."

The earliest French sociologist Jean Gabriel Tarde believed in his book "The Law of Imitation" that everyone would imitate the habits of others, and that this habit has the characteristics of social stratification and cultural differences.

However, who will do this?

Whether they are stars, internet celebrities, or grassroots people on social platforms, they can all share fun, highly emotionally saturated content that stimulates people's desires through the infectious power of text, sound, beautiful pictures or videos.

Furthermore, the platform provides a market on which creators rely for survival. Successful creators can use social media to share their creative visions and works. In the process, they can also create content that brands need to help sell products and enjoy the benefits of sharing platform operations.

When we see others own an item, it is easy for us to imagine “what it would be like if we owned it” and be tempted to buy it. Therefore, the grass-planting method can use content to create more demand and satisfy users with scenarios, and can complete the entire business cycle well.

Indeed, when influencer reviews and product promotion become popular, consumers will better understand the promotion logic behind the brand, and thus transform from simple "consumers" to "creators and consumers".

3. Characteristics of Consumer Creators

When we mention the word “consumer”, it obviously carries the connotation of being passive and waiting to be influenced by others. However, when we look at the behavior of today’s creative consumers, we find that they are more independent, smart and have a spirit of exploration.

A beauty blogger around me recommends skin care products to her fans. Whether in terms of efficacy or marketing creativity, her recommendations are more professional than what the company requires. Overall, they have four characteristics:

1) Better understanding of user needs

Firstly, since they themselves are the audience for certain categories, have been producing content on the platform for a long time, and have access to a wider source of information, they understand user needs better, can share experiences from the user's perspective, and as the user's "friends", they can make plain, simple and truthful descriptions of the products.

Their perspectives, angles of speaking, and ways of looking at product benefits are all integrated with user behavior. This kind of persona that puts themselves in the user's shoes is more likely to build relationships.

Secondly, on the public domain platform, the commercial attributes of creators’ content are weakened, allowing brands to better transform from the public domain to the private domain and realize the fermentation of brand user effect.

On the other hand, creators are similar to KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers). They are active individuals in their own fields. Compared with KOLs who have accumulated a certain number of fans on the platform in the early stage, they have less influence and fewer fans, but have more advantages.

2) Be assertive

Most creators want to have the same influence as KOLs, but they have many shortcomings because they have their own main jobs or are new to social media creation. However, they have a strong driving force in learning and are assertive in expressing themselves. After all, they need to delve deeply into social media and accumulate fans.

Because of this, the promoted products will return to the "self-value space" and will not just blindly follow the brand or authority saying it is good; on the contrary, they will feel that something is good because of whether it is suitable for them.

A "creator" around me has a set of self-evaluation criteria every time she helps a brand create content. She has to experience it first, and then look at the content required for promotion to see whether it exceeds her own values, whether it matches the tone of the IP, and whether users can accept the produced content.

Therefore, if current brands still want to increase their authority and public favorability through the grass-roots method, their approach is obviously inconsistent with the values ​​of today's young people. After all, they think about problems from the perspective of their own space, which has nothing to do with commercial value.

3) Pursue value attribution

You can buy clothes worth several thousand dollars, but if the shipping is not included, I would not recommend it; you can buy bags worth twenty thousand dollars, but you must borrow a corporate membership to do so; you can eat a thousand-dollar meal with your besties, and you must put together a minimum order for takeout.

The seemingly unreasonable consumption concept is actually more rational than we imagined. Creative consumers have a clear idea of ​​how to divide money. If expectations are inconsistent with consumer psychology, no recommendations can be made.

It does not mean becoming a "high-end luxury miser", but rather, rather than blindly consuming pseudo-sophistication, we believe that price and value should be equal.

Just like a bottle of mineral water, the price itself is between 1-3 yuan. If the brand wants to promote water priced between 20-30 yuan, it must find the exact consumption scenario and explain the exact reason. Putting ice cream worth hundreds of yuan in the low-priced container, in their eyes, this kind of blindness is irresponsible.

4) Complex yet simple

The complexity of today's makers lies in the fact that, on the one hand, they do not have a high level of education and their thinking is influenced by fragmentary knowledge from short videos.

What they identify with is not the ancient culture that has been passed down for 5,000 years. Faced with the rise of AI, artificial intelligence, and various efficiency software, they believe that some ancient cultural knowledge is not suitable for development.

Just like, you know that you have to stick to long-termism when doing things, but you can't see any results after working hard, while the other party's short-termism makes a lot of money; you know that you have to save money when you are young, but after deducting expenses from a month's salary, a rental house may become an unbearable pain.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs feel deeply separated. A friend once told me that he has a lot of anxiety and confusion, and hopes that older people can give him some support, but what he gets in return is "pointing and criticizing".

Just like, you are doing the wrong thing, hurry up and get married and have kids; you should be more daring and try something new instead of settling down; you haven’t worked for so long, why don’t you do a side job, hurry up and find a job. But what?

These entrepreneurs all know that you don’t know how much effort they put in behind the scenes, but they still can’t change. As a result, the suggestions not only fail to help, but instead cause huge troubles to surge in their hearts.

Therefore, this dissatisfaction with the old order makes people who already lack reflection and are unwilling to think deeply become even more angry and worldly. They seem to like pursuing a simple life, but in fact it is a manifestation of helplessness, and they have to bite the bullet and move forward.

Based on the above four points, you can gain a sense of value recognition through sharing on social media, learn some new knowledge, and earn some brand promotion fees. This shows that entrepreneurship is a side job and also a label of a life attitude.

4. Return to basic common sense

Karl Heinrich Marx said that consumption is not entirely a process of power reproduction. The real transformation of consumption is a process of human nature recovery. Faced with the fourth transformation of consumption power, what should brands do?

1) From persuasion to collaboration

The essential meaning of a brand is the sum of users’ perceptions of the products and services provided by a company. The brand’s primary task is to swap roles, from a persuasive mentality to a companion mentality.

In the past, "persuasion" was highly utilitarian in marketing. A similar problem occurred in the German Volkswagen Beetle advertisement a few years ago. The marketing slogan in the advertisement theme "Think Small" was, "If you think small is better, why buy a big car? Are you a fool?"

Although the times were different, it still stirred up a lot of public opinion back then.

From the perspective of product evolution, commodities will enter the "prop stage" in the future. People consume commodities in order to better play certain self-defined social and social media roles. Just like actors on stage, they need certain props to better interpret their roles. Commodities will play the role props needed by consumers.

Many brands’ current “persuasion” is still at the “self-satisfaction level”.

They fail to understand co-creation, and are unable to empower users with props, just like the Ulike hair removal device that was fined for vulgar advertising, "I won't take it off without sapphire." Putting aside the edge ball, the potential "persuasion" is too strong, making girls themselves feel embarrassed.

Scientific persuasion is to investigate inner feelings and desires, increase empathy, and resolve conflicts themselves , just like the Keep advertisement "Self-discipline gives me freedom", extending the meaning, and the brand value proposition advocates self-discipline, and only self-discipline can bring freedom.

There is also the sports brand Lululemon, "When the joy in your heart blooms, the world is also happy and beautiful", and Muji's advertisement "All designs and functions express kindness to life"

In other words, brands must think with consumers in mind, help them realize the role they play on social platforms, and then transform products into perceptible information and walk with them.

2) From economy to life

We have entered the low-desire "I economy", where consumption is no longer for satisfaction but for "want". Shopping is no longer a necessity in life but has become something that makes people happy.

After renovating our house after the Chinese New Year, my dad insisted on buying me a 55-inch digital TV. I said, "No one is home everyday, why buy it? Why not wait a while?" But my father said, when we get married, every family will have one, and owning it will make people happy.

You see, people's spiritual aspirations are changing. For me, "buy it" starts from a practical perspective. On the contrary, my father focuses on psychology and emotions. If I use two words to describe the transition from economy to life, I think it would be "simple".

In the past, during the Double 11 and Double 12 promotions on e-commerce platforms, we would stay up late to wait for the flash sales, hoping to show off ourselves by purchasing from various big brands and posting our bills on WeChat Moments. However, when the products actually arrived within a week, we would fall into inexplicable regret and emptiness, because we would find that consumption does not bring a sense of happiness.

Now, people are beginning to abandon red tape and fancy marketing, and return to whether the products are practical, whether the clothes are comfortable to wear, and whether they are comfortable to use.

Then, the return of the brand to life, tracing its origin, should be about whether, relying on the corporate business philosophy, the potential differentiation elements, expression propositions, and context of product creation can be consistent, and emotional resonance can be transformed into the urge to own the product.

3) From money to favors

The ideal society for creative consumers is one that can strengthen the relationships between people without being restricted by any aspects. Such a society can be centered on the values ​​of stability and peace of mind.

German sociologist Max Weber once said, "Medieval peasants left the world with satisfaction because they felt they had completed the organic circle of life. Modern people cannot reach this point, and they leave the world with boredom."

Because in a civilized society, new things are constantly emerging and old things are constantly being forgotten. There is no completion in such a society, and people cannot find the ultimate meaning, so "life" will also lose its meaning. If consumption remains in the era of strong commercialism, we will eventually not be able to escape the cycle.

Based on this, I believe that for brands, things that cannot be converted into money should be converted into "meaning items" to do.

There are many entrepreneurs around me. Every Saturday and Sunday, we will invite friends to different salons on an AA basis. The communication can not only generate business sparks, but also increase personal connections.

Just like in the private domain, if consumers don’t buy it, don’t force it. If you turn it into something meaningful to get them involved, maybe at a certain moment, it will be the beginning of the brand’s success. Perhaps, weakening commercialism is the starting point of communication.

V. Conclusion

Those who adapt to the times will have long-term success.

Self-awareness and "self-satisfaction" have become new labels for consumption. Only by deeply understanding the inner selves of creative consumers can we constantly find the best way out in the changes and walk with them.

Author: Wang Zhiyuan, public account: Wang Zhiyuan