Generation Z loves trendy things! (Part 1)

From philately to cultural relics, people's love for "collecting" has never changed. As a generation of young people gradually grows into the main consumer force in the market economy, Generation Z has grown into a must-win group for brand marketing. They have transferred their love of "collecting" to trendy toys. So what is the unique charm of trendy toys that can be loved by the new generation of consumers? Welcome to read.

As a generation of young people gradually grows into the main consumer force in the market economy, they have also grown into a must-win group for brand marketing. Therefore, it becomes crucial to understand their advanced consumption concepts and unique cultural consumption needs.

Different periods have different trend cultures, bearing the fashion imprints of different times. From philately culture to cultural relics collection culture, the love for "collecting" has never changed. Today, this love has shifted to trendy play. It can be said that the growth of Generation Z has brought new soil for the value-added of the trend industry.

So what exactly is trendy play, and what unique charm makes it so popular among the new generation of consumers? We will conduct an in-depth analysis in the following two parts.

1. Self-satisfaction and emotional sustenance drive trendy play to no longer be a niche

When it comes to trendy toys, they are nothing more than trendy toys. It can be seen from the name that the prefix is ​​added before the word "toy". The so-called trendy toys are naturally toys that are popular and popular in the current market. But in fact, trendy toys refer more to toys with independent IP and trendy attributes that are popular in the social circles of adults.

In fact, trendy toys were originally imported products. "Trendy toys" first began to sprout in Japan and the United States. In 1905, trendy toys first appeared in Japan in the form of studios or independent designers. After nearly a hundred years, it was not until 2000 that they were integrated into the US market. It took another five years for them to be officially introduced into mainland my country. However, the financial crisis in 2008 dealt a heavy blow to the newly developed trendy toy industry.

Fortunately, with the rapid development of my country's economy, trendy toys have developed rapidly in my country. Since 2010, companies such as Pop Mart, 1983 and Cool Toys have been established and started to lay out offline sales channels. As the Z generation, who are influenced by the second dimension, grows up, the change of marketing model and the Chinese people's attention to domestic trendy toys have further contributed to the rise of domestic trendy toys.

Trendy toys are no longer exclusive to overseas markets. Instead, domestic trendy toys have begun to go overseas in recent years, which is a cause for celebration.

Community Marketing Research Institute

The classification of trendy toys is also varied. In terms of major categories, there are mainly blind boxes/dolls, assembly blocks, figures/model toys, plush toys, BJD dolls, artist toys, cotton dolls, etc.; in terms of minor categories, there are also subdivided car models, power machinery models, soldier toys, action figures, etc.

We will find that trendy toys are no longer just simple cheap toys or collections, but light luxury products that embody the spiritual personality and emotional satisfaction of the holder.

Trendy toys classification——Developed by Community Marketing Research Institute

It can be said that the high appearance and strong design of trendy toys can better meet the personalized aesthetic needs of young people, so the audience of trendy toys is mainly young people. In the context of consumption upgrading, the main demand of young people for trendy toy consumption is to please themselves and find an emotional outlet that resonates with them.

At the same time, making friends through trendy toys is an important manifestation of the social circle of interest of the new generation of young people. For people with introverted personalities or social difficulties, trendy toys are an emotional sustenance to reduce loneliness.

Under this trend, the scale of China's trendy toy market is also rising sharply. From 2015 to 2020, the market scale of China's trendy toy industry has increased year by year, and the growth rate has always remained above 10%. In 2020, the market scale of China's trendy toy industry reached 22.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.63%.

Today, as trendy toys meet consumers' spiritual needs in terms of emotions, social interaction and collection, the market size has grown more significantly. Data shows that the size of my country's trendy toy market has increased from 8.2 billion yuan in 2016 to 36.6 billion yuan in 2021, and is expected to reach 47.8 billion yuan by the end of 2022, an increase of 483%.

Moreover, the compound annual growth rate since 2019 has basically fluctuated around 30%. If it continues to grow at this average annual growth rate, it can even be estimated that by 2027, the scale of China's trendy toy market will exceed 160 billion yuan.

Produced by Community Marketing Research Institute, data source: Pop Mart IPO prospectus

2. Trendy toy consumption features are diverse and exciting from structure to content

Since it is the new generation of consumers who are driving the development of trendy toys, it is crucial to first understand the characteristics of the consumer group. According to the quantitative research data of Clour Online, the new white-collar workers have become the main consumer group of trendy toys with a proportion of 50.6%, followed by the students of Generation Z and the senior middle class, with proportions of 22.5% and 13.8% respectively.

Produced by Community Marketing Research Institute, data source: Crawley online quantitative research data

Why are white-collar workers so far ahead? The main reason is that white-collar workers are often "born" in cities with developed commerce, generally first-, second- and third-tier cities. So the white-collar fairies/trendy men living in these places naturally have more obvious characteristics of high income and high consumption .

At the same time, the pace of life in big cities is fast and the work pressure is high. For these urban white-collar workers, trendy toys have naturally become one of their "little happiness" choices to release stress and experience a better life.

In such an environment, they will also be interested in "trendy play" landscapes. This also reflects that in my country, the main consumer market for trendy play is concentrated in first- and second-tier cities, which is confirmed by the data of "2021 JD Supermarket Trendy Play Popularity List". According to its data, China's trendy play is in high demand in second-tier and first-tier cities, and the market is relatively broad. Among them, the combined consumption of first-tier and second-tier cities accounts for more than half of the country.

Produced by Community Marketing Research Institute, data source: "2021 JD Supermarket Trendy Toys Popularity List"

Senior middle-class people from first- and second-tier cities, as high-income social elites, pursue a higher quality of life and spiritual enjoyment. Their consumption concepts are generally rational, but trendy toys can satisfy their generation's collecting habits and value-added investment preferences. Therefore, for them, it is the first- and second-tier cities that provide them with the capital to consume trendy toys.

Another reason why the new white-collar workers can take the lead is that a large proportion of the current white-collar population are the newly emerging Generation Z white-collar workers.

The so-called Generation Z refers to the generation born between 1995 and 2009. Nowadays, people born between 1995 and 2000 have basically entered the workplace. They are self-reliant and self-sufficient. Among the other Generation Z students who have not yet entered the workplace, there are also some wealthy and free students who are also enthusiastic followers of trendy toys.

This phenomenon is very consistent with the data survey results of iiMedia. According to iiMedia data, Generation Z became the main consumer group in the trendy toy industry with a proportion of 38.4% in 2020.

As a generation that grew up with the Internet, Generation Z's awareness of trendy toys has gradually increased thanks to the influence of the Internet and the formation of new-era consumption concepts. At the same time, this emerging consumption concept is also reflected in Generation Z's pursuit of social recognition and self-realization, and their willingness to pay for knowledge and everything they like.

So what are the most popular trendy toys among young people nowadays? What are the preferences of these different generations?

Produced by Community Marketing Research Institute, data source: Crawley online quantitative research data

According to Crawley data, modern young people generally prefer blind boxes (59.9%), figures (48.8%) and building blocks (42.4%). At the same time, according to data released by the China Toy and Juvenile Products Association, the market concentration of blind boxes is also the highest.

The top 10 blind box brands have the highest concentration of nearly 80%, 20% ahead of the second place, figures. Not only that, blind boxes are also the most popular. In the statistics of the popularity of Chinese trendy toy social platforms in the first half of this year, blind boxes also led the way with nearly 30 hot searches, leaving other trendy toy products far behind.

However, if we look at people of different generations, we will find differences in the consumption of trendy toys between generations. People born in the 1980s and 1990s are basically people who value both rationality and emotion. They not only like collections, but also like items that can bring added value.

Therefore, action figures, BJD, and soldiers can serve as emotional companionship for them and have a premium appreciation space, which has the effect of investment and financial management. However, among them, those born in the 1980s and 1985s are more pragmatic, while those born in the 1990s pay more attention to emotional companionship and like-mindedness.

However, those born after 1995 and 2000 are still relatively childish and still pursuing childlike fun, so they naturally have a higher preference for plush toys, cotton dolls, and building blocks.

There are also subtle differences between the two. Those born after 1995 prefer novelty. For them, trendy toys are not only a lifestyle of pursuing trendy consumption, but also an emotional expression for them to reminisce about their childhood fun and happiness. Those born after 2000 pay more attention to the expression of personal interests. They can save money in other places, but are willing to spend a lot of money to share with others in their favorite places.

Produced by Community Marketing Research Institute, data source: Crawley online quantitative research data

So, besides the above characteristics that make trendy toys popular among the new generation of consumers, what other unique charms do they have? The Community Research Institute will continue to analyze this in the next article.

Source: Community Marketing Research Institute (ID: Community_Marketing), insights into community consumption