Investigation Report on New Characteristics and Trends of Current Public Consumption (2024)

Abstract: With the economic development, industrial transformation and social and cultural changes, the current public consumption behaviors and concepts present some new characteristics and trends. On the whole, "careful calculation" has become the main behavior mode of public consumption, and the proportion of basic living consumption in the public consumption structure is still high. The public pays more attention to the spiritual value and consumption experience of consumption, and generally expects more diversified product consumption, service consumption and consumption scenarios. From the specific field, digital consumption, green consumption, healthy consumption and experience consumption have become the new trend of public consumption. To stimulate the new consumption potential, we need to conform to the new characteristics and trends of public consumption, open up the difficulties, pain points and blocking points that affect public consumption, and improve the long-term mechanism for expanding consumption.

[Keywords:] consumer behavior, consumption concept, digital consumption, green consumption and healthy consumption [Chinese library classification number] C913.3 [document identification code] a

Consumption is not only an important driving force for economic growth, but also an important factor affecting people’s quality of life. With the continuous optimization of economic structure and the continuous improvement of residents’ income level, the role of consumption as the main engine of economic growth is more prominent. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2023, the contribution rate of final consumption expenditure to economic growth was 82.5%. 2024 is the year of consumption promotion, and the policy focus is further tilted towards consumption. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Decision on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese Modernization adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Decision) emphasizes "accelerating the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system" and "improving the long-term mechanism for expanding consumption". The the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Conference held at the end of September, 2024 analyzed and studied the current economic situation and economic work, and emphasized that "promoting consumption and benefiting people’s livelihood should be combined to increase the income of low-and middle-income groups and improve the consumption structure. We must cultivate new consumer formats. "

Boosting consumption needs to understand the new changes and conform to the new trend of public consumption. With the development of domestic economy, industrial upgrading and social and cultural changes, the current public consumption tendency, consumption structure and consumption mentality have undergone significant changes, showing some new characteristics and trends. Grasping these new features and trends has certain guiding significance for accurately making policies to open up the difficulties, pain points and blocking points that affect public consumption and release consumption potential. In order to understand the new characteristics and trends of public consumption in China, September 12, 2024 — On September 20th, People’s Think Tank conducted a questionnaire survey for the public through the Internet and WeChat WeChat official account, and collected 5,304 valid questionnaires.

New characteristics of current public consumption behavior and concept

Public consumption behavior and consumption concept in different periods have different characteristics. At present, China’s public consumption shows the characteristics of being more cautious, paying more attention to the spiritual value of consumption and being more diversified. Changes in the economic and employment situation, changes in social and cultural fashions, the constant emergence of new consumer products, new formats and new scenes, and the profound influence of social basic emotions have jointly shaped the consumption characteristics of the public in the current period.

Public consumption is becoming more cautious, and "careful calculation" has become the main behavior mode of public consumption at present. Through the analysis of public consumption behavior patterns, it can be seen that rational consumption and living within our means have become the common characteristics of current public consumption behavior, and the consumption behavior pattern of "careful calculation" is more common in all groups. 56.1% of the respondents think that their current consumption behavior pattern is "careful calculation, some aspects can save, others are willing to spend money", 16.9% of the respondents think that it is "saving, living with low desire", and over 70% of the respondents choose the content related to "saving". In addition, the proportion of people who choose "having fun in time, but not borrowing for consumption", "spending ahead, spending early and enjoying early" and "other consumption behavior patterns" are 21.3%, 5.3% and 0.4% respectively. It is worth noting that the Z generation group (1995 — Among the respondents born in 2009, 55.3% thought their consumption behavior pattern was "careful calculation", while only 5.9% thought it was "ahead of consumption", which showed that, to some extent, ahead of consumption and excessive consumption were no longer common among young people.Consumption tendency refers to the proportion of disposable income spent by consumers. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the average consumption tendency of Chinese residents in the first half of 2024 was 65.6%, lower than 68.3% in 2023. As the global economic growth slows down, the risk of geopolitical conflicts increases, personal income faces more uncertainty, and public consumption decisions become more cautious.

The public pays more attention to the spiritual value of consumer products and the consumption experience in the process of consumption, and the "recommendation-oriented" consumption concept is more common among young people. In terms of consumption concept, the public pays more attention to the symbolic value and altruistic value of consumption, hoping to show their own taste through consumption behavior. According to the survey data, the public’s recognition score for the statement that "consumption behavior can highlight my quality of life and taste" is 3.02 (out of 5), and the recognition score for the statement that "I prefer to spend for my relatives and friends than to please myself" is 3.36, which is at a high level. The public also has a strong local consciousness in consumption, and the recognition score of "I prefer to support domestic brands" is 3.56 points. At the same time, the public also pays more attention to the experience in the consumption process, and the recognition score of the statement "I am willing to pay extra for a better shopping experience" is 2.97 points. These data show to some extent that the current public consumption concept has begun to shift from materialistic values to post-materialistic values, paying more attention to the spiritual value of consumption. In addition, personalized and diversified consumption has gradually become the mainstream. When making consumption decisions, the public is easily influenced by others’ evaluation and recommendation, which is reflected in a "recommendation-oriented" consumption view. Survey data show that,The public said to me, "I often feel sorry for other people’s ‘ Planting grass ’ Or ‘ Amway ’ The recognition score of the statement "consumption" is 2.90 (out of 5), and the recognition score of the statement "I often buy goods in the live broadcast room with goods" is 2.82, and the recognition score of the youth group for these two statements is higher than the average. It shows that the recommendation of others plays a guiding role in the consumption decision of the public, especially the youth group.

There is still much room for growth in public consumption potential, and more diversified consumption services and products, consumption scenes and spaces are generally expected. In the survey on "What are the new expectations of consumer products, services and scene innovation", the three options most selected by the respondents were "more diversified catering consumer services" (41.8%), "new tourism products such as low-altitude tourism, camping tourism and recreational tourism" (41.5%) and "more intelligent and intelligent smart home products" (37.4%). The public has more expectations for the diversification of catering consumption services and higher enthusiasm for tourism consumption. Tourism consumption is an important aspect of stimulating consumption growth, and meeting the increasingly diversified, personalized and quality tourism consumption needs of the public is an important focus of promoting consumption growth at present. In addition, respondents have a high proportion of choices such as "more products can be customized and personalized", "entertainment products such as movies and games are more quality and rich" and "more excellent research routes".

The basic living expenditure accounts for a relatively high proportion, and the main consumption expenditure types of different groups are different. The survey of public consumption structure shows that the proportion of basic living consumption in public consumption structure is still high. When asked what the monthly consumption expenditure is mainly concentrated in, they chose renting, transportation, water and electricity (43.3%), clothing, shoes and hats (39.8%) and food, alcohol and tobacco (38.6%). In addition, when asked "what are the most important factors that affect your consumption", 43.2% of the respondents chose "mortgage, car loan and rent are under great pressure" and 32.2% chose "children’s education expenditure accounts for a relatively large proportion". This shows that the proportion of daily living expenses in the overall consumption of the public is still high, mainly concentrated in housing (including renting and mortgage), transportation, clothing, catering, education and so on. In the case of stable overall expenditure, the proportion of basic living consumption is high, and other consumption space has to be appropriately compressed. In terms of groups, female respondents chose "clothing, shoes and hats" (41.2%) and "beauty cosmetics and skin care products" (34.5%), while male respondents chose "Household electronic appliances (32.7%) and entertainment services such as movies and games (23.0%) account for a relatively high proportion, and the respondents of Generation Z choose clothing, shoes and hats (43.2%), household electronic appliances (33.3%) and entertainment services such as movies and games (25.3%) It can be seen that the consumption structure of different groups is different.

The new trend of current public consumption patterns and patterns

The Central Economic Work Conference in 2023 emphasized that it is necessary to actively "cultivate and expand new consumption, vigorously develop digital consumption, green consumption and healthy consumption, and actively cultivate smart homes, recreational tourism, sports events and domestic products ‘ Chaopin ’ Waiting for new consumption growth points. " At present, with China’s digital economy, green economy, health industry and other new economic formats entering the fast lane of development, supply-side consumer products and services are constantly upgrading, demand-side public consumption demand and willingness are constantly evolving, and the current consumption field presents some new trends.

The public actively participates in digital consumption, and has a certain recognition of the digital transformation of service consumption, product consumption and consumption scenarios. Digital consumption not only changed the manufacturing pattern, but also promoted the high-end and intelligent upgrading of consumer products, optimized the service consumption process and innovated the consumption scene. These changes have had a wide and profound impact on the public and become an important trend in the development of the consumer market. According to the survey data, when asked "which aspects of digital transformation have significantly optimized the experience of shopping, service and product use", 46.3% of the respondents chose "digital medical care, such as cloud consultation and electronic medical record interconnection". In the medical field, digital technology has improved the efficiency and accessibility of medical services, broken geographical restrictions through telemedicine, intelligent diagnosis and other means, and provided patients with a more convenient medical service experience. 39.4% of the respondents chose "digital cultural tours, such as online cultural exhibitions and immersive scenes". In the field of cultural tourism, digital technology has created an immersive and interactive travel experience for tourists through innovative technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. 35.8% of the respondents chose "Internet of Things Smart Home". Intelligentization has become the main trend of the development of the home industry, meeting the needs and expectations of the public’s digital intelligent life. In addition, choose "online virtual mall, 3D immersive shopping" "The proportion of unmanned distribution service, unmanned retail and smart retail is 33.1%, 25.0% and 15.5% respectively. With the deep application of digital technology, intelligent and convenient new consumption scenes are constantly emerging, which effectively stimulates the public’s willingness to consume and optimizes the public’s consumption experience.

The concept of green consumption has become a general consensus of public consumption, and the public’s green consumption preference involves food, supplies, travel and other aspects. In recent years, the public’s awareness of green consumption has been continuously enhanced, and the concept of green consumption has gradually taken root in people’s hearts. Green products and services in food, supplies, travel and other consumption areas have become new consumption growth points, driving the rapid growth of the green consumption market. According to the survey data, 50.5% of the respondents had the behavior of "buying green appliances such as energy-saving air conditioners and energy-saving refrigerators", and 46.6% of the respondents "chose online takeaway ‘ No tableware required ’ , shopping choice ‘ Simple packaging ’ " 33.6% of the respondents "often travel in bike-sharing", 26.2% will "buy new energy vehicles" and 22.6% will "pay attention to the carbon footprint of products and use it as the basis for purchasing decisions". This shows that the concept of green consumption has become one of the key factors affecting public consumption decisions in product consumption and service consumption. In addition, 33.3% of the respondents will "buy goods on second-hand idle platforms" and 15.3% will "participate in the trade-in activities of consumer goods", which will help reduce resource consumption and environmental pollution.It is also a reflection of the transformation of green consumption concept into green consumption practice.

The growing awareness of public health has prompted healthy consumption to become the "new darling" in the field of consumption. Health preservation, healthy diet, health care and home health are the areas of healthy consumption that the public generally pays more attention to. With the development of economy and society and the improvement of people’s living standards, the public’s health awareness is getting stronger and stronger, and more and more people are willing to "pay for health", and the demand for healthy consumption continues to grow. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2023, the per capita health care consumption expenditure was 2,460 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.0%. This survey shows that healthy consumption, such as health preservation, healthy food and home health, is a hot spot in consumption. 48.8% of the respondents have consumption preferences in health care, including purchasing health care products, supplementing nutrients and health care equipment; 48.1% of people have consumption preferences in healthy eating, such as buying pure natural and zero-added foods and consulting nutritionists for payment. 38.2% people have consumption preferences in medical and health care, such as regular physical examination and oral medical services; The proportion of people who have consumption preference in home health is 33.9%, such as buying air purifiers, home water purifiers and home oxygen generators. In addition, 27.2% and 4.9% of the respondents have consumption preferences in fitness exercise and emotional healing, respectively.

The public pays more and more attention to experience consumption, and the experience-oriented economy of travel, study and night has become a new hot spot and new trend of public consumption. "Experience" is a kind of "good feeling" that consumers get by integrating into the scene created by suppliers. At present, the public’s consumption concept is gradually changing to experience. Experience can be not only an additional service of consumer products, but also the consumer content itself that the public is willing to pay for. This consumption concept is reflected in the hot phenomenon of tourist destinations such as Zibo and Tianshui, which are rich in experience scenes rather than traditional humanities and natural landscapes. "Punch-in consumption" has become a distinctive label of the younger generation’s consumption behavior. At present, the content of public experience consumption is more diverse. According to the survey data, 39.1% of the respondents will "punch in online celebrity restaurants and drink shops", 38.1% will "experience hand-made ceramics and DIY hand-made shops", 37.3% will "experience immersive drama and art exhibitions", 35.7% will like to "visit newly opened shopping malls and brand stores", and 35.2% will like it.17.7% of the respondents like to "visit the digital electronic product experience store". In terms of preference for experience consumption, the current public prefers tourist destinations with strong cultural flavor, and also has certain preferences for research economy and night economy. The survey results show that the public’s recognition of "paying more attention to human factors when making tourism choices than natural landscape", "research tourism is more rewarding and educational than ordinary tourism" and "preferring cities with high economic richness at night" are 3.27, 3.27 and 3.40 respectively (out of 5), and the recognition is at a high level.

Countermeasures and suggestions on perfecting the long-term mechanism of expanding residents’ consumption

Stabilize employment and promote growth, further improve the income level of residents and release consumption potential. Employment is the most basic livelihood, which directly affects the income level of residents. The promotion of per capita disposable income affects the improvement of consumption power. In the survey, among the problems that need to be taken to activate the public consumption potential, 45.3% choose "stabilizing employment to promote growth and improve residents’ income level". At present, China’s economy and society have entered the stage of high-quality development, and a large number of new employment growth points have emerged under the new growth mode. New economic formats such as green economy, healthy economy, digital economy, silver-haired economy, first-time economy and low-altitude economy have spawned new employment opportunities, laying the foundation for promoting high-quality full employment. On the one hand, it is suggested to further improve relevant policy support measures, develop new economic formats that drive employment and create new employment growth points; On the other hand, it is suggested to improve the employment public service system, improve the vocational skills training system, combine job creation, skills training and job transfer assistance, continuously improve the employability of workers, and promote the improvement of consumption power with the improvement of workers’ income level.

Improve the social security system and weave a social security safety net. 47.4% of the respondents chose to "improve the social security system and reduce worries" in the question of measures needed to activate the public consumption potential. Social security system is the "safety net" of people’s life and the "stabilizer" of social operation. The Decision adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized: "Improve the social security system … … We will improve the mechanism for reasonable adjustment of basic old-age pension and basic medical insurance financing and treatment, and gradually increase the basic pension for basic old-age insurance for urban and rural residents. " China has built the largest social security system in the world. Next, it is necessary to further weave the "safety net" of social security, continuously enhance the sustainability, accessibility, safety, convenience and standardization of social security, strengthen the inclusive, basic and comprehensive construction of people’s livelihood, improve the employment priority policy and improve the social security system, so that the achievements of modernization can benefit all people more fairly.

Optimize consumption promotion measures and pay attention to the combination of short-term and long-term. 37.2% of the respondents chose to expand the scope of trade-in of consumer goods and continue to issue consumer vouchers to help businesses benefit the people, while 26.6% of the respondents chose to increase the scale of consumer credit and reduce the interest rate of consumer loans. 2024 is the year of consumption promotion, and the measures of consumption promotion have achieved remarkable results. In the aspect of optimizing consumption promotion measures, in the short term, it is suggested to introduce effective policies to benefit the people and promote consumption to enhance residents’ consumption demand; In the long run, it is suggested to optimize the consumption environment, cultivate new consumption formats, promote structural reforms on the supply side and the demand side, and achieve a higher quality and higher level of dynamic balance between supply and demand through the benign interaction between supply and demand.

Improve the protection mechanism of consumers’ rights and interests. 46.6% of the respondents believe that the public consumption potential should be activated from the perspective of "strengthening the protection of consumers’ rights and interests". China’s consumer rights protection work has achieved remarkable results, but with the rapid development of economy and society, especially the emergence of new formats and models such as online consumption, the difficulties and key issues encountered in consumer rights protection work are constantly changing. Therefore, it is suggested that the legal system of consumer rights protection in China should be further improved and the consumer rights protection network should be woven tightly; Strengthen supervision means, severely investigate and punish illegal acts that infringe on consumers’ legitimate rights and interests, and create a good consumption environment for consumers. In addition, it is also an effective way to protect consumers’ rights and interests for operators to abide by the law and strengthen industry self-discipline and social supervision.

Create new consumption scenes and expand new consumption space. 16.4% of the respondents believe that the public consumption potential should be further activated by creating new consumption scenarios and promoting product innovation. The new consumption scene is a systematic integration of new consumption formats, new models and new products, and its essence is a sustainable new way of life including content and experience. To create new consumption scenes and expand new consumption space, in addition to the support of national policies, it also needs the blessing of science and technology and the cultivation and shaping of public consumption concepts. On the one hand, it is suggested to use modern information technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and virtual reality to promote the integration of technological innovation and consumption scenarios, and to innovate service models and product formats; On the other hand, it is suggested to cultivate a green, healthy and sustainable consumption concept to promote the upgrading of consumption.

(Written by: Wei Aiyun, Pan Lili, Liu Zhe)

Editor-in-Chief/Tannin edited by Zhao Chenghuan/Li Xiangfeng

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