The consumption trend data of 2017 indicates that the per capita income of the 1990s generation is RMB 6,026 per month and their average monthly expenditure is RMB 5,286 per month, lower than the 1970s generation by 26%. But the 1990s generation sees the quickest growth in consumption, twice that of the 1970s. The average annual consumption of the 1990s generation has increased 2.7 times in the past three years.
Economic and technological development has released the consumer impulses of the younger generation. In the last 40 years, China’s GDP has increased 224.9 times. People have away from mere life necessities to nonessential goods which they hope will bring them happiness. Meanwhile, mobile payment is creating a cash-less society. Maybe, in the past, when people paid with cash, they felt more or less stressful. But nowadays, when they are face with nothing more than a series of numbers on the screen, it is much easier to deal with.
There is no poor man in the WeChat Friends Circle. It is a show field. A reporter once interviewed a girl who is active in the WeChat circle. She once had a micro plastic surgery and told the reporter that once the skin has got used to quality and expensive products, it just cannot accept cheap ordinary ones. So she chooses to invest in her skin. But the result is that she had to get two credit cards. Then she cashes out card A to pay off the debt on card B. She even borrows money from Internet lending agencies and elaborately plans repayment due dates on different days. She repays by instalments to alleviate the pressure.
Cultural infiltration and fashion-oriented concepts are rebuilding the consuming behavior of the younger generation. As young people grow, they are accompanied by Korean, Japanese and Chinese TV soaps, short Internet videos, Tik Tok, and other media shots, all advocating consumerism, and planting more materialistic desire in their hearts. Influenced by the consumerism agitation of the whole of society, young people are crazily imitate the lifestyle of the wealthy class. They keep consuming in an addictive way in search of a lasting sense of satisfaction.
A 1990s generation person just bought a latest edition of Adidas shoes costing more than RMB 2,000. He already has over 50 pairs of such shoes and says this is his spiritual pursuit. To fund this spiritual pursuit, he eats just one meal a day, and shares a 10-square meter bunk bed apartment with others.
The 1990s generation has no sense of “saving money”, nor do they have the ability to do so. Although they are already adults, their mentality is not so mature and they are easily influenced by social trends.
