People line up to shop at the mall (Photo credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
[Look at China November 15, 2021]In the era of material desire, exquisiteism and hedonism often wear the cloak of aesthetics of life.ConsumptionFacts of ism.
Li Jiaqi exclaimed “OMG, this is too beautiful”, and then shouted “Girls, all girls, buy it for me”.
Advertisements placed on various e-commerce platforms appear immersively in consumers’ lives. Opening the app is an advertisement for “Double Eleven”, taking an elevator is an advertisement for “Double Eleven”, walking on the street, bus stop signs and outdoor advertisements along the road, or “Double Eleven” advertisement.
It seems that at the end of October and the beginning of November every year, life is so flat that there is only one thing, buy and buy, buy and buy, buy and buy.
The huge and concentrated consumption impulse has contributed to the “Double Eleven” transaction volume, which has increased by nearly 10,000 times since 2009.
However, year after year additional purchases, pre-sales, and final purchases have also brought fatigue. With the resurgence of anti-consumerism, a group of young people began to “retreat” in the wave of “buy, buy, buy”.
Before “Double Eleven” last year, a group of young people in the Douban group carried the banner of “consumerist retrograde”. One year later, the group had attracted nearly 300,000 people. They gather together for one thing: if you don’t buy or not, if you ask, you don’t buy.
Never stock up, never spend money for Double Eleven
Two years after coming to Beijing, Dui was used to “calculating” carefully before buying everything.
To buy eggs, you need to buy a box of 8 eggs. On average, one will be eaten a day, and the amount will be a week. On the weekend, you will buy one for the next week.
Toilet paper is also bought roll by roll, buy one roll a week, and complete the purchase at the convenience store downstairs.
Dui accurately controls the purchase quantity of each product. She explained this as, “Purchasing to meet your needs is another day to take control of your life!”
Don’t stock up, just buy what you need, dumb’s way of consumption. As for “Double Eleven”, that will definitely not participate. She is not rejecting online shopping, but when the discount needs to exist in the form of stocking, she rejects it.
In her opinion, it is even less cost-effective to buy things that exceed her own needs because of the pursuit of low-cost stocking.
When I was in college, Dumb spent money very carefully. However, such careful calculation is a habit developed after coming to Beijing.
She felt that the accidents in Beijing had come too much too fast, such as moving. After staying in Beijing for two years, Dui moved three times. There are various reasons for moving: one time the landlord “broke the contract”, one time the job was changed from Chaoyang to Haidian, and another time when a co-rented friend wanted to move out, and she could only move with it, otherwise she would have to pay twice the rent. .
Frequent moving is enough to let her know what is in her life. When he moved for the second time, Dumb packed a total of 10 boxes. On the day of moving, she sent 7 boxes back to her hometown, leaving only the necessities of life.
But occasionally, the life “dosage” that is precisely controlled will get out of control. Last Saturday, there was a strong wind in Beijing, the express delivery was stagnant, the scheduled mineral water could not be delivered on time, and the convenience store downstairs was also closed to thank customers. She sat on the bed and waited all morning, and the movie “Dune” continued to appear in her mind: in the extreme On the water-deficient planet Erakos, people wear special distillation clothes to filter the evaporated water in the body into drinkable water. At that time, she really wanted to have a distilling suit.
Of course, such a “small accident” is not enough to change her life without stockpiling. This “Double Eleven”, she still didn’t buy anything.
Maintain cash flow and be alert to all promotions
Xixi’s recent fun is in Douban’s “reply”.
A few days ago, someone posted a link to the “Double Eleven” event, a white down jacket, which is now 25% off, 1120 yuan after the discount, the other party said that they want to buy, but Sichuan can’t wear the down jacket for a few days. Should I buy it?
When she saw it, Xixi decisively typed two words on her phone: Don’t buy.
In the Douban “Consumerist Retrograde” group, there are posts specifically discussing whether to buy or not. Inquirers will attach product photos, prices, and purchase questions. Xixi often responds to such posts in the group recently.
Two days ago, Xixi also persuaded friends not to buy iPhone 13 during Double Eleven. The reason is that my friend’s mobile phone can still be used, but I was a little tempted to see the iPhone 13 promotion, and I think I can buy it. Xixi also replied: Don’t buy.
Don’t buy, don’t buy, don’t buy, Xixi in Douban “Consumerism Retrograde” group, the most replied is “don’t buy”.
She has her own set of shopping philosophy: If you want to buy just because the product is discounted, then don’t buy it. Because the desire to buy comes from the promotion itself, rather than the actual need. Another way of judging is: when you want to buy a certain product, first take the blogger who knows the product for half a month. I still want to buy it after half a month, and then buy it again.
In Xixi’s view, orders placed in the live broadcast room are all “fantasy taxes.” This is the “simple” experience that Xixi bought for 10,000 yuan six months ago.
In the past few months, Xixi was still “crazy” for live e-commerce, until a certain payment failed.
At 1 o’clock in the morning, Xixi lay in bed to buy facial masks, buy 10 boxes and get 5 boxes, as well as various samples. The anchor holds more and more things in his hands. Xixi was still imagining the feeling of use based on the host’s description. The host on the opposite side had already started the countdown, and the comment area kept scribbling “Take a photo”, and she subconsciously clicked on the link. As a result, the payment failed due to insufficient balance, and Xixi was stunned: how could it be possible? Check your credit card quickly, and the expenditure column says 30,000.
That night, Xixi heard clearly that the sound of her heartbeat speeded up significantly. “The items in the live broadcast room seem to be inexpensive, and buying too much consumes cash flow.” Xixi had to call her family for emergency. After this time, she laughed and said that she had “promotional stress syndrome”. The first reaction to seeing the promotion was to ask herself: Do I really need it?
Now, Xixi has uninstalled Douyin and Kuaishou, and she said that she will stop the credit card after she pays it off.
Save on time and write consumer reviews for yourself
Hangzhou’s Iris is a firm person who “makes the best use of everything”, even a “drop of water” must be spent on the blade. For this reason, she deliberately studied: even if it is also used on the face, cheeks and T-zone, because of the horny The level of difference, the degree of care required is also different. The T-zone does not need to be hydrated so much.
After reaching this conclusion, when using skin care products, Iris will apply more on the cheeks and less on the T-zone of the face. Using skin care products in this way can save at least one bottle of skin care water every year. “I’m now 300 yuan for a bottle of skin care lotion, which is equivalent to saving 300 yuan a year for just skin care. Let’s start from this year and stick to it for 4 years before I change to a higher-priced skin care lotion at the age of 30. I’ll be able to save an extra 1,200 yuan in less time.”
In addition to skin care products, Iris only has three sets of clothes each season. The premise of buying new clothes is that one set of old clothes has been eliminated. In order to reduce the wear and tear of the clothes, she also found the method of protecting clothes introduced by the blogger @whybear in the Douban “Consumerist Retrograde” group. Simply put, try not to wash clothes. Where they are dirty, they must be washed. Just use a laundry bag.
After taking care of the clothes in this way, Iris hasn’t bought any new clothes for a year. “After graduating, I adjusted the ratio of my consumption and expenditure every year, and wrote a comment for myself”:
I just graduated from university at the age of 23. I have an after-tax salary of 4,000 yuan and a monthly expenditure of 4,000 yuan, which accounts for 100% of his income and cannot save money;
When I was promoted for the first time at the age of 24, I had a salary of 5,000 yuan after tax and a monthly expenditure of 4,000 yuan, accounting for 80% of his income. Start trying to save money;
The second promotion at the age of 25, after-tax salary of 8,000 yuan, monthly expenditure of 5,000 yuan, accounting for 63% of income, stable savings, and no tension during normal consumption;
At the age of 26, he changed his job and increased his salary. After-tax salary was 20,000 yuan, monthly expenditure was 5,000 yuan, which accounted for 40% of income. The feeling of increased deposits increased significantly.
Iris feels that the increase in savings brings more happiness than shopping. This is her dream since she was a child. When I was young, Iris asked his mother that it was too difficult to ask for money. “Others’ mothers are afraid that you don’t have enough money, and my mother is always KKSS.”
From then on, Iris began to suppress his desires. Every day before going to bed, take out the money and count it to see how many days it can spend. “I liked saving money at that time. If I save more money, I can ask my mother for money one day later.”
Now, she often reminds herself: living alone in a big city requires saving a lot of money.
Do not pay for the marketing expenses of the product
Lin Dang has a set of procedures for his boyfriend’s birthday: first determine the budget, and then let the other party choose gifts based on the budget. For her boyfriend’s birthday this year, her budget is 400 yuan. Within the budget, her boyfriend chose a four-piece bed.
Like her boyfriend, Lin Dang pursues shopping only for practical things, even commemorative birthday gifts. “Both of us are marketing professionals, and we are a major popular saying: We have all learned marketing, so we can’t be marketed by others.”
In addition to giving birthday gifts, Lin Dang often “uses what he has learned” in daily shopping, and does not pay for the marketing expenses of the product.
Some time ago, Lin Dang was going to buy Sumidagawa coffee, but he gave up when he clicked on the shop’s homepage. In her opinion, Santon Ban and Yongpu Coffee, which are similar to Sumida River, have not yet hired a brand ambassador, while Sumida River has hired “top-tier” Xiao Zhan as the brand ambassador. “Corporate expenditure is relatively fixed. At this stage, please; “top stream”, I will worry about whether they have invested too much in marketing, which will affect the quality of the product itself.”
Lin Dang also has a conversion formula: consume 50 yuan a day. If there are non-daily expenditures, she will convert it. This expenditure will cost her several days of daily consumption. Her rule is that the number of non-daily expenditures per year cannot exceed 104 days, because there are 104 rest days in a year.
Her theory was inspired by marketing campaigns: “When shopping, shopping guides often say how much money is spent on average in order to obscure the total price.” I am a person who is born to be’reversed’, and I want to beat consumerism against it. “.
When not in class, Lin Dang will pick up some advertising copywriting. She summarized the experience: as long as it is a female product, there are two ways to write copywriting: either you can be yourself when you buy it, highlighting an independent woman, or you love her. Give her XX, without exception.
“What’s the meaning of such copywriting?” She quoted Peking University professor Dai Jinhua. “Buying, buying and buying will only make you a decent consumer, not a feminist. If a power is obtained by consumption, it is not. Real power.;”
(The article only represents the author’s personal position and opinions)
Source: slightly larger reference
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