Emotional value： Is the business really ＂profitable＂？
"Pinch" is becoming the new favorite of young people.
A few days ago, the topic "Why are young people willing to spend thousands of dollars to buy a’ pinch’" rushed to Weibo hot search. In fact, "Pinch" is a kind of slow-rebound decompression toy, made of soft silicone materials, which highly restores the delicious and attractive food shape. It is loved by many young consumers because of its beauty and fun, and its price ranges from several yuan to thousands of yuan.
According to the industry, "pinching" can release the pressure and anxiety accumulated by young people in their work, study or daily life. Among them, the limited edition or specially designed "pinching" is hyped due to scarcity, resulting in abnormally high prices. At the same time, the "pinching" industry standards and regulations urgently need the relevant departments to clearly specify the materials, safety performance and labeling requirements of the products, so as to avoid endangering the health of consumers.
Pinch lets people release pressure and adjust their mood.
"Pineapple bags, rice balls, doughnuts, strawberry cakes, fried dough sticks" … Li Jingwen, a white-collar worker in Beijing, showed his trophy about "pinching" to the reporter of China City News. These "pinching" shapes are so lifelike and lovely that people can’t help but want to pinch them. There are many young people like Li Jingwen who have been "pinched".
In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned baked cakes and other food shapes, there are also "pinched" shapes of plants and animals on the market, most of which are made of silica gel, which will not melt or harden, and have strong plasticity, and can be roughly divided into three categories: water feeling, cement feeling and mud feeling. Among them, the water is the lightest and softest, it has no resistance when pinched, and it rebounds the fastest; The cement feels slightly with plasticine feel, and the rebound speed is moderate; Mud feels like squeezing plasticine, and its rebound is the slowest.
According to the data of Tmall New Life Research Institute, in 2022, the overall growth rate of decompression toys in Taobao Tmall was nearly 40%; By 2023, "pinching" has become one of the fast-growing toy categories in Taobao 2023.
"The first time I came into contact with’ Pinpinch’ was when I brushed relevant posts in Little Red Book at the beginning of this year. I found them cute and found them very interesting. Plus, I usually like small craft products, and I went to into the pit after I got to know them a little." Li Jingwen told reporters that when you pinch this kind of slow-rebound toy, you will feel very calm in your heart. While playing "pinching", you can also make it faster to think and reduce anxiety while working or studying, which can achieve the effect of venting emotions or relieving stress for her.
There is also a saying circulating in the "pinching" circle: "When you pinch this toy, you will never forget the feel." As a decompression toy, "kneading" can make people feel relaxed and happy under the simple kneading or squeezing action. Zhang Yue, chairman of Aoyou International, said in an interview with China City News that in the fast-paced life, many people are facing the pressure of work and life, and "pinching" provides a convenient and brand-new entertainment way, so that people can release pressure and adjust their mood anytime and anywhere.
Why are all kinds of "pinching" different in value?
The strong purchasing demand of young people has also stimulated the "pinching" market. In addition to being able to buy "pinch" in Jiumu Sundry Club, The Green Party, famous products and other stores, online platforms such as Taobao, Xiaohongshu and Xianyu also have a wide variety of "pinch" on sale, most of which are priced between several yuan and hundreds of yuan.
However, there are some exceptions, such as Zulala Pinch, which is very popular in the circle. In particular, a blogger in Xiaohongshu has exposed an out-of-box video of Zulala Pinch worth 15,000 yuan, of which two Zulala Pinch were filmed at a price of 2,900 yuan, so some netizens joked that Zulala Pinch is Hermes in Pinch Circle.
Li Jingwen told reporters that her purchasing channels are generally small red book shops, Taobao shops and micro-shops, and occasionally from the live broadcast room, with unit prices ranging from 10 yuan to 60 yuan. Under normal circumstances, the larger the volume, the higher the customer unit price, and the pricing of different stores is also different. "At present, I have not bought a’ pinch’ with a unit price of more than 100 yuan." Li Jingwen said.
In fact, most of the "pinching" of high-priced auctions on second-hand platforms come from hand-made shops in online celebrity. "This reflects the imbalance between supply and demand in the market and the drive of collecting and showing off." Yu Fenghui, a special researcher of China Financial Think Tank, analyzed in an interview with the reporter of China City News. On the one hand, some limited edition or specially designed "pinching" became popular due to scarcity, and the hype similar to tide play made their value surpass the toys themselves and become collectibles; On the other hand, some young consumers are willing to pay a high price for this, in addition to the actual decompression needs, but also because of its role as social capital, that is, by having a unique or expensive "pinch", they can show their personality and taste among their peers and meet the needs of self-expression and social comparison.
Emotional value business is popular
This young people are troubled by small emotions and pay for them.
According to the data released by the survey results of China Modern Consumption Development Index in 2023, the proportion of consumers who think that "pleasing oneself" is more important has risen sharply, reaching 47.8%, an increase of 16.8% compared with 2022. According to the data of China Consumption Trend Survey in 2024, 64% of consumers pay more attention to spiritual consumption, and young consumers pay more attention to spiritual consumption. Consumers pay more attention to their own small world and pursue a sense of gain, value and significance. Rational consumption and emotional life will become the fundamentals of consumption.
Behind the popularity of "pinching" the whole network and the price of thousands of yuan, many people have found that selling emotional value seems to be gradually becoming a business. For example, recently, a product named "hydroponic banana" continued to sell well on the e-commerce platform. In the past month, more than 10,000 people bought a number of similar products, most of which sold thousands. According to reports, this kind of hydroponic banana is different from the general foliage planting, and it has the characteristics of "viewing+eating", and it is easy to feed. Just put it in a vase full of water and wait for about a week to mature. For migrant workers who don’t have much energy to take care of it, the cost is extremely low and more worry-free.
Besides hydroponic bananas, other "emotional" fruits are also favored by consumers. For example, on the shopping platform, 20 yuan can buy a "fresh-cut pineapple" and a pot of tomato seedlings for 30 yuan, while hydroponic strawberries, hydroponic bergamot and other categories range from 20 yuan to 100 yuan.
Is the emotional value business really so "profitable"
In Yu Fenghui’s view, the business of selling emotional value is profitable to a certain extent. He believes that with the growth of social psychological demand, people are more and more willing to pay for products and services that can bring psychological comfort and emotional satisfaction. The commercial logic of emotional value lies in that it captures the pain point of modern people’s lack of emotion, and creates an emotional resonance through product design, marketing strategy and brand story, thus transforming it into consumers’ purchase intention. However, this kind of market also has volatility and uncertainty, which requires continuous innovation and precise positioning to continuously attract consumers.
In this regard, Zhang Yue holds different views. "Selling emotional value has indeed become a business, especially among young people, but it is not always easy to make money." Zhang Yue said that in addition to "pinching" such decompression toys, other emotional value products, such as psychological counseling services and emotional healing books, also need to be attractive enough to attract consumers. In addition, product quality, brand reputation and service quality are also important factors that affect whether this business can make money.
Zhang Yue’s worry is not unreasonable. Some bloggers revealed: "I bought a bunch of’ pinching’, and the flavor was very strong. I simply measured it with a formaldehyde instrument and directly exceeded the standard. These two days are not only crazy acne, but also conjunctivitis. I don’t know if it is related to’ pinching’. "
It is reported that Guangzhou Consumer Council has published the comparative test results of 37 decompression toys. The test results show that the product has some quality problems and potential safety hazards, such as excessive plasticizer, excessive release of volatile organic compounds and xylene, too many colonies and too loud noise.
At present, there are many sales categories and channels of "pinching", but few well-known domestic manufacturers enter the market, and most of them are handmade by individuals. Therefore, many people in the industry call for the industry standards and regulations of slow-rebound decompression toys to be clearly defined by relevant departments in terms of material specifications, safety performance, labeling requirements, etc., so as to effectively and pertinently supervise and ensure that products meet human health standards, standardize market order, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
In addition, Yu Fenghui also suggested that excessive market speculation may cause a price bubble, which will lead consumers to blindly follow suit and eventually cause economic losses. At the same time, over-reliance on "emotional economy" may ignore the practicality and durability of the product itself, which is not conducive to the healthy development of the industry in the long run. Moreover, the best-selling of "pinching" may also aggravate the consumerism tendency of young people, and excessive consumption may have a negative impact on personal financial situation and mental health.