The future belongs to the "emotional intelligence tax" product

 　　The consumer market is increasingly psychedelic.

　　When a product with a relatively low unit price is sold at a high price, the fate is very different:

　　"Ice Cream Assassin" is ridiculed by the group, Zhong Xuegao never expected to be hammered again and again in the summer of 2022, and public opinion is merciless; the live broadcast of Dongfang Selection In the meantime, although rice is not cheap, everyone still likes the stories of "Four Buying Rice" and "Low-cost grains hurt farmers", rushing to pay.

　　The situation of products that insist on low prices is also different:

　　Hongxing Erke, Baixiang, Mixue Bingcheng, Xuelian, etc., which adhere to the cheap route, have gone from obscurity to popular on the whole network (although some of them slipped after the explosion of potential energy); the same low price, the main beauty and skin care The replaced domestic brands have encountered a crisis, including Perfect Diary, Huaxizi, and Colorkey, all of which have declined in share to varying degrees.

　　Wouldn't it be possible to replace this road? As the replacement of Dyson's hair dryer, Leifen holds the Douyin e-commerce live broadcast bonus in one hand, and consumes rationally and cost-effectively in the other, and the sales volume rises rapidly. Bai Xiao T, known as the domestic product "Armani", achieved a revenue of 50 million yuan in March this year, a year-on-year increase of 22 times.

　　Relatively high customer unit price products also have a double world:

　　under the epidemic, top luxury brands have increased their prices against the market, and their sales have increased instead of falling; there are also brands that have not resisted the high prices. Nai Xue is much cheaper.

　　Behind the ups and downs of the consumer market, we should be more concerned about the essential changes in the public's consumption mentality. Various phenomena on the demand side are the reflection of these trend changes.

Big Trend: Rational Accounts and Emotional Accounts Split

　　In the traditional sense, product value = functional value + emotional value. Functional value refers to the price paid for product functionality, and emotional value refers to the price paid for emotional satisfaction. In the past, when people looked at a product, they would consider both functional characteristics and emotional satisfaction. However, as the consumer market becomes more and more mature, the same sub-category covers a variety of different products or services, more consumption choices and more information sources, people are also more Clear and understand their own needs, and will make choices based on segmented needs. Therefore, more and more consumption decisions tend to separate functional value and emotional value, that is, functional value and emotional value can be realized separately through different products and services, rather than being mixed together.

　　Product value ≈ functional value or product value ≈ emotional value

　　If consumers pursue functional value, consumers will activate their rational accounts to pay; if they pursue emotional value, they will open emotional psychological accounts to pay. Rational account refers to the lowest price paid in order to achieve the efficacy of the target product. Generally, it will be carefully considered and compared, so as to pay the least cost to obtain the maximum benefit; the emotional account refers to the price paid to achieve maximum emotional satisfaction. Consumption for the satisfaction of a certain emotion, the first consideration is not the material cost, but the realization of emotional satisfaction.

IQ tax and "emotional intelligence tax", one lower and one higher

　　The two accounts have different logics for paying money, and their willingness to pay is also completely different. Consumers start rational account consumption, mainly to pay for solutions to complete a certain task. In the past, big brands were more likely to gain trust points because of their high reputation and strength. New categories, new technologies or products with exclusive raw materials were also more likely to gain higher willingness to pay. Because these factors are thought to be more effective at accomplishing a task, although it's unclear whether they actually work. To put it bluntly, there are indeed a lot of IQ taxes. Because customers lack the ability to judge the cost of solutions, they spend unjustly.

　　However, with the diversification of the consumer market and more open and transparent information, people are more willing to rationally measure the production ratio. Therefore, the replacement of functional big brands can be more favored by people, such as 3C digital home appliances, general daily necessities, beauty tools products, and so on. Of course, these brands usually take the cost-effective route, and rely more on the scale effect on the supply side (such as supply chain advantages and improved operational efficiency) to make profits.

　　And if you want to rely on the consumer side to obtain sufficient profit space, in addition to the top global brands, there is also the payment for emotion. In the past year, there has also been a noticeable change in people's mentality due to the larger environment. On the one hand, because of the intensified uncertainty about the future, I hope to have a stronger control over my life and be more cautious about living expenses; on the other hand, my emotional sensitivity is easy to fluctuate. There is a strong need for counseling, emotional comfort, and inner relief.

　　Therefore, the rational demand is restrained, but the emotional demand is enlarged. People are more willing to pay the premium knowingly, so as to achieve the greatest satisfaction of their emotions.

　　Like Starbucks. It is said that Starbucks lost the "post-90s" and "post-00s" because the brand is aging and rustic, and the joint name is not as good as manner. Some people say that the third space is vacant because it is greatly affected by the epidemic. But don’t forget, Starbucks has been a brand of private domain membership and takeaway for a long time. In fact, the essential reason is not the aging of the brand, but with the evolution of the category, the psychological account of people's consumption has changed. Among certain groups of people, the purchase of freshly ground coffee is gradually divided into emotional accounts and rational accounts.

　　The emotional curiosity and style consumption represented by niche independent coffee and specialty coffee are still emotional satisfaction, which is gradually differentiated from the daily refreshing takeaway coffee. The former is more expensive, unique and fresh, while the latter is more convenient and cheaper. Once the chain coffee brand is included in the account of daily rational consumption, and students and staff start to order takeaways, the only thing that cares about is the price/performance ratio. People like manner, not because of the many joint names, but because it is cheap.

　　The scale and size of Starbucks are there. If it takes the high-end niche route, it will undoubtedly make a difference; if it takes the low-end route, there will be a group of competitors with higher local operating efficiency. Here is the dilemma.

Products that dare to collect emotional intelligence tax, what weaknesses have they hit?

　　Which products will consumers be willing to pay an EQ tax for? People are talking about emotional consumption. What kind of emotions are they referring to?

　　Everyone went to wild consumption for Hongxing Erke, Baixiang, and Xuelian, and they were infected for the brand's practice. This is the most obvious manifestation of emotional consumption, but it comes and goes quickly, and it may be gone after a while. Oriental Selection is different from these wild consumptions. The entire live broadcast room can be regarded as a product. In this product, there is continuous emotional output content.

　　Today we're going to focus on emotional consumption that is more solid, integrated into daily habits, and integrated into a product or service. What products or services are people willing to pay for, knowing they have emotional value?

　　Simply put, three words: capricious, warm and lying to win.

　　Willful: Occasional indulgence or obsession

　　Now people are stressed, bound by rules, and forced by life, they need to be emotionally stable adults in both workplace and life. But everyone needs an emotional outlet. Compared with emotional collapse, it is obviously cheaper to buy and buy to relieve emotions.

　　Occasionally. Users want to consume willful to get emotional satisfaction, it is an occasional rather than a daily behavior, don't think it should be the case often. For example, Zhong Xuegao, who is listed on e-commerce, is occasionally willful and works; Zhong Xuegao, who is in the freezer of a convenience store, is a daily consumer, so he cannot easily stab others. The same is true for HEYTEA. To scale and sell, you have to enter the mental account of daily rather than occasional rewards.

　　Some people say that it is because people of different classes and incomes have different sensitivities to consumption. Indeed, for the same product, some people can be used daily, and some people can be self-willed. However, products in each price segment are still willful and everyday. For example, in luxury goods, bags and watches that are relatively durable and purchased at low frequencies are still the mainstream.

　　Talk about a little indulgence. It means to fully satisfy the senses, smell, sound, touch, taste and vision can bring pleasure to the brain. Usually, if a product or service can occupy one of them, there will be an opportunity to obtain a premium for emotional satisfaction, and the more it occupies, the higher the premium will be. To sum up, it is a style + multi-sensory experience.

　　The last is a little obsession. It mainly refers to indulging in personalized interests. Because of similar interests, users will project their spiritual hobbies to products and brands, and it is easier to establish a stable emotional connection.

　　Warmth: subtle care of personal emotional feelings

　　Compared with willfulness, warmth is a longer-term need. For example, when we are under a hot news, in order to seek identity, we are willing to delete those personal and personalized emotional details, to find intersection with a group, to find emotional resonance, the more people covered by a common emotion, the more More, which means that people delete more personal emotional details for a sense of belonging.

　　And this trend has also brought about another trend: outside the public arena, everyone in their lives will need to double up to make up for it, and need more subtle services to respond to the emotions and feelings they have deleted in the larger community . From another point of view, in today's society, the always warm and weak relationship between people is actually missing. This absence also makes us eager to have more human products and services.

　　Linked to warmth, you can think of more spiritual and cultural products or non-physical services, such as sleep-aiding music, healing travel, etc. But no matter what kind of product or service, it will make people feel warm, which is the easiest way to win goodwill and loyalty. When Shanghai is under lockdown, luxury brands will send afternoon tea to major customers, and when a community group purchase is done well, almost every communication can make people feel the warmth and appropriateness of e-commerce customer service.

　　Lie to win: You have already won when you buy

　　In context of consumption, it means that you can imagine that you have won at the moment of purchase. People will pay for their imagination far more than they think. Whether we can let us lie down and win depends on whether we can give a firm expectation that we can easily win.

　　Luxury: immediately noticeable and highly regarded in the crowd.

　　Weight-loss products: Knowing the risk, you are eager to try it, because you feel that you can lose weight immediately after eating it.

　　Private lessons: tens of thousands of yuan can't be wasted, I will definitely go to the gym, and then practice the vest line.

　　Dongfang Selection: There is something to gain from opening the live broadcast class, instead of just wasting time on Douyin.

　　Various online classes and trainings: With the addition of community and teacher WeChat, you can definitely urge yourself to learn and punch in every day.

　　To become a better self is always the most essential consumer demand of human beings. The key lies in whether the product or service can give a hint that it can be achieved, and make people believe in it. Either the result looks easy to achieve, or the result doesn't seem easy to achieve, but you can turn the product into a service and add enough external forces to support you.

Epilogue

　　Of course, it does not mean that focusing on functional value cannot win the market and profits, but once consumers activate rational accounts, it will be more difficult for brands to win. Price, supply chain, and brand recognition cannot be a shortcoming in order to win in comprehensive consideration. If consumers are hit by the emotions of products or services and open emotional accounts, they will have more opportunities to play the longboard effect and maximize the advantages of emotions, so as to gain profit space and moat.