According to a survey report released by Kantar and QQ (a social media platform made by Tencent), the generation Z demographic in China is about 149 million strong. It is expected that Gen Z will contribute 40% of total consumption in China by 2020. Their monthly disposable income is about 3501 Yuan ($491). Also, the data shows that they are truly digital natives. 64% of this generation use e-commerce platforms every day while 10% of them make orders online every day [1]. In a sentence generation Z is a generation who have money and are willing to pay for things they like.
So, what do they like and can facial mask consumption trends reveal anything about the purchasing preferences of this key demographic?
They want products to be useful but also fun
Besides moisturizing as a basic requirement for facial masks, generation Z also prefer facial masks with interesting functions and packages. Bubble masks are popular in China at present. It is a kind of facial mask which will generate bubbles when used on the face. Alibaba data shows the bubble mask launched by PROYA sold out in July, selling over 60 million RMB ($84 million) worth of products and was also the most popular beauty product on the Tiktok platform (The top vlog platform in China, known here as Douyin) [2]. Other brands are also competing for market share in the bubble mask sector such as Algologie (A new French brand) and WIS.
They like boutique products and products promoted by KOLs
Generation Z also like boutique products, evidenced by the increasing market share occupied by niche brands, rising from 8% in 2018 to about 13% in 2019 [3]. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t like products promoted by KOLs and influencers. On the contrary, they are crazy about these KOL products. Recently CBNData in collaboration with Tmall and Glamglow released a report titled Generation Z Online Facial Mask Consumption Trend Report. The report had some remarkably interesting and telling insights on Gen Z consumers in China.
The report [3] shows that Tmall and Glamglow held more than 40 live online events and invited more than 80 KOLs to promote their products. These live events attracted more than 17.8 million people. Most of them are young people. Generation Z in China also have stronger willingness to share their feelings and ideas about products (72% of Chinese Gen Z respondents reported willingness to share their feedback compared to the global average of 40% [4].)
If brands can win the hearts of this generation, it greatly aids their marketing and promotional efforts in China as Gen Z consumers are more willing to share their positive experiences with a product on social media. This phenomenon is so important in China’s social ecommerce environment it has spawned the concept of the KOC or key opinion consumer, a term which describes the phenomenon of consumers being able to positively influence through the digital equivalent of word of mouth the purchasing behaviors of those within their digital social circles.
They love staying up late, but they still care about their skin
Staying up late is another obvious characteristic of generation Z. According to a report by iResearch (A data analysis consultancy company), about 33.7% of young people go to bed between 23:00 and 24:00 while 23.7% of them go to sleep after 24:00 [5]. Although they love staying up late, they still care about their health, especially their skin condition. Therefore, facial masks have become a star product. Data shows that 39.4% of Gen Z use facial masks 3 or 4 times per week after staying up late [5]. In fact, some brands that have noticed this phenomenon have even launched new products aimed to offset the deleterious impact of late nights [3] . For example, L’ Oreal Paris has launched a cream product that it is designed for people who stay up late.
Generation Z is a special generation in China. Compared to their parents, they have a different consumption concept and are usually in a better financial position than previous generations since they also have support from their parents. Wining their heart is not an easy thing but certainly worthy of considerable time and investment.
