China's Gen Z will lead the shift towards a more sustainable lifestyle

Market research shows that Chinese Gen Z is directing their consumption in a more responsible direction, focusing on recycling and second hand.

• Chinese Gen Z, i.e. the age group between 11 and 28 years old, is the most attractive market segment at the moment.
• A survey conducted by Vogue Business has highlighted how this generation is embracing the values ​​of environmental and social sustainability as a whole and is making its consumption guided by these.
• Recycling, reuse and second hand are cool for young Chinese who alternate luxury shopping with good practices.

There Chinese Gen Z, made up of people born between 1995 and 2012, represents 15 percent of the country's total population which amounts, according to the latest available data, to 1 billion and 426 million people.We are therefore talking about a segment that at least counts 213 million individuals. Even just by eye, it's not difficult to understand why this is there market share that is currently the most attractive for companies and, above all, the one that will be able to shift the consumption of the future.If so many young minds, all together, decide to orient their life choices and consumption in one direction, it is understandable that they have the strength to drive the rest of the market.Good news for sustainable fashion.

Less is more, says China's Gen Z

The good news is that the relationship these 213 million people have with the environment is changing in a favorable direction.An investigation conducted by Vogue Business highlighted the common personality traits of Chinese Gen Z consumers:The 42.3 percent of them are willing to give priority to purchasing products that they can be recycled several times, the 79 percent is open to purchasing products second hand but, above all, the 54 percent of young people between 18 and 24 believe they have one clear and accurate understanding of sustainability issues.

Four personalities emerge among young Asians:who has one sustainable lifestyle (27 percent of those interviewed), those who shop sustainably (28 percent), those for the moment has put purchases on standby (33 percent) and those who don't (12 percent).Generation Z in China is also rebelling against the excesses of consumerism and is taking an approach less is more.Time has reported an investigation conducted by the consultancy firm Mintel Group Ltd which highlights how consumers born after 1995 are diverting their consumption towards experiences, more than towards other consumption categories such as clothing.

Young people looking for eco-friendly brands and plant-based materials

Just over a quarter, 27 percent, of Chinese Gen Z consumers said they actively take steps to reduce its environmental impact and its own imprint of CO2, recycling and consuming less.Many of them have returned from a period of study abroad, where they were influenced by the dissemination of sustainability issues in universities.For this reason, young people are constantly looking for brands most popular ecological ones, from sustainable sports shoes to luxury bags in vegetable leather, up to biodegradable tableware and plant-based drinks, in a sort of sustainability win-win:do something good for the environment and be “cool” at the same time.

However, there is also a not-so-trivial segment of consumers, the 33 percent, which is aware of sustainability issues, but at the same time appears reluctant to put this awareness into practice through consistent purchasing behavior.However, the Vogue Business survey also includes encouraging data:The 67 percent of those interviewed recognize the need to carry forward sustainable values and believes that changing consumer attitudes are a primary criterion for the industry of the future.58 percent also have a conceptual mentality and believe that it is right to focus on the social impact of sustainability choices, which translates into a practical commitment to purchasing behavior.

For Chinese Gen Z, rCycling and reusing is cool

Ethical beliefs are very powerful and can also influence our perception regarding aesthetics;they manage to make something appear desirable to us because it fits with our values.For example, if we are happy to be identified as responsible consumers, it will not be a burden to pay a premium for something we know is environmentally and socially ethical.Chinese Gen Z, for example, attributes a high aesthetic value to recycled products and recognizes a emotional value to circular business models, as well as taking into consideration in their purchases the creative value of reuse tools such asupcycling.An example is HowBottle, the Chinese brand that produces clothes and accessories made from recycled plastic bottles, who collaborated with the dairy brand Zhao Ri Wei Pin in the creation of an upcycling laboratory where consumers have reused yogurt boxes and plastic packaging to convert them into accessories such as earrings and bags.The brand's Denim Futures initiative Fabrica in Hong Kong, however, hosted an eight-month workshop to teach consumers how to make coasters from jeans used.

The stooping to the conquest of China

The term stooping it was actually invented, and became popular, in the United States.It refers to the custom of collect objects, generally for furniture but not only, abandoned on the street and reported to the community through social networks (there are profiles dedicated to stooping in almost all Italian cities).The verb comes from stoop, the English word for landing or entrance. Garbage picking is art is a profile that, on the Chinese social media Douban, boasts more than 62 thousand members who are dedicated to actively spreading the culture of stooping, which is becoming an identity for those who also have respect for the environment among their reference values.

The type of approach to this scale of values, practice it stooping or buy second hand in China it is very transversal:the young people active in stooping are perhaps the same ones who buy luxury brand.The movement is rapidly gaining traction.Since last summer, on the app Xiaohong Shu groups were formed stoopers in more than 12 Chinese cities and the posts indicating abandoned things total millions of views.The forecasts about the Chinese second-hand market they estimate that this will pass by 300 billion yuan ($42 billion) in 2015 a 3 trillion yuan by 2025.

Consumer education is a winning strategy

Asian consumers are tired of the greenwashing:to be successful in the responsible lifestyle market there are in fact companies that have made the radical sincerity their flag and who dedicate themselves to educational activities for their customers.An example is the beauty brand HerBeast which took over part of the East Beijing Hotel from June to August, rearranging the hall and gym spaces as exhibition and experiential areas to tell the storyethical nature of its ingredients and its commitment to sustainability.The event was much more far-reaching Shan Future Forum 2023, supported by maison like Louis Vuitton and from Italian holding company OTB (which includes, among others, Diesel and Marni), which organized discussions on climate changes, the loss of biodiversity and the regenerative fashion they have witnessed beyond 2 million viewers connected in streaming.Last October Prada he instead collaborated with UNESCO China to host the traveling exhibition Ocean and climate village in Qingdao, in the eastern province of Shandong, where he presented the project dedicated to the oceans Sea beyond.