Feelings are more Authentic
than Logic
For the Chinese generation-z girls’ group, personal emotions seem to be more authentic than rational logic. This may be one of the reasons why this group believes that "young people behave more authentically than their elders":
Most of the participants indicated that they lacked emotional communication with their elders when they were growing up. Different participants talked about their elders requesting them by different standards, but their experiences were similar: the elders were more likely to tell them “What should be done" and "what should not be done", and rarely communicated with them about personal emotions or feelings. This made them thought that the opinions of their elders were not convincing and authentic.
For example, one participant said that her mother told her more than once about the view of marriage requirements, namely, what kind of person she should marry to avoid the failure of the marriage experienced by her mother. She believed that her mother's view was not authentic, because it was “too idealistic”, and her mother did not consider her real feelings as a person.
This is related to China's traditional cultural background. Traditional Chinese culture places the older generation in the position of opinion leaders, believing that the older generation has more experience and knowledge. Under this ethical requirement, the older generation may be ashamed of equal communication with the younger group.
In addition, China implemented the one-child policy from 1980 to 2015, which caused most Chinese generation-z girls to grow up with no siblings. Due to the lack of communicators to discuss individual feelings, most participants indicated that they desire emotional resonance, and they pay more attention to personal feelings.
For the above two reasons, compare to being convinced by authority,
this group desires and believes in emotional communication more,
and they believe that the latter is more authentic.
In fact, from the survey, I found that the posts from Little Red Book from which participants thought were more authentic mostly contained emotional/receptive phrases, such as "too beautiful", "too funny", "love..." and swear words. The participants said that the reason they thought the posts were authentic was that they could "perceive the emotions from bloggers."
These participants all expressed that they were more likely to share their daily life and feelings on social media with the younger generation of netizens. They believe that authenticity and self-identity can be glimpsed from sharing and communicating.
What brands need to do: Abandon God's perspective
As professional teams, brands often place themselves in the position of opinion leaders. "Guide consumers what is worth buying/fashionable/professional, etc." can show the brand's professionalism and authority, but for Chinese generation-z girls, it is obvious that empathy and emotional appeal may be better weapons to improve authenticity. Of course, authority is also a kind of brand value, but it is about another topic.
In fact, from the workshop, I verified this point of view: I showed two series of slogans, one series with emotion and another series without emotion, and then asked the participants to express their feelings.
For razor brands:
1. Slogan with emotions: “Our blades are f***ing great.”
2. Slogan without emotions: “Give the greatest blades a try.”
For office supply brands:
1. Slogan with emotions: "That was easy."
2. Slogan without emotions: “Help to simplify things.”
For map apps:
1. Slogan with emotions: “Not afraid of getting lost.”
2. Slogan without emotions: “We will guide you there.”
After discussion, the participants agreed that the emotional slogan would make them more aware of the brand authenticity. "I would like to learn more about the first brand because I feel they are more like real people." One participant said. Another participant thought, "The second type of slogan makes me feel the authority of brands, but the first type of brands is more like a friend."
Interestingly, one participant thought that all brands were the result of deliberate marketing strategy, so she did not trust any brands. However, she also stated that the first type of slogan made her perceive that the brands were trying to understand consumers, so she believed that the first type of brands was more sincere.
For brands, if they want to show authenticity, they must first understand the authenticity of consumers themselves. Chinese generation-z girls obviously want to be regarded by brands as "human beings" with feelings, not just "consumers".
Therefore, abandoning the perspective of God
and communicating with humans (instead of the word “consumers”)
may mean the beginning of authenticity.
Instead of letting consumers listen to you, let them feel your sincerity.