No “ice cream assassins” on college campuses?

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Text / Lu Li

Source/Zinc Scale (ID: znkedu)

At the time of summer, the popularity of “ice cream assassin” remains high.

Today, when major anchors and various marketing accounts are frantically bringing goods, consumers, especially the special consumer group of college students, also have their own opinions on food consumption.

It is said that “ice cream assassins” can be seen everywhere in major convenience stores such as Lawson and 711. Is it also favored by stores on college campuses? In the face of a campus environment with a large number of consumer groups, in the summer full of ice cream, are there “ice cream assassins” on college campuses?

Zinc scale found that with the emergence of “ice cream assassins”, “ice cream literature” also appeared among college students. For example, on the social media Xiaohongshu, the related topic of “ice cream literature” received 3.557 million hits, and some netizens claimed that “if you have no culture, you are ashamed to speak in the comment area!” It reflects the attitude of college students towards “assassins”.

Ice cream priced at 2~5 yuan is the favorite of college students

A school is a small society, and college students play an important role in driving school consumption. On the one hand, the demand of students is the weather vane of various products sold in the school supermarket; on the other hand, the problems reflected by the students’ consumption situation can also reflect the school’s governance and management to a certain extent.

During the investigation, Zinc Scale contacted Liu Xiaogang, a business executive who has opened six small supermarkets on three campuses of a university. It is understood that the supermarket was established in 2003 and has been in operation for 19 years. Most supermarkets are set up near teaching buildings, dormitories, and libraries, which are closely related to student life and study. The supermarket sells various categories such as snacks, bread, daily necessities, and stationery.

When talking about the “ice cream assassin”, Xiaogang said: “At present, we will not consider purchasing ‘expensive’ ice cream, we generally consider the more popular ones when purchasing, such as chocolate, glutinous rice cake, small pudding and Ruhe Luxue, Yili, Mengniu, Aoxue, Baxi and other categories are the cheapest. In addition, the most important thing is the needs of students.”

Most of the management and purchase of the supermarket is done by the students. According to Xiaogang, “We have a business license, and the prices are not controlled by the school, but will be adjusted according to the market. In other words, our prices are very close to the people. Yes, there are usually no complaints and other issues. For example, the most expensive ice cream is Menglong, which is 12 yuan a piece, but the purchase volume is very small.”

Zinc scale was found in another supermarket of the school. Most of the ice creams sold are cute, screw top cups, chocolates, and ice creams with a unit price between 2 yuan and 5 yuan, and there are clear prices on the freezer. .

In addition, Zinc Scale learned from a supermarket that sold “Zhong Xuegao” in another university, and the sales situation was not good due to the adjacent student dormitory. In addition, “Zhong Xuegao” is not sold in the education supermarket set up in the school, and Menglong is also at a higher price.

According to iiMedia Research Consulting survey data, consumption of food and daily necessities is the rigid consumption of college students’ life. Considering the average monthly living expenses of college students, the consumption of food and daily necessities generally accounts for about 50% of their overall living expenses. In addition, more than 60% of the surveyed college students mainly consider quality and price when shopping, and more than 40% will focus on promotions and brand awareness. iiMedia Research analysts believe that while Chinese college students are pursuing quality, they are also more sensitive to price and prefer products with high cost performance.

University is a half-open and half-closed environment, and it is really difficult to “expensive” ice cream on a university campus. For example, Zhang Yi, who has a monthly living allowance of 2,500 yuan, said: “I wouldn’t buy it if I had money. I’ll talk about it, but I won’t think about it!”

If Zhong Xuegao, who advertises his high quality, wants to stab the students, it will be more difficult in reality. The particularity of the student group makes campus consumption more inclined to the specific trend of affordable, affordable and value for money, and the reality of low demand also determines the sales trend of campus supermarkets.

On-site visits found that there are high-priced ice creams such as Zhong Xue Gao in supermarkets or convenience stores 50 meters away from the campus, but there are few or no ice creams on campus. demand and the practicality of campus marketing.

Therefore, the situation of the ice cream assassin on campus is self-evident.

Equity is on the left, “quality-price ratio” is on the right

The consumption concept of the campus group itself is a big real problem. When some people face damage to their rights and interests, they may only admit that they are “great grievances”, or comfort themselves that they are “spending money to buy lessons”.

For example, Liao Xueyi, who was studying at a university in Sichuan, was going to go to the supermarket a few days ago after taking the exam. “Ice cream is not priced, I thought it was cheap. I have seen so many ‘ice cream assassins’ illustrations, but I am still ‘assassinated’. “

It is true that this type of student group does exist, but Zinc Scale found during the survey that most college students pay special attention to the protection of self-rights, especially in food consumption.

For example, at a well-known campus blogger with 110,000 followers, a large number of appeals were found regarding the protection of the rights and interests of the students in food consumption. Among them, there were “4 nectarines of more than 30 yuan”. Another example is that the unit price of rake oranges rose from 6 yuan a pound to 10 yuan a pound during the school closure, and the campus canteen canteen marked the price indiscriminately, all of which showed the conflict of students’ interests and the disorderly price of campus commodities. defend. In addition, under the blogger’s Weibo, there are still students sharing their “rights protection” experiences from time to time, most of which are successful cases of rights protection such as “takeaway”, “spoiled food”, and “expired food”.

It is not difficult to see that in the context of transparent and open network information, and in the reality that consumer complaint channels such as 12315 and black cat complaints are convenient for the people, for college students of the “Internet generation”, they are motivated by themselves. The concept of consumption makes the consumption characteristics of “quality-price ratio” more prominent, and any consumption that is unfavorable to oneself will find a reasonable way to protect their rights. In addition, the school always puts the interests of the student group first, and students can protect their rights through school teachers and relevant departments, and the handling method is also easier.

The pronouns of various assassins derived from “ice cream assassins” have appeared one after another. In fact, they can all be attributed to the loss of rights and interests as consumers.

In fact, the experience of Zhong Xuegao’s “assassin” positioning is similar. Only when the marketing value is placed on the consumer’s foothold, such as the price of the product, can the consumer’s right to purchase be fully respected.

With the hot discussion of “Ice Cream Assassin”, Xiaohongshu blogger “Eating, Drinking and Dropping the Scales” has compiled a guide on “Ice Cream Assassin” and “Ice Cream Bodhisattva”, with 43,000 likes.

Even if there are “most” who reluctantly buy, there are also brave people who insist on saying “no”. Under the trend of the times in the economic downturn, college students who defend their rights and interests mostly choose to “attack hard.”

In addition to the renewal and upgrading of consumption concepts, the source of funds for college students also makes consumption choices affect the popularity of “ice cream assassins” in colleges and universities.

According to the ranking of college students’ living expenses released by Yunxiansheng on April 29, the average monthly living cost of college students is 1200~1500 yuan, and most parents will take this value of 1500 yuan, so that students can maintain a normal living standard. “Of course, the situation varies from place to place.

In addition to the normal social, shopping, eating and other necessary issues, most students generally prefer “value for money” items. Living expenses are a support point for college students to make consumption choices. Student needs affect campus needs, and campus needs can reflect the consumption situation of the entire campus. Not to mention that Zhong Xuegao is “popular” in first- and second-tier cities, but in most campuses, the popularity of “ice cream assassins” is very small.

It can be seen that it is not easy to leverage the money in the hands of students.

Cutting-edge consumption concept “out of the circle”?

Food is consumed, not so-called art.

“There is no clear price tag” is still in the gray area of ​​daily consumption, and more needs to be promoted by consensus.

Previously, some netizens ridiculed Zhong Xuegao for his role in “curing social fears.” Of course, it took a certain amount of courage to say “I don’t want it!” to the store because the price was too high. For example, Liu Huan, who went to a university in Jiangsu, said: “I might be embarrassed to say no to 10 yuan ice cream, but once I heard the clerk say 28 yuan ice cream, I firmly said, ‘I don’t want it!’, at that moment , I feel like I am possessed by a ‘social cow’.”

“Social fear” is indeed a “different living state” that most young groups accompany in modern society. It may be the influence of the post-epidemic era, or it may be the difference in their own quality. But in most cases, when faced with harming their own interests, “assassins” are often embarrassed.

According to the survey, modern consumer groups tend to be diversified and rational. Just like the 88VIP launched by Tmall on May 26 during the 618 period, when 88VIP did not participate in the discounts on mobile phones and air conditioners, consumers “grouped to attack”, forcing the sky The cat changed the relevant policy on the second day. Therefore, the current younger generation is not a lamb to be fed, but a defender of “interests” who are always thinking of themselves.

In addition, the definition of “ice cream assassin” inevitably leads people to jump into a so-called “consumerism trap”. For example, in some specific occasions, ice cream has added value, thus contributing to its “embarrassment” and “popular” situation. For example, Yang Qing from a certain university said: “If my girlfriend needs it, I’m willing to buy her expensive ones. But she won’t choose expensive ones.”

It can be seen that the “high price” of “Ice Cream Assassin”, in addition to those so-called “high-end” ingredients, there are many additional value help. But whether the added value can be realized is still a question mark.

Previous studies have found that college students have the habit of spending ahead of time, but most students are not interested in “ice cream assassins” because they do not have a fixed source of income and their focus is mainly on learning. For college students, their own rights and their actual situation are the most worthy of consideration.

Under the influence of the “ice cream assassin”, there is also the curiosity of young people. For example, Gong Mei from a university in Zhejiang talked about her consumption concept: “I have heard of ‘ice cream assassin’, and I am very curious about whether Zhong Xuegao’s taste is as good as the online one. And just graduated and has his own job, So I boldly bought one a few days ago to try it out.” It is true that there are certain marketing points for curiosity, but price considerations are still the first factor that most students should consider.

It is the consensus of most students to move when they hear “price”; it is also the attitude of most students to change their color when they talk about “assassin”.

In general, the majority of college students today are post-00s, and they have a more rational and self-interested tendency to treat consumption in the Z era. Content omni-channel management, the characteristics of the online generation, the stratification of consumption circles and the new consumption concept are gradually coming out of the circle under the continuous promotion of the times. It is undeniable that the consumption “power” of the college students group exists, but at the same time, various marketing The formulation of the method still needs to take into account the existence of this special group.

After all, not all products like “Zhong Xuegao” can be circulated on campus, and the backlash of consuming “new power” should not be underestimated.

(In order to protect the privacy of the respondents, Liu Xiaogang, Liao Xueyi, Xie Wanwan, Zhang Yi, Liu Huan, Yang Qing and Gong Mei are all pseudonyms in this article)

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