A recent study conducted by global market researcher Mintel revealed that the anxiety of Chinese people about city pollution reflects their increasing demand for products that can protect them from such environmental trouble.
For its Consumer Trends 2015 study, Mintel surveyed consumers from first- and second-tier cities and analyzed the movement of fast-moving consumer goods. With inputs from its market analysts, the company was able to identify four megatrends in consumer consumption of goods.
According to Ailsa Gu, the company's insights manager in North Asia, consumers will buy more wearable devices and smart home appliances, will highly consider online purchases for quick gratification, will rely more in crowdsourcing when making purchase decisions, and will have growing interest in products that offer detoxification and protection from pollution.
The emerging trend in pollution-protective products was supported by data which specifically pointed that 47 percent of Chinese adults aged 20 to 49 worry about contracting a disease due to the polluted environment. Further, 38 percent have fear of acquiring respiratory diseases, while 56 worry about getting food-borne diseases.
Mintel suggested that businesses could tap into this trend. For instance, food manufacturers should mention "pollution-free" sources in their marketing, or better yet highlight their original source.
"In advertising, we will see more initiatives like billboards that fight pollution as well as home, office and even shop frontages made from materials that absorb carbon, reflect heat or absorb light to reflect it at night," said a conclusion from the study.
Major cities in China have been plagued by thick smog in the recent months. Although the government declared a so-called "war on pollution," partly due to APEC 2014 conducting in Beijing, air pollution continues and remains to be a major concern among the public.