The current understanding of "investment" among young people is undergoing a shift. Traditional investment pursues asset appreciation and risk hedging, whereas emotional value investment places greater emphasis on emotional satisfaction, psychological comfort, and self-expression. It may not have financial returns as its sole objective, yet under specific conditions, it can also possess potential for circulation, value preservation, and even appreciation.
From trendy blind box toys to IP merchandise, from healing-themed cultural and creative products to digital emotional assets, these emotionally-driven consumption and collection behaviors are gradually evolving into niche segments with a certain market scale and community consensus.
**The Rise of Emotional Consumption: From Functional Purchases to Emotional Allocation**
A report titled "Resilient Growth: A Panoramic Report on the Lives of Chinese Youth in 2025," released by the Shanghai Youth Research Center, indicates that nearly 90% of surveyed youth have paid for emotional value, with nearly 40% being frequent consumers. 46.8% of youth view emotional consumption as a way to relieve stress and anxiety, while 43.1% gain a sense of "being needed and seen" through such spending. The average monthly expenditure on emotional consumption among youth has reached 949 yuan, with 18.1% willing to spend over 2,000 yuan monthly on emotional value.
Data from iMedia Research corroborates this trend: in 2024, the market size of China's emotional economy reached approximately 2.3 trillion yuan and is projected to exceed 4.5 trillion yuan by 2029. Sectors such as trendy toys, fragrances, the pet economy, and immersive experience consumption are developing in parallel, collectively forming the industrial landscape of the emotional economy.
In this process, emotional consumption is also transitioning from "instant gratification" to "asset accumulation." When young people begin to view POP MART's hidden editions as "quasi-assets with circulation potential" and limited-edition prints as collectibles with both aesthetic and value-preserving functions, emotional consumption has already crossed into the realm of investment. It is precisely in this process that emotional consumption begins to connect with investment logic.
**Trendy Toys and IP Collectibles: The Core Vehicles of Emotional Value Investment**
Trendy toys and IP collectibles are the most representative categories within emotional value investment. The "China Trendy Toys and Animation Industry Development Report (2024)" compiled by the National Academy of Economic Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences points out that the total value of China's trendy toy industry is expected to climb to 110.1 billion yuan by 2026, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 20%. In 2024, the market size for "goods" (a transliteration of the English word, specifically referring to merchandise like badges, standees, and keychains derived from anime, gaming, and novel IPs) reached 168.9 billion yuan, an increase of over 40% compared to the previous year.
From the corporate perspective, the performance growth of leading companies is particularly notable. POP MART achieved revenue of 13.04 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 106.9%, with adjusted net profit reaching 3.4 billion yuan, up 185.9% year-on-year. BLOKS achieved revenue of 2.241 billion yuan the same year, a 155.6% increase. Card game leader KAYOU reported revenue of 10.057 billion yuan, a surge of 277.8%, and is currently preparing for a Hong Kong stock market listing. According to Qichacha data, as of the end of May 2025, there were 22,300 domestic companies related to trendy toys, with new registrations in the first four months of 2025 increasing by 42.3% year-on-year.
iMedia Research survey data shows that 40.83% of consumers consider "having appreciation potential and the ability to resell for profit on the secondary market" as a primary reason for purchasing trendy toys. This indicates that trendy toys are transitioning from purely emotional consumer goods to collectible assets with financial attributes. Taking POP MART's Labubu series as an example, some items with an official price of 99 yuan have seen multiples of their price in premiums on secondary platforms during stock shortages, with even higher premiums for certain collaborative or limited editions. Platforms like Xianyu and Dewu provide the main secondary circulation channels for such collectibles. Although the price formation mechanisms remain immature, they are beginning to exhibit some characteristics of alternative asset trading.
From an investment logic perspective, the value support for trendy toy collectibles primarily stems from three aspects: first, the scarcity and cultural recognition of the IP, where the sense of scarcity created by limited and hidden editions forms the basis for price premiums; second, community consensus and liquidity, where active secondary trading platforms provide an exit channel for collectibles; third, emotional added value, where the pleasure and sense of belonging derived from the act of collecting itself constitute "non-financial returns" not found in traditional investments.
However, the risks in this market are also evident. IP popularity is difficult to predict, price fluctuations lack fundamental support, and liquidity heavily depends on community sentiment. In 2025, the Labubu series in the domestic market repeatedly experienced situations where restocks sold out immediately, leading to prolonged shortages in the primary market, noticeable resale markups by scalpers, and growing consumer aversion to excessive speculation.
**The Expansion of Niche Sectors: Healing Cultural Creations and Emotional Connection Assets**
Beyond trendy toys, emotional value investment also encompasses a range of more niche categories. From physical handmade items to virtual emotional assets, these areas are experiencing rapid expansion.
* **Healing Cultural Creations and Experiential Handmade Goods**
Products like handmade scented candles, limited-edition prints by independent illustrators, and handmade ceramic ware are forming a collection market centered on "emotional healing" as a selling point. Such products typically possess strong handmade attributes and the personal style of the creator, with their value assessment closer to the logic of art rather than industrial consumer goods. Taking Jellycat (a British plush toy brand known for its anthropomorphic designs and highly collectible limited editions) as an example, this brand, which has gained popularity in the Chinese market in recent years, sees some of its popular or discontinued items command significant premiums in the secondary market, fostering active collection and exchange communities.
A more typical case is "Perler Beads" (also known as fused beads or pixel art, a handicraft activity where players arrange colored plastic beads on a pegboard to create patterns, then iron them to fuse). This handicraft game, originating in Sweden in the 1970s for elderly rehabilitation, has rapidly gained popularity among Chinese youth in recent years. Data released by Douyin Life Services for the 2026 Spring Festival consumption period showed that Perler Beads group purchase orders among Gen Z increased by a staggering 9,018% year-on-year. Data from Mog Insights shows that in 2025, Perler Beads sales on major e-commerce platforms reached 291 million yuan, with some institutions predicting the market size will approach 1 billion yuan in 2026. Taobao listed Perler Beads as one of its top ten products of 2025, with platform search volume increasing nearly 500% year-on-year.
The reason Perler Beads is representative in the emotional consumption sector is that it simultaneously satisfies two conditions: "low barrier to entry" and "high emotional return." Offline stores offer all-day experiences for 30 to 60 yuan, while purchasing materials online is even cheaper, with ordinary brand beads costing only 1.3-1.5 yuan per thousand beads. Compared to similar projects like silver jewelry DIY or pottery, which often have price tags of over a hundred yuan, Perler Beads can be considered the "cost-effective choice" for emotional consumption. A survey by China Youth Campus Media showed that 64.78% of respondents enjoy the focus and relaxation during the Perler Bead process. Perler Beads align with the "immersion and healing" emotional needs of young people, offering clearly visible results within hours. This "sense of certain achievement" effectively counteracts real-life anxiety and uncertainty.
Perler Beads also possess strong social attributes. On the Xiaohongshu platform, the topic "I've become addicted to Perler Beads" has garnered tens of billions of views; the "Perler Beads" topic on Douyin has exceeded hundreds of billions of plays. Finished Perler Bead creations by consumers can become everyday items like keychains, bag charms, or refrigerator magnets, merging "emotional value" and "practical value" within a single piece. In 2025, 6,558 new registered companies related to handmade goods were added nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 28.6%. The Perler Beads craze has also driven the operation of approximately 18,000 DIY craft studios across the country. MINISO began expanding its Perler Beads category in September 2025, with its 48-color portable kit launched in January 2026 experiencing explosive sales growth.
However, Perler Beads currently face issues related to copyright gray areas. A significant number of Perler Bead patterns involve unauthorized anime and game IP characters, posing potential risks regarding copyright compliance. Finding a balance between consumer creative freedom and IP rights protection will be key to the long-term healthy development of this sector.
From the perspective of emotional value investment, Perler Beads themselves do not possess the characteristics of a traditional "investment asset"—their finished products have limited liquidity, and a large-scale secondary market has not yet formed. However, the explosion of Perler Beads precisely illustrates that young people's willingness to pay for emotional value is already very strong. Once this willingness to pay combines with product forms that offer greater liquidity and scarcity, it may give rise to new categories of emotional value investment.
* **Digital Emotional Assets**
Emotional connection assets represent another direction. Virtual assets such as AI companions, virtual idol merchandise, and digital collectibles are becoming areas where young people invest both emotionally and financially. The "2025 Gen Z Emotional Consumption Report" jointly released by Soul APP and the Shanghai Youth Research Center shows that in the second quarter of 2025, content related to AI companions saw a 1,894-fold increase in posts and a 225,056-fold increase in searches within the Soul community year-on-year. Young people are not only willing to pay for digital content but are also beginning to pay for digitalized emotional relationships and companionship experiences. Although the issue of value anchoring for such assets remains unresolved, the underlying emotional demand is real.
* **Niche Community-Based Collectibles**
Niche collectible categories like independent music vinyl records, limited-edition physical game cartridges for indie games, handmade leather goods, and plant specimen art have also formed community-based trading ecosystems among young collectors. The common feature of these categories is that they do not aim for standardized financial returns but rather establish emotional connections between the "object" and the "person," completing self-expression and identity construction through the act of collecting.
Overall, healing cultural creations, experiential handmade goods, digital emotional assets, and niche community-based collectibles constitute the "long tail" of emotional value investment. Their individual market sizes may not be large, but together they point to a trend: young people's payment for emotional value is shifting from one-time consumption to sustained investment, and from pure instant gratification to consumption forms that combine experiential value with retainability.
**Risks and Boundaries: Emotional Assets Are Not Low-Risk Assets**
While emotional value investment has its unique appeal, its limitations as an investment category are also quite pronounced.
First, the lack of a valuation system is the most fundamental obstacle. Similar to the art market, emotional value assets lack transparent, open price discovery mechanisms and unified valuation standards. The secondary market price of a trendy toy can skyrocket or plummet due to a single viral social media post, making it difficult to establish stable risk assessment and return expectations. Although experiential consumer goods like Perler Beads have extremely low unit prices, their explosive growth also relies on social media propagation—once platform trends shift, offline stores and online supply chains may face the risk of a sudden drop in demand.
Second, liquidity risks also exist. The vast majority of secondary trading for emotional value assets relies on informal platforms and community circles, lacking institutionalized trading safeguards and exit mechanisms. Once the popularity of a specific IP or category wanes, holders may face a situation of "having a price but no market." Looking at the iteration speed from plaster dolls and fluid bears to Perler Beads in recent years, the window for each wave of "phenomenon-level" handmade consumption is not long, as markets driven by novelty naturally have high turnover rates.
Third, the risk of speculative hype has already emerged. The earlier experiment with art securitization trading (a model where a single artwork is split into standardized shares for public trading) conducted by the Tianjin Cultural Assets and Equity Exchange was halted due to price manipulation, valuation deviations, and improper trading mechanisms, becoming a negative case study in the domestic exploration of cultural asset financialization. The "scalper economy" surrounding some popular trendy toys is already showing similar signs. Without industry self-discipline and regulatory guidance, emotional value investment risks becoming a tool for speculation.
Fourth, copyright compliance risks cannot be ignored. Whether it's the widespread use of unauthorized IP patterns in the Perler Bead economy or the occasional circulation of counterfeit products in the secondary market for trendy toys, these issues indicate significant shortcomings in intellectual property protection within related industry chains. In 2026, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Work Plan for Accelerating the Cultivation of New Growth Points in Service Consumption," which explicitly supports the construction of new scenarios for emotional and experiential service consumption. However, regarding copyright norms and consumer rights protection, supporting systems still need improvement.
Furthermore, the inherent volatility of emotions themselves constitutes an internal contradiction for this category. The appeal of emotional value investment lies in emotional satisfaction, but emotional preferences are naturally fluctuating. An IP image that captivates today may no longer resonate tomorrow. This "aesthetic depreciation" is far more difficult to quantify and manage than physical depreciation.
From a wealth management perspective, emotional value investment is not suitable to be viewed as a core allocation asset. However, as an interest-driven, community-consensus-based supplementary category, it has begun to enter the asset horizon of some young investors.
**Future Outlook: How Will Emotional Needs Enter Wealth Management Systems?**
The rise of emotional value investment is rooted in the shifting values of the younger generation. For young people who have grown up in an era of relative material abundance but sustained mental pressure, the definition of "return" is no longer confined to numbers on a balance sheet but extends to psychological gain, community belonging, and self-identity. The "2025 Gen Z Emotional Consumption Report" shows that among surveyed youth, 56.3% chose "happy consumption, paying for emotional value/interests," an increase of 16.2 percentage points from 2024. This is not a temporary trend but a product of intergenerational shifts in consumption concepts.
For emotional value investment to move from a niche experiment to healthy development, progress is needed in several areas: establishing more transparent price reference systems, leveraging blockchain for rights confirmation and digital trading platforms to enhance asset traceability and circulation efficiency; fostering a rational collection culture, guiding young investors to establish basic risk awareness while enjoying emotional value; promoting industry self-discipline and standardized development to prevent excessive financialization and speculative hype from eroding the authentic value of emotional consumption; and encouraging cross-border integration and innovation to explore interface designs between emotional value assets and traditional financial instruments.
When a generation chooses to vote with real money for inner order and peace, this in itself is a market signal that needs to be taken seriously. Finding a balance between spiritual fulfillment and wealth management is both an individual challenge for young investors and a contemporary issue that the entire financial management market needs to address.