Author | Jingyi Li
Editor | Junjie Wang
Source | Vogue Business (ID: VogueBusinessChina)
More and more young people are fascinated by plants.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771510628353.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771510628353.png"/> Image source: Taobao / Oasis Plant Studio
According to the &#34;Flower and Gardening Consumption Trend Report&#34; released by Taobao Tmall last March, there are currently over 100 million users purchasing gardening plants and related supplies on the platform, with a nearly 40-60 ratio of male to female consumers, and those aged 30 to 49 account for more than 60%. Green plants, once considered a hobby exclusive to middle-aged and elderly people, have now become a new favorite among young people.
On social media platforms, these plant-loving young people identify themselves as &#34;plant youth&#34; and actively share their green plant daily lives and cultivation experiences. For example, on Xiaohongshu, the related topic tags #GreenPlants and #IndoorPlants have surpassed 1.86 billion and 610 million views respectively, highlighting the popularity of green plants in the lives of contemporary young people. The rise of this trend has also led to the explosive growth of online green plant shops and plant influencers, with the potential of the green plant economy being continuously explored.
 Image source: Xiaohongshu
So, why have young people started to become obsessed with raising green plants? From &#34;forbidden banana green&#34; potted plants to green plant peripheral products, what kind of &#34;healing&#34; effect do they have in high-pressure urban environments? What business opportunities are reflected behind consumers' plant preferences?
<h3>Raising green plants has become a trend among young people, and the high &#34;aesthetic plant&#34; economy is also rising simultaneously</h3>
Huang Nan, an illustrator living in Guangzhou, is a true &#34;plant youth.&#34;
To decorate her home, Huang Nan first entered a flower market and became acquainted with various plants. Starting with the purpose of documenting plant growth, she gradually integrated her love for plants into her illustration creations, eventually establishing her own illustration studio, &#34;Plant Path Art Studio.&#34;
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770801790977.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770801790977.jpg"/> Image source: Xiaohongshu @Plant Path Art Studio
&#34;My phone album might only be carefully flipped through when clearing memory, but if I draw it, I will always see it, so I started drawing plants, preserving them through drawing when each of my plants grows to my favorite stage,&#34; Huang Nan told us. The plant illustration posts she shares on Xiaohongshu have attracted over 2,000 followers and nearly 5,000 likes
In addition to sharing on online self-media platforms, Huang Nan has also established connections with more plant enthusiasts by participating in offline markets. According to her, most of the followers of her plant illustrations and related products are university students and newcomers in the workplace aged 20 to 30, as well as many &#34;flower friends&#34; who pay attention to her work. These enthusiasts often resonate with each other during events by discussing care experiences and plant issues, thus forming a unique &#34;plant community.&#34;
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770717904898.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770717904898.jpg"/> Image source: Xiaohongshu @Plant Path Art Studio
Similar to Huang Nan, Hu Haha, a senior plant practitioner, has also felt that the consumer group for plants has become increasingly younger in recent years. She runs a plant studio and, based on her insights into consumers, states, &#34;The consumer group for plants is now skewed towards younger ages, with higher aesthetic demands and more detailed consumption requirements.&#34;
The younger demographic has shown a &#34;new aesthetic&#34; in plant consumption. Hu Haha refers to the &#34;plant youth&#34; as &#34;aesthetic plant youth&#34; because they have higher aesthetic demands for plants, expecting a wider variety of choices and more significant growth changes to gain positive emotional value. For example, compared to traditional potted plants like asparagus fern and orchids, &#34;tuberous plants&#34; and &#34;tropical plants&#34; are the preferred choices for young people, creating a gap between new market demands and old supplies.
Willingness to spend high prices on new varieties of plants is also one of the characteristics of young people. Chen Xin (@Cross-legged Escape Heart) a plant enthusiast and home blogger on Xiaohongshu, tells us, &#34;Nowadays, keeping plants feels more like a trendy lifestyle. Popular plants like flower candles, begonias, creeping fig, colorful taro, and hoya are mostly tropical plants, and some varieties are even introduced to the country at high prices.&#34;
Chen Xin points out that many &#34;plant youth&#34; are very willing to spend high prices on the latest varieties, pairing them with matching pots and home decor to create a natural, comfortable, and relaxed home atmosphere. According to the second-hand platform Xianyu, the price of a pot of orange-handled variegated creeping fig ranges from 200 yuan to over 10,000 yuan, and the &#34;variegated&#34; leaves in potted plants can even be priced per piece.
As social platforms further promote this trend, the diversified development of plants is deeply integrated with the lifestyles of young people. For example, Xiaohongshu previously launched the &#34;Plant Fashion Week&#34; event, inviting plant enthusiasts and brand merchants to share plant stories and outfit inspirations, combining plants with fashion culture. At this point, plants have become not just a part of indoor decoration but a lifestyle that combines healing, aesthetics, and emotional value, showcasing its commercial potential in multiple fields.
<h3>Is the &#34;plant craze&#34; a gentle resistance of young people to fast-paced, high-pressure lives?</h3>
In Huang Nan's view, plants play a role in life that can heal, release, and relax, while also containing powerful vitality. This unique charm makes the plant lifestyle a new choice for modern urban dwellers seeking physical and mental balance. In recent years, as people face challenges such as economic downturn pressures and social uncertainties, their attention to emotional value and physical and mental health has significantly increased, giving rise to a diversified &#34;healing economy.&#34;
According to predictions from the Global Health Institute, the global healing economy is currently growing at a rate of 10% per year, with a market size expected to reach USD 7 trillion by 2025 and USD 8.47 trillion by 2027. In China, the healing market size reached RMB 5.26 billion in 2022, and the market size for general mental health services in China is expected to reach RMB 10.41 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 34.5%.
In the context of the healing economy, we can see the rise of various subfields, such as last year's outdoor camping craze, wellness hotels focusing on physical and mental relaxation, and the popular singing bowl meditation experiences among urban populations. These experiences meet consumers' needs to escape stress and seek tranquility through deep connections with nature and immersive physical relaxation.
In contrast, nurturing green plants emphasizes a sense of &#34;companionship,&#34; and compared to pets, which can also provide companionship, green plants are clearly a lower-cost and lower-burden healing choice, making them more suitable for the energy-limited younger demographic.
Chen Xin stated, &#34;Plant care can meet different needs of different people because, comparatively, its maintenance investment is more flexible: one can spend time on meticulous care every day or water them every few days with a more relaxed approach. Plants have strong vitality, and seeing them grow at any time can be encouraging and uplifting.&#34;
In an era of advanced digitalization, this sensory enjoyment derived from nature, which is real and vibrant, appears particularly precious.
In a book titled &#34;Urban Jungle: Plant Lifestyle and Style,&#34; the author Judith de Graaff describes: &#34;As more and more young people live in cramped rental apartments in cities, the simplest way to stay connected with nature is to grow plants indoors, which has also become another option for young people to express emotions and alleviate anxiety, aside from pets.&#34;
Moreover, potted plants tangibly resonate with the current living conditions of people, creating a sense of &#34;resonance&#34; among contemporary urban dwellers.
From a spiritual perspective, &#34;plant-based youth&#34; may also refer to young people who maintain calmness and restraint in the fast-paced and high-pressure modern life, focusing on inner growth and achieving a balance between work and life (Work-Life Balance). Gaining peace and happiness through interaction with plants, thereby approaching an ideal life and self, is perhaps a gentle resistance of contemporary youth against the fast-paced, high-pressure lifestyle.
<h3>Starting from Green Plants, Layout a Larger Healing Economy Landscape</h3>
Against the backdrop of ongoing economic downturns, this &#34;green plant craze&#34; shows a trend of continuing to spread widely, pointing brands toward a new round of potential consumption upgrades.
On one hand, with the help of digital media, green plants are gradually evolving from simple decorative tools into carriers of social and cultural expression, giving rise to a series of new business formats and new cultures. An example is the Super Plant Company, incubated by the &#34;Datiancrop&#34; design studio, which allows plants to express emotions. This brand has created several plant products that have become popular on social platforms, including potted plants with homophonic names: &#34;Fang Qingsong&#34; misty pine ornament, &#34;Zhu Ding Hong&#34; soil-cultivated amaryllis, and &#34;Bu Li Bu Qi&#34; air pineapple can — these &#34;word games&#34; endow static plants with emotional significance, making them possess the basic elements for social dissemination
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771251449858.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771251449858.png"/> Image source: Xiaohongshu @Super Plants
The same logic is reflected in the co-branded bags launched last year with Songmont. Super Plants attempted to reinterpret the external aesthetics and internal meanings of pine trees using traditional Chinese painting styles and bag language, bringing joy, courage, and strength to women with the implication of &#34;making it easy for you.&#34; The allure of plants helps women feel a sense of freedom and vastness in the busy urban life.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771560960001.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771560960001.png"/> Image source: Songmont
The British toy brand Jellycat has launched a green plant series of plush toys, including cacti, monstera, welcoming pines, tulips, and more. Some netizens have referred to this series as &#34;plants that even plant killers can keep,&#34; satisfying young people's pursuit of a cozy home and successfully expanding the brand from plush toys to home decor. On Xiaohongshu, the related topic #Jellycat Potted Plants has over 13.358 million views and more than 70,000 discussions.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771036672002.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122771036672002.png"/> Image source: Jellycat
Another approach is to utilize the healing effects, cultural attributes, and ecological significance of plants, focusing on the output of brand concepts without involving the sale of specific commercial products. For example, the local sustainable fashion brand Klee Klee has created a &#34;grass shop&#34; in its store at Shanghai's Shangsheng New Place, collecting common local plants, especially from the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai regions, and creating a green comprehensive space that combines aesthetics and functionality through design, culture, and greenery.
Meanwhile, luxury brand Prada launched the &#34;Seed Project&#34; in the fall/winter of 2023, distributing plant seeds in limited quantities across multiple cities during a three-day event to deepen emotional connections with consumers. The incorporation of plants effectively amplifies the brand's sustainable respect for nature concept.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770353868801.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770353868801.jpg"/><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770621435906.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1892122770621435906.jpg"/> Image source: Prada
These cases indicate that green plants have deeply participated in shaping lifestyles, providing brands with richer ways to reach consumers. The &#34;green plant craze&#34; is not just a temporary trend, but an important lever for brands to explore emotional economy and healing consumption.
As a part of the &#34;healing economy,&#34; green plants are evolving from single functional consumer goods to deeper emotional consumption. From the application of natural elements for inspiration to deeply immersive experiential scenarios, how to use green plants as a starting point to create products and services with long-term appeal will be key to building differentiated competitive advantages for brands.
This article is reproduced from Vogue Business (ID: VogueBusinessChina) with authorization. All rights reserved by Vogue Business. No translation or reproduction is allowed without permission.
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As young people's love for greenery continues to rise, brands are beginning to explore emotional economy and healing consumption. According to a report from Taobao Tmall, over 100 million users have purchased gardening plants on the platform, with those aged 30 to 49 accounting for more than 60%. On social media platforms, the view counts of related topics also indicate the popularity of greenery in young people's lives. This trend has driven the rise of online plant shops and influencers, showcasing the potential of the greenery economy

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