老实说，我真的消费“降级”了……丨夜听双语

今年听的最多的两个词就是消费升级和消费降级。

前者火的时候好像所有人突然一下子就都在用旗舰智能手机，喝精酿啤酒，买神仙水，敷前男友面膜，或者说走就走去了北欧4国。

又好像没过多久，一线城市的年轻人们又说茶杯里泡的是枸杞，吃的是街头巷尾的沙县拉面鸡米饭，用的手机摔烂了屏也没换，上面还下载了拼多多。

这种忽穷忽富的魔幻现实感。有外媒报道说：

Chinese consumers are increasingly engaged in buying overseas imported products through online channels, and it has been widely interpreted as a sign of consumption upgrade happening in China. Amid discussion of the Chinese online consumers, the phenomenal popularity of Pin Duo Duo, a social e-commerce known for unbelievable low price and bargain, drives people to question the real purchase power of Chinese consumers. (Azoya)

中国消费者越来越喜欢网购海淘进口商品，这一现象也常被解释成消费升级的表现。就在关于中国线上消费者的讨论中，社交电商拼多多凭借超低价格的商品迅速蹿红，这也催生了对于中国消费者真实购买力的质疑。

The 'consumption downgrade' argument, boasted by media from newspapers to WeChat official accounts, says that Chinese customers are less willing to pay for over-priced products. Pin Duo Duo (PDD), a mash-up of social and e-commerce, amassed over 200 million users within 2 years, was labeled as the leader of 'consumption downgrade'.  (Azoya)

“消费降级”的论调老是被纸媒和微信公号提起，说是中国消费者们越来越不愿意为价格过高的产品买单。社交电商拼多多在短短的前两年发展时间内就聚集了2亿用户，它也被当做是“消费降级”的先锋。

拼多多被说成是消费降级的源头。但消费降级真的意味着消费者们在产品质量上的妥协吗？

Sorgem Advance在文章中提到：

While the consumption upgrading in China – people are looking for high-end products of premium quality, consumption downgrade is happening at the same time. It is about looking for the most reasonable price, paying for the most appropriate product, spending rationally, and living smartly.

中国的消费升级——人们追逐质量过硬的高端产品——如火如荼之时，消费降级也在同步发生。消费者们寻求的是最合理的价格，最合适的产品，理性消费，聪明生活。

This evolution is especially evident among 2 groups within the population: young consumers with limited financial resources and utility-driven consumers living outside the 1st tier cities. These people tend to buy cellphones from the domestic brand Xiao Mi (小米) with only 1/3 of the price of an iPhone, workout using training APPs such as Keep instead of paying for a personal trainer in an actual gym, and use group shopping APPs such as Pin Duo Duo to get a good bargain by joining more people they know into buying the same product.

这场演变在两大群体上尤为明显：一是财务资源上受限的年轻消费者，二是一线城市之外的那些实用至上的消费者。这些人倾向于购买国产品牌的手机，像是小米的手机就只有一台iPhone价格的三分之一；健身锻炼就会用Keep这样的应用，而通常不会去健身房请私教；他们可能还会用拼多多之类的拼团应用团购商品，人越多折扣越好。

上文说消费降级的两大主力军之一是财务上比较受限的年轻消费者，说白了就是穷学生和穷白领。

估计是一二线城市的高房租、高物价让人重拾“勤俭节约”的美德。

Many Chinese are cutting conspicuous consumption – lavish spending to indicate social prestige – and are turning to cheaper substitutes. (SCMP)

很多中国人都开始削减那些明显过高的开支——为了彰显社会地位的奢侈花费——转而购买更便宜的替代品。

Shen Weipeng is a 29-year-old trust manager in Beijing, working in one of the highest-paid vocations in China. His after-tax income last year was about 260,000 yuan. (SCMP)

29岁的沈为鹏在北京做信托经理，这是中国高收入职业之一。他去年的税后收入大概有26万元人民币。

He decided to cut his spending this year by replacing his favorite cocktail with water, cancelling a planned trip to Europe and sticking with his current mobile phone even though the screen is badly cracked. (SCMP)

今年他却打算削减开支，放弃爱喝的鸡尾酒转而喝白水，去欧洲的既定旅程也取消了，手机屏幕烂了也还是一直用着不打算换。