The first major female-focused shopping event of 2026, the "3·8 Grand Sale," has fully commenced, with brands racing to capture the emerging trends of emotional economy and self-care consumption.
In Li Jiaqi's live stream on February 25th, the first day of pre-sales, a Disney plush toy set nicknamed "lucky bag" by netizens sparked a buying frenzy. Due to overwhelming demand exceeding expectations, the live stream adopted an "instant link release" sales model. Multiple sets containing plush toys, themed hair clips, and custom cosmetic bags sold out immediately upon listing.
The popularity of trendy IP toys is just the beginning. Product categories like crystal bracelets and scented candles have also surged into the hottest growth sectors riding this wave of emotional economy. Some merchants launched "pink crystal sets for attracting romance and boosting贵人 (noble people)" during the promotion, with 1,000 units selling out instantly upon release.
This trend of emotional consumption has spread from online to offline. As this year's Women's Day coincides with a weekend, many young people are sharing their "healing sessions" on social media: sound therapy, heart-to-heart talks, meditation, crystal healing, yoga, and more. They are using immersive experiences to soothe their emotions internally and reward themselves externally.
From instantly sold-out IP dolls in live streams to wildly popular crystal bracelets and fully-booked offline healing experiences, women are actively spending real money on "emotional value."
**Phenomenon 1: Sold Out! Trendy IP Toys Become the New "Spiritual Remedy"** The heat of emotional economy consumption during this year's 3·8 sale was evident in the rush for Disney collectibles in Li Jiaqi's live stream. On February 25th, the pre-sale launch day, the Disney plush toy set caused a shopping frenzy. Due to unexpectedly high popularity, the live stream used an instant link release method, causing multiple combo sets to sell out in seconds.
A representative from Li Jiaqi's live stream merchandise team stated that emotionally valuable trendy toys are evolving from single-brand hits to a full category explosion: "Beyond Disney, diverse IP products from brands like Sanrio, TOP TOY, and 52TOYS are increasingly featured in our offerings. From collaborative figurines to collector-grade building blocks, the covered scenarios are continuously diversifying." The representative also revealed that collaborative products combining practical functions with emotional added value are more likely to become bestsellers. During last year's "Double Eleven" period, a "Starman x Kiehl's" collaborative skincare set sold out immediately upon listing. Kiehl's paired its star product, the Ultra Facial Cream, with strongly branded items like a Starman keychain and makeup bag. Sales exceeded 20,000 sets in just 5 minutes, generating over 30 million reads on related Weibo topics.
**Phenomenon 2: Mystical Services? Crystals and Scents Emerge as "Dark Horses"** Beyond trendy toys, crystals and scents have also risen to prominence in the emotional economy, becoming highly lucrative sectors. Donghai County in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, known as the "World Crystal Capital," reported crystal transaction volumes reaching 39 billion yuan from January to August 2025, a 27.8% year-on-year increase, with full-year projections exceeding 60 billion yuan. From January to October 2025, over 2,000 new crystal-related enterprises were established in China, a 7.45% increase.
An industry insider stated bluntly: "The crystal industry has huge profit margins, but chaos coexists. A single high-quality crystal bead can sell for thousands of yuan, yet some merchants market beads costing only tens of yuan to sell for over a thousand through excessive promotion. Coupled with advancing crystal forgery techniques, average consumers find it hard to distinguish authenticity." What pushes profits to the extreme are the added "mystical services." In some crystal healing live streams, consumers queue for one-on-one custom sessions with the host. The host first asks for the consumer's birth details, zodiac sign, etc., performs an "energy reading" or "Bazi and Five Elements analysis," recommends crystal types, and then hand-strings, cleanses, and packs them on the spot. The entire process is highly ritualized, and prices can soar to several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan.
Besides crystals, scents and aromatherapy are another "dark horse" in the emotional economy sector. In recent years, the scent and aromatherapy industry has seen a surge of original domestic brands. Local newcomers like To Summer, Documents, and meltseason have successively received strategic investment from international capital like L'Oréal, LVMH, and Estée Lauder. Simultaneously, beauty brands such as Proya, Kans, and Maogeping have also entered the fragrance market.
The Chinese fragrance market is experiencing explosive growth. Data from the "2025 China Fragrance and Aromatherapy Industry Trend Report" shows that in 2024, China's fragrance and aromatherapy industry reached a market size of 27.852 billion yuan, covering four major areas: perfume, car fragrances, home scents, and personal care, with car and home scents accounting for nearly 80%. In terms of growth rate, the Chinese fragrance market's compound annual growth rate over the past five years reached 18.9%, surpassing the global average of 7%.
**Phenomenon 3: Healing Salons Proliferate, with Packages Costing Tens of Thousands?** Stiff necks, shallow sleep, anxiety, and physical fatigue... Xiao Li (pseudonym), who has lived and worked in Beijing for nearly 10 years, has recently become fascinated with visiting various "healing spaces." "I want to find a way to loosen that constantly tense string a little," she said.
In recent years, this trend of emotional consumption has spread from online to offline. During the 3·8 period, more young people are attending healing salons—participating in sound therapy sessions, heart-sharing groups, meditation circles, crystal gatherings, direction workshops, yoga classes—to confide, heal, reward, and relax their hard-working selves.
According to the "2026 Healing Economy Blue Book," China's healing economy market scale has exceeded 10 trillion yuan, with 840 million users, 680 million of whom are in a state of psychological sub-health. Female users account for over 60%, with the 25-49 age group comprising 66%, and the 30-39 subgroup making up 42% of that. Behind this, paying for emotional well-being through activities like Zen meditation, aromatherapy, tree-hugging meditation, and yoga has become a new consumption paradigm.
Xiao Li admitted she has visited spaces specializing in "singing bowl therapy," tried "natural therapy," "tea scent cultivation," and "sensory healing," but currently invests the most in "introspective healing." "Most healing salons offer similar programs. Some help interpret your astrological chart to understand your talents, career, and wealth potential; others have professional consultants for face-to-face emotional梳理 (sorting), helping you release internal friction and ease social anxiety—it's like a 'psychological massage'," she explained.
Further investigation revealed that these healing salons are not cheap. Single-session experiences typically range from several hundred to over a thousand yuan, while a complete course can easily cost tens of thousands. For example, one store charges 3,000 yuan for a "6-session singing bowl sound therapy card," and a "body-mind balance" course is priced at 8,600 yuan, with an original price of 13,000 yuan.
However, Xiao Li noted, "Most healing spaces on the market are essentially old wine in new bottles." She observed that as the healing concept gained popularity, many "crossover players" have entered the field. Beauty salons rebrand as "healing SPAs," tea houses add a "Zen" label, yoga studios launch "meditation packages"... "It's mainly to attract customers. The singing bowl, scent cultivation, or aromatherapy instructors might be hired temporarily, with varying skill levels—frankly, it's a bit of a gamble," she said.
Despite this, young people are eager to pay. A staff member at a Beijing healing space said plainly: "To be blunt, the healing projects are for attracting traffic. Young people like them. Our main business is still SPA and wellness; this isn't the core focus, it's just an added value." With Women's Day falling on a Sunday this year, the staff member added: "Bookings for this weekend are very hot. You generally need to reserve two to three days in advance."
**Expert: Why is the Emotional Selling Point Rising Continuously?** In recent years, products and services marketed on "emotion" have seen explosive growth, with industries closely related to emotional value booming. Behind the three core scenario clusters—"healing and decompression, emotional companionship, and community belonging"—sectors like trendy toys, cultural tourism, pets, food and beverage, beauty and personal care, and even home goods have seen star products or sub-sectors emphasizing "emotion" as a selling point, showing a clear upward trend.
Discussing the underlying reasons, Zhou Ting, Dean of the Yaok Research Institute, stated: "The essence is a fundamental shift in consumption demand, driven by the normalization of emotional anxiety among contemporary youth, from satisfying material functions to prioritizing emotional value. Categories like crystals and scents perfectly meet young people's needs for low-cost, highly immediate, strongly social 'light healing,' making them a natural result precisely addressing the era's emotional pain points."
She further elaborated that these "non-essential" categories are breaking through primarily for four reasons: First, low decision-making barriers and minimal financial burden result in very low trial costs. Second, they easily carry positive psychological suggestions, providing immediate emotional pleasure. Third, they have formed community belonging, possessing strong social currency attributes. Fourth, their inherent sense of ritual can accurately trigger consumption willingness.
However, amidst the prosperity, problems have emerged. On the consumer complaint platform Hei Mao, there are 9,385 complaints under the "crystal" keyword. Issues like fake crystals, material discrepancies, product defects, after-sales problems, and difficulty obtaining refunds are major complaint areas.
In Zhou Ting's view, although chaos is frequent currently, it does not hinder the industry's popularization and scaled development. "These issues are inevitable in the early stages of a new sector's growth. As consumer demand upgrades and cognition becomes more rational, and with policy supervision and industry standards gradually improving, the industry will accelerate its iteration towards branding and professionalism. Ultimately, a batch of high-quality brands and innovative categories will emerge, quickly entering a professional, rational, and healthy high-quality development phase."
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