Youth spending today keeps inflation away
Economic growth spurt. (Photo: Credit Union of Ohio)
Remember when people were saying that the youth is the hope of the future? With everything that’s happening right now in the digital economy, it seems like that’s the case.
Despite soaring prices of just about everything nowadays, people who aren’t in danger of getting a bald spot are going to be one of the biggest contributing factors to the economic growth of the Philippines. That’s right kids, spend more money because God knows our country needs it!
More than anyone at the moment, the Department of Finance (DOF) believes in the purchasing power of the youth. This is based on digital marketing firm Truelogic’s claim that business is booming for influencers who are now all over social media. This also shows how much consumer behavior has shifted towards digital spaces.
Then again, we all knew that. When was the last time you purchased something online? Exactly.
Ibarra Villaseran, client services director at Truelogic says, “Digital marketing services became widely used by businesses to adapt to the changes caused by the pandemic and adoption to digital channels grew from websites, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, and even TikTok.”
More data from the firm reveals that at least 76 million users in the Philippines spend a daily average of 10 hours and 27 minutes of their time online. If I were to speak from personal experience, that number is not far off.
The Philippines currently has 40.4 million TikTok users aged 18 and above. Ever since the short-form video platform’s inception, it has taken the world by storm. It helps that the average human attention span has significantly shrunk over the years, so the type of entertainment we consume has to be in bite-sized chunks.
Young, wild, and spending free
Live selling and online sales from platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok are swimming in success. “Get this discount before it disappears,” “reserve this item before someone else in the comments does,” and the ever-so-clever payday sales are all designed to reel in the average internet user with the fear of missing out. Unsurprisingly, it all works.
Why? Because a lot of us are just spending out of stress at this point. Companies like Coca-Cola, Mcdonald’s, and Unilever have seen increases in their sales despite prices going up.
A part of me still believes this is a spillover effect from the fact that most of us were forced to be locked inside our homes for two years. Now that everyone is out and about, we’re all just drawn to spending on stuff that we missed out on for so long.
Because of a stable employment rate and all the retail therapy that’s been happening this year, economists at First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) believe that the Philippines’ economic recovery is still on track for 2022.
“The outlook for continuing fast economic recovery for H2 still looks reassuring as the economy added nearly half a million jobs in May (especially trade, construction, and manufacturing) and consumer sentiment improved,” the economists said in their July report of The Market Call.
It’s not all set in stone though. With inflation being the unpredictable beast that it is, gas prices, supply chains, and the value of the dollar having the power to bring economies into a full collapse are just some examples of things to look out for.
I mean come on, have you seen the price of seafood recently?
We may be spending now, but there might come a time when there will be nothing to spend on—or with—anymore. That is if we’re being pessimistic about things. This is the-tea.sucks, after all. On the bright side, at least we all can share the collective struggle of whether or not to click on that checkout button.
