The Current State, Causes and Legal Regulation of “Emotional Consumption” among Generation Z Youth
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Z世代青年的“情绪消费”是以情感满足为核心、依托虚拟化商品与服务的新型消费模式，其本质是青年群体在“内卷化”社会压力与虚拟社交依赖下，通过消费行为寻求情绪纾解与精神归属。本文从心理学、社会学、经济学与传播学多维度构建理论框架，揭示情绪消费的虚拟化、主观化与成瘾性特征，并通过问卷调查(N = 200)与深度访谈(N = 30)验证其“高情感依赖–低法律保障”矛盾。并针对行业乱象，提出“动态熔断机制 + AI内容审核 + 区块链存证”技术方案与“分级牌照 + 双罚制 + 跨部门治理”制度创新，并简单评估了成本效益与风险，最终结合国内外研究提出跨学科监管路径。唯有平台自律与公权监管协同发力，方能引导情绪消费向规范化、健康化发展，实现青年情感需求与社会治理的平衡。The “emotional consumption” of Generation Z youth is a new consumption model with emotional satisfaction as the core and relying on virtual goods and services. Its essence is that young people seek emotional relief and spiritual belonging through consumption behaviors under the “internal” social pressure and virtual social dependence. This paper builds a theoretical framework from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, economics and communication, reveals the virtualization, subjectivism and addictive characteristics of emotional consumption, and verifies the contradiction of “high emotional dependence-low legal protection” through questionnaire survey (N = 200) and in-depth interview (N = 30). In response to the chaos of the industry, it proposed the technical solution of “dynamic circuit breaker mechanism + AI content review + blockchain storage” and the institutional innovation of “hierarchical license + double penalty system + cross-departmental governance”, and simply assessed the cost benefits and risks, and finally proposed the interdisciplinary regulatory path combined with domestic and foreign research. Only through the concerted efforts of platform self-discipline and public authority supervision can emotional consumption be guided to a standardized and healthy development, and the balance between young people’s emotional needs and social governance can be achieved.
Source: Advances in Social Sciences
Author: 豪 任
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4409568483