please help me to draw some conclusion according to the following findings: Consumption initially showed an entertainment-oriented consumption behavior pattern by spending a significant amount on gaming top-ups within a short period of time.
After I entered the university in 2019, I made my first online game top-up on October 1, when I bought a online game account and completed all the initial top-up in the game (648+328+198+128+60+30+6), the total amoutn is 1398 yuan. In the following three months, I made at least two 648 top-up every month. In one month, when the balance of my bank card was less than 800, I top-up 648 again, which made my daily expenses almost impossible to maintain.
(In the online game top-up system, it has different top-up stalls, you can only top-up the corresponding stalls, rather than any number you want to yop-up. The 648, 328, 198, 128, 60, 30, 6 are all the top-up stalls in the game. Almost all online games have a initial top-up reward, that is the first time you top-up the corresponding top-up stalls, it can provide the double reward.)
It is more possible to spend impulsively (a situation where one cannot pay off the current month’s loan bill) when being younger and under the external factors.
In the first half of 2020, the online game top-up consumption is basically, which is in the epidemic stage. However, in July and August, due to the lingering effects of the epidemic, the planned tour had to be canceled. In these two months, the author spent all the budget originally used for travel and the working capital in hand on the online game top-up, including but not limited to the purchase of character’s skin, game lottery and purchase of new games. Also, when running out of money, author also use the online loan to continue the top-up. Finally it led to the break of the capital chain and the author do not have enough money to repay. The author then was forced to withdraw part of the time deposit from the bank to relieve the capital pressure.
Spending behavior becomes more cautious after the online game top-up, especially non-essential spendings.
Between October 2020 and July 2021, there were 15 large amount ( Amount over 2000 yuan) online game top-up in total. After the date that finish the top-up, the authors will save more on essential spending (e.g., daily meals, daily necessities, commuting expenses, etc.) with an average declining range of about 60%, while non-essential spending (e.g., Internet consumption, entertaining outings, snacks and beverages, etc.) will be largely reduced to zero. In the most cases, the only expenditure is eating in the canteen. However, these purchases return to normal after getting the new living expenses for the next month or getting the a stipend from the student assistant.
In the post-epidemic period, the amount of online game top-up gradually decreased and eventually remained stable, and the money originally used for top-up was spent on practical oriented now.
Between September 2021 and the end of 2022, with the normalization of the national epidemic policy, the campus life gradually returns to normal, and the top-up in the online game also starts to decrease, changing to the consumption of battle pass (68 yuan per game) and monthly membership (30 yuan per game) for each game every month. At the same time, after the first top-up reward of the online game is refreshed, the first top-up will be completed at an appropriate time to receive the reward. Besides the online game top-up, the consumption began to increase, including the purchase of electronic products, dinner parties, entertainment.