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“Treatonomics”-a consumer trend that covers the expenditure for 'everyday luxury' for larger, life-affirming experiences, since people are looking for a mood thrust of continuing, troubling economic times.
The expenses for small elements of “pick-me-ups” are a well-established trend. Consumers often turn to purchasing of modest personal objects such as make-up, perfume and candle or even collective rubber ducks or labubu dolls for a moral boost when times are heavy or unsafe.
No wonder that the consumer trend has long been seen as a Bellwether for the way in which consumers feel more than the broader economic background, which is currently given by the pressure to inflate, which is persistently high interest rates and concerns about growth and jobs.
The phenomenon is not new; The “lipstick effect” – the theory that the sales of the lipstick is increasing during economic downturn – has been around for almost a century. The term was documented for the first time during the global economic crisis in the 1930s and had a Renaissance in the 2000s when Leonard Lauder, former chairman of Make -up Brand Estée Lauder, noticed a sales increase after the terrorist attacks on September 11.
“The lipstick effect basically means buying small treats if they are under financial pressure,” John Stevenson, retail analyst at Peel Hunt, told CNBC on Tuesday.
“You can't afford a new dress or a new outfit, but you can always get a new lipstick. You cannot afford to get a new sofa, but you can get a throw or a few pillows. You cannot decorate the house, but you can get a new tablecloth,” he said and noticed that the category of home greases in retail “are realized much than people imagine.”
Shanghai, China: A woman checks the lipsticks in a department store in Shanghai, August 16, 2004.
Liu Jin | AFP | Getty pictures
The Covid-19 pandemic and a reassessment of personal well-being and what leads to an enriching and unforgettable life has triggered the trend of treatment with consumers who are willing to bring everyday victims to “experience”, in particular individual events such as $ 200 for a Taylor Swift concert or the OASIS TOUR.
“The treatment is almost another step further [than the lipstick effect] Wherever you reduce the daily living costs, you lower the basics, maybe you buy more brands in the supermarket, but in the same token you will carry out an Oasis concert for the weekend and spend £ 500 1000 (up to $ 1330), “said Stevenson.
What drives the “delicacies”?
Economists agree that the tendonomy trend could thrive in a time of economic uncertainty and shaky consumer confidence.
“This ascent of” Treatonomics “Section” Little Treat Culture “from Gen Z on Tikkok-is less about” guilt pleasure “and instead to inject moments to life without blame,” said Meredith Smith, Senior Director of the retail analysis company Kantar, to CNBC on Tuesday.
“It is like the 'lipstick effect' on steroids, because consumers have this increased feeling of uncertainty in connection with more options and access than ever, in order to transform the everyday decisions of life into an opportunity for the treats. As a result, people romance their water absorption as they buy their houses and buy themselves as a 'mental health.
Smith said that the traditional milestones of life such as marriage, home ownership, performance and retirement at work for “almost every living generation” looked different and were reinvented or disappeared “from the desire or because they are no longer available”.
This has caused a shift from the celebrations of milestones to celebrate more “customs stones”, which leads to this rapid increase in treatments.
“For example – for those who cannot afford a home in front of 40, the treatment was a welcome break and a way to express themselves in their surroundings when a milestone comes past them,” said Smith.
“For those without partners or children instead of celebrating weddings and baby games, they throw their energy in breakup parties, dogs days, high-day well-being treatment routines.
A woman who celebrates her dog's birthday.
Urbazon | E+ | Getty pictures
Similarly, millennials and gen z have turned into “children” -enjoyed adult versions of joys from childhood -that “Lego's adult offer catapulted and spend a few up to 1,000 US dollars for kits,” added Smith.
The trust of the consumer is based on the mood
In Great Britain, the GfK consumer confidence index measures a number of consumers' attitudes, including the forward expectations of the general economic situation and the financial positions of households as well as views to combat large budget purchases. In July 2025 it fell on -19, from June by one point.
In the United States, the confidence of the consumer recorded a slight increase in July. Overall, however, the consumer's level of trust remain “under the head heights of the previous year”, Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist of Global Indicators at the Conference Board, which creates the data consumer confidence data determined in a declaration last week.
This persistent pessimism feeds the trend for treatment, according to the economists, which means that more affordable and perhaps more enjoyable purchases and experiences remain attractive.
Customers look at Labubu dolls that are exhibited in the new shop of POP Mart in Las Vegas July 12, 2025.
Kara guildea | Las Vegas Review journal | Tribune News Service | Getty pictures
Kantar's global economic policy uncertainty index, a measure of the degree of uncertainty in terms of economic policy at a global level, has declared the current era as one of the “great uncertainties” compared to the past 40 years. Life feels unsafe, without light at the end of the tunnel -said Smith.
The volatility and uncertainty that we experience will probably not dissolve in the next five to eight years, says Kantar.
“This gives us a strong indication that the treatment persists for at least three to five years-we can expect that trends in the” small treatment culture “move faster and more fragmented by geography and cultural niches. This is a challenge for brands that have to develop on the development of these microtrends. “
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