‘New Collars': The invisible new middle class in China

Jose Campon, Linna Zhao, Yulie Zhu

In China's social stratification, people have been assigned to different categories such as: blue collar, white collar, or golden collar in relation to their income, social class, consumer habits, spending power, and educational level; however, traditional boundaries defined by their "collar" will cease to exist, according to new Wavemaker research.
  • In this context, brands will need to review their audience strategy, paying more attention to this new-collar sector as it has the potential to be the new cornerstone of China's spindle-shaped society that has been moving the bottom class upward.
  • With the upgrading of the tertiary industry and the evolution of the workplace, China will enter a new economy founded on knowledge and skills that combine traditional "physical labour" and “intellectual labour".
  • The formation of a new, bottom-up social influence system in China was fueled by the development of short videos and social media that amplified the voice of the...

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