I have always identified to the Beatles song ‘Nowhere Man’
He’s a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobodyDoesn’t have a point of view
Knows not where he’s going to
Isn’t he a bit like you and me?
I left my hometown Vietnam when I was 15. Although my entire childhood was filled with Eastern tradition and beliefs, my early adulthood is shaped entirely by Western ideology, conviction, and education. Inside me is a wealth of knowledge for someone who needs yet another artifact for the effects of Nature versus Nurture casework.
I have always felt a little bit like a Nowhere Woman, with feet in two different continents. And while this creates a lot of dilemma, hilarious misunderstandings, and a more than usual rate of enlightenment, I have never felt qualified to speak on behalf of one culture — I’m most often not entirely Vietnamese, and nowhere near enough American.
What I do feel enticing to talk about is the emerging pattern and behaviors as I hop between these two continents. After all, I live through these differences myself, and as a UX Designer whose job it is to observe, I have keenly been doing so in my last 15 years trying to blend in <> stand out.
“This year, let’s have a point of view to mark the half way point (15–15).”
Let’s talk about how the 3 ways that culture, the economy, and society affect the way Asia consumes her Product.
Aging vs. Booming
Credit vs. Cash
The Commodity that is Luxury Local Goods
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about the Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory, in which the world spins around 5 dimensions: power distance, collectivism vs. individualism, femininity vs. masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long vs. short-term orientation. While I admire and love this framework (classic!), many of them have been discussed to the core (cue collectivism vs. individualism) and they can lean on the side of theoretical. I’m also not speaking to some of the more obvious cultural examples that have an effect on Design such as written language directions and color significance. No, the examples I am sharing below are much more personal from my own real life experiences.
Fitting format for two age spectrums
From Facebook (text-based) to Instagram (image-based) to now Tik Tok (video-based), the moving image is moving faster everyday to catch up with our ADD tendency. By the time you read this message, we may have to use a device to help us slow down the image rate, to scavenger hunt the hidden message in between. Call it a glimpse into the future.
The aging population of the Western world can be explained by the increasing options that women gain and the rising cost in raising a child. On the other hand, relaxed population control and increased economical power exponentially boost the young population in Vietnam while still keeping a traditionally aging population on the two spectrums of the population.
When I go home to visit my parents, I am amazed at their super active engagement on Facebook. An entire generation mobilized by the ‘thumbs-up’ and ‘views’. Why Facebook and not Instagram or TikTok?
Platform like Facebook allows for long-form, deeper, and more diverse set of content
— hence allow for a more well-established technical behavior without having to learn yet another platform.
On the other hand, the increasingly young population in Vietnam drives product trial and adoption at a staggering rate.
Video content that plays into national pride and local culture attract Millions of views per month
— like this dance video using Vietnamese music, dance choreography, minority tribal traditional clothing, performed in the heart of Hanoi — my city. My sister, who by now should earn a YouTube scavenger expert badge (if there is ever one), convincingly told me that content which inherently retain a tie to Vietnamese culture (a folk melody perhaps) does much better than foreign-borrowed content. Acknowledging that we’re next to an entertainment powerhouse that is South Korea, I’m so proud every time I see the youth of my city owns up to their strength.
DUYÊN ÂM — HOÀNG THÙY LINH Dance Cover & Choreography by C.A.C
Cash is Queen
Being a design consultant, I have to travel a lot. When I travel in the US or in Europe, I make sure to have two types of card: a credit card and a debit card. Sure, I might exchange a few bucks into local currency — but as long as we have those cards, we’ll be ok. The Card Overlords will take care of us.
It’s a different story when I travel in Asia or other parts of the world — Cash is still Queen. My friends do not understand why I would carry thousands on the plane with me from US to Vietnam. ‘Because I need cash to spend over there.’ It seems natural to me.
One time, I stayed in the US for 3 years before going back to Vietnam. The moment I got home, armed with a sense of familiarity carried over from the US, I gingerly set up my Grab app (the equivalent of Uber). I ordered a car and naively sat there until I reached my grandparent house. The moment we hit the gate of my childhood home, it dawned on me that I have no Cash, and what follow was a quick exchange, a few side glances and watchful eyes as the driver watched me, a grown damn woman, walked into my grandpa home to ask if I can borrow 60,000 VND = $3 for my cab ride.
The cash economy in Asia is so strong, that people would choose to keep cash with them and only refill their debit card months at a time.
Source: Grab
The Commodity that is Luxury Local Goods
I remember a time when an acquaintance from Vietnam would ask me to buy a $150 Gucci belt on a trip back. I also remember a time when a co-worker in the US asked me to buy a Louis Vuitton knock-off purse from Vietnam. Sure, luxury brands such as Gucci and LV will always have a space in the luxury landscape.
However, there rises a few wave of local mid-market luxury goods from Vietnamese and Asian designers: Hanoi Silk House is such an example where 1 meter (~3.2 ft) of silk commands $20. To put in perspective, when we prototype the made to measure shirts for TAILORU, the silk materials alone is about 3 meters ($60) per shirt. Worth it, since the silk is organic, made by hand, and is machine washable. This material, once only accessible to the like of Kings and Queens, are now within reach of the commoner.
Hoi An, a small city of 150,000 people, is home to the best handmade shoes, bags, and tailored suits in Vietnam — and arguably (I think!) the top three in Asia. Here, luxury is defined by how fast you want the goods, because quality and price are both guaranteed. Westerners and Asians come from all around the world to enjoy the luxury in life. In a way, places like Hoi An has replaced the like of Florence (for leather goods) in terms of comparable quality and affordability.
In Asia — When labor is cheap and the materials are abundant, what is then the differentiating factor? It used to be that whoever can have access to the latest style from the West will attract the most intra-continental and oversea customers. However, there has been an oversaturated reach of Western culture in Eastern culture, resulting in a fighting, kicking reversed trend to embrace and explore the East.
Within a global landscape where every thing blends, the countries who successfully export culture win.
Designers need to find a way to express their local flavor with mass global appeal — resulting in a GLOCAL trend that ranks more highly to the elite and the middle class than global mass-produced luxury goods. In many ways, the luxury market in Asia is more fierce than anywhere in the world, having the production of the largest luxury brands in the world while growing young numerous hungry luxury local brands.
We’re the same, just slightly different.
I have always believed that both of my homes have something to offer and never before do I feel so much pride in seeing Asia finding her own voice. For brands and startups who want to enter this young and dynamic market, my advice is to pay close attention that not all the rules apply the same way as in the West. Sometimes, we just need to bring a little bit more Cash.
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