你还涂口红吗？调查：疫情影响口红色号，亮红色受冷落

In recent months, face masks have been hard to find in Japanese stores, but there’s one product that is not selling well: lipstick.最近几个月，日本商店里很难找到口罩，但有一种产品不畅销：口红。

In Japan, the trend in lipsticks in the latter half of 2019 was for brighter colours and shades, according to market analysis company Euromonitor International.市场分析公司欧睿国际表示，2019年下半年在日本鲜艳的口红色号更流行。

It’s no surprise that make-up was the most challenged category last year and declined 40%. And sales of lip products fell even more (by 50%) as the need to wear a mask outdoors rendered lipstick redundant.毫无疑问，化妆品是去年受到最大挑战的一类产品，销量下降了40%。由于在户外需要戴口罩，口红变得多余，口唇产品的销量下降了50%。

What's interesting is what consumers actually bought and it may seem surprising, given the lack of opportunity for them to go out, that fragrance was a resilient category and one of the best performers. Not that it managed to grow, but with a decline of ‘only’ 17%, the fall was less than seen elsewhere in the prestige beauty market.有趣的是，在外出减少的情况下，人们实际购买的商品出乎意料：香水异军突起，销量出彩。但这倒并不是说香水销量逆市增长，而是降幅“只有”17%，小于其他美妆品类。

The lipstick effect is the theory that when facing an economic crisis consumers will be more willing to buy less costly luxury goods. Instead of buying expensive fur coats, women will buy expensive lipstick.口红效应指的是在经济危机时消费者更愿意购买相对廉价的奢侈品这样一个理论。女性消费者在经济危机时选择购买的不是价格不菲的皮草服装，而是高档口红。

The underlying assumption is that consumers will buy luxury goods even if there is a crisis. When consumer trust in the economy is dwindling, consumers will buy goods that have less impact on their available funds. Obviously men will not be buying lipstick, but could be tempted by expensive beer or smaller, less costly gadgets.口红效应揭示的是这样一种思维：就算在经济不景气的情况下，人们仍然有购买奢侈品的愿望。当人们意识到经济在下滑的时候，他们会购买一些对其现有资金影响不大的商品。男性消费者当然不会去买口红了，不过他们可能会买高档啤酒或一些小巧又不太贵的小玩意。

“Usually, in an economic downturn, heels go up and stay up — as consumers turn to a more flamboyant fashion as a means of fantasy and escape,” Trevor Davis, a consumer product expert with IBM’s Global Services Unit said in a press release announcing the results of the study.

The Hemline Index is an idea that suggests women's hemlines fluctuate and can even indicate macroeconomic performance. The higher the hemline, the better the economy looks.“裙摆指数”是说女性裙子的长度也能反应经济形势。裙子越短，经济形势越好。

The Great Depression gave us the hemline index; the recession of the early 1990s produced the lipstick index; and now today’s crisis has spawned its very own fashion barometer: the tie index.经济大萧条带来了裙摆指数；90年代初的经济衰退产生了“口红指数”；而如今的危机催生了又一个新的时尚晴雨表：领带指数。

The frothy stuff might not be considered by most to be a luxury good, but when it comes to the basics at the grocery store, it seems to almost fall into the 'can live without' category. It turns out that recessions don't necessarily lead to a drop in demand; they lead to a different type of demand. Consumers switch from more expensive beer to the less expensive varieties, just like consumers switch from name-brand goods to the store-brand version. The consumption is there, but it's of the cheaper alternative.大多数人可能不认为啤酒是奢侈品，但当谈到杂货店的基本用品时，它似乎几乎属于“没有它也能活”的商品。但事实证明，经济衰退不一定意味着需求的必然下降；它们也会刺激不同类型的需求。消费者从更贵的啤酒转向更便宜的种类，就像消费者从名牌商品转向商店品牌版本一样。消费是存在的，但这是一个更便宜的选择。

The Great Depression, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the recessions of the early 1980s and 2001 all did wonders for Hollywood coffers. Turns out, in trying times we like things to be cheap and we like to be transported from the headlines - movies do both, say box-office analysts.大萧条、“9·11”恐怖袭击以及20世纪80年代初和2001年的经济衰退都为好莱坞创造了票房奇迹。分析人士称，事实证明，在困难时期，人们喜欢便宜的东西，也喜欢从头条新闻中解脱——电影兼备这两种特质。