17. Internet Thousands of Russians read and contribute to online cooking communities daily: the home cooking trend finally reached the mass-market and became a topic of UGC A lot of websites dedicated to cooking which emerged many years ago still hold the top of Alexa rating, apparently due to the loyal grown-up users Apart from that, most of the cooking magazines have websites, which attract a decent audience as well The most dynamic segment of Internet cooking is represented by blog and communities in Russian part of LiveJournal – most of the 25-35 y.o. cooking people can be found here The new generation adapts its own social networks, creating a large number of groups on cooking: several of such groups in student network 'vkontakte.ru' have about 12000 subscribers each http://www.gastronom.ru/ http://gotovim-doma.ru/ http://vkontakte.ru/club139704
29. june 2007 august 2007 october 2007 december 2007 february 2008 april 2008 Taste preferences dynamics
Notes de l'éditeur
In the first part we discuss two basic processes occurring in the minds of Russians which are represented by a sequence of certain phenomena, both of economical and social origin. In the second part we discuss the Russian taste and the roots of Russian food culture It's important to note that the conclusions we make apply to Moscow and St. Petersburg in the first place, but apparently they will extend to the other big cities with time as well as most of consumption trends do
Roots of consumption always lie in motivation, the consumer doesn't buy anything without a reason To explain the first process we use the Censydiam model which represents all the basic needs of a person and thus helps to understand the mechanism of consumption The pivot of the changes concerning food preferences is the home cooking trend opposed to the popularity of restaurant dining 5-10 years ago From the consumer's point of view two basic motivations are at the heart of this trend: maximizing satisfaction of one's physical and emotional needs (indulgence, enjoyment) and the need to be different, to stand out from the crowd, not drift with the current (recognition, which is all about feeling superior) Roles of each of the motivations have been different, and the status as a consequence of aspiration for self-expression became a significant factor much later (however, being very much aligned with the global trend currently named as ‘alternative status sources’ by trendwatching.com)
The gastronomical boom was triggered by two main factors created by the premium market: evolution of the restaurant industry and proliferation of premium retail chains The desire to learn to cook the dishes tried in a restaurant and the temptation of the continually widening product range on shelves are making home cooking to be a new kind of entertainment In response to the sudden explosion of interest in cooking a lot of dedicated media showed up, including personalities, books and TV shows As the boom reached its peak a huge number of celebrities who had never showed in public any interest in cooking before turned out to be enthusiastic cooking experts – the food and the skill at cooking it became status symbols, and the trend finally began its descent to the mass-market
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