With the official opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese team has won three gold medals, and the ice pier as a mascot has gained a large number of fans inside and outside the arena. The peripheral products of the ice pier are even more "difficult to find", the online store is completely out of stock, the offline store also appears in the early morning queue for several hours but did not buy the situation, in some second-hand trading platforms, an ice pier blind box is even more speculated to a high price of thousands of yuan.
(Source: Beijing News)
In the case of limited quantities and limited purchases, the single-day sales of the offline flagship store of the Winter Olympics reached nearly 3 million on February 4. By buying ice piers, people express their enthusiasm for the Winter Olympics and their spending power.
(Image from the Internet)
Judging from the official selling price of the online platform, the surrounding price related to the ice pier ranges from 38 yuan to 108 yuan, as a "top stream" peripheral product, the price is not too high, which is also one of the reasons why consumers buy.
(Photo: Gacha machine)
About six years ago, while wandering around the belgrade city, I turned into a bookstore and found a pile of newspaper-wrapped, hemp-rope-tied books among the many Books in Serbian that read: Try your luck. This is probably the first time I've "encountered" a book sold in a blind box. The sign next to the book continues to be written in English, this is the annual novel selected by the editor of a certain publishing house, and each book is accompanied by a sentence from the novel, according to which you can choose your favorite one.
Then I couldn't move. After simply collecting cards, LEGO mini figures and fortune cookies, it once again fell into anticipation. In the end, I picked one up and brought it back to the hotel, but after opening it, I found that the content did not seem to attract me too much, so I wrapped it up and brought it back to China, and I have never opened it since. As a result, I don't remember the name of the book at all.
The moment the blind box is opened is like opening Schrödinger's box, for a moment, all speculation is reduced to the only possibility, the cat is no longer both dead and alive, the bread will not be both a whole wheat toast and a chocolate filling, the 6 mollys under the corner of the mouth have added another one, and the smile on the wizard card is still Dumbledore.
As a person with an economic background, the hypothesis of a rational man should run through the discipline and even throughout life. But in the face of the stimulus of this uncertainty, violating economic rationality does not make me feel guilty at all. In fact, from the total cost of all kinds of blind box goods, I am basically a rational person with iron, but I have to admit that sometimes limited irrationality can make people happier.
How much are people willing to spend on blind box products?
According to the Mob Research Institute's 2020 Blind Box Economic Insight Report[1], the market size of the blind box industry was only 2.26 billion yuan in 2015, but it is expected to grow to 30 billion yuan in 2024. The head of Bubble Mart, IP Station, 52Toys in recent years to raise tens of millions of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars, of which Bubble Mart in December 2020 to Hong Kong listing, willing to pay for the blind box consumers can be described as indispensable.
Source: Blind Box Economic Insights Report 2020
But consumer attitudes toward blind box products seem to be mixed. According to the "Blind Box Industry Development Status and Market Research and Analysis Report" released by Ai Media Consulting in 2020[2], more than 50% of the respondents (Ai Media Data Center, 2020) believe that the gimmick of blind box products is greater than the substance, the pricing is unreasonable, and other criticisms of blind boxes are such as inducing consumption, speculation and speculation, design plagiarism, etc. These unfavorable factors superimpose the contingency of consumption and the lack of solid brand loyalty may cause user loss and become the bottleneck of the blind box industry's continued expansion.
Source: Blind Box Industry Development Status and Market Research Analysis Report
Recently, the China Consumer Association criticized Bubble Mart and KFC[3] by name, believing that their "DIMOO joint blind box package" belongs to hunger marketing, which will induce and connive consumers to consume irrationally. Wu Jingming, director of the Chinese Consumer Council and associate professor of China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out that the name call is intended to warn operators not to use blind boxes too much to harm the rights and interests of consumers to achieve their own illegal profits, and also to remind consumers not to blindly follow the trend and excessive irrational consumption.
From a legal point of view, according to Xia Hailong of Shenlun Law Firm, the blind box business model is currently legal, provided that the operator fulfills the obligation to inform consumers and respects consumers' right to know and fair trade. Lawyer Xia also pointed out that the "Anti-Food Waste Law" stipulates the responsibility of business operators to "publicize anti-waste", and if "catering + blind box" causes food waste, hoarding and speculation, etc., the market supervision department also has different punishment powers such as warning, ordering corrections, and fines according to the seriousness of the circumstances.
Will the blind box continue to burn?
In November 2021, Bubble Mart released its overall Q3 earnings performance data[4], an increase of approximately 75%-80% compared to the same period in 2020. However, because of the doubts about the sustainability of its business model, the capital market is "not too waiting" for the darling of the once tide market, and its stock price has fluctuated, and the total market value has evaporated by about 60% compared with the peak. Corresponding to the "fall out of favor" of Bubble Mart in the capital market, consumers' enthusiasm for blind box goods is gradually dissipating, and the financial report data shows that the repurchase rate of Bubble Mart in the first half of 2021 has dropped from 58% in 2019 to less than 50%[5], which can be seen.
(Image source: Bubble Mart Tmall flagship store screenshot)
Whether it is a new alternative product that reflects the "lipstick effect" or a personalized precision marketing product that caters to young consumer groups with the help of traffic, the emergence of the blind box boom is the choice that consumers "vote" on in the way of purchase in an era of uncertainty. Behind this is the impact of the economic environment, the skillful use of social psychology by marketing, and the attempts of consumers to find certainty and belonging in a vague picture of the future.
Limited irrationality may not be a bad thing, and we can certainly continue to buy blind boxes for various reasons such as social, fancy, etc. Moderation is enough. After all, being happy is important.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Good news! The Spring Edition Ice Pier is coming soon!
(Source: Xinhua Net)
Let's not forget that we still have a lovely snow melt
Resources:
1. 2020 Blind Box Economic Insight Report, Mob Research Institute.
2. "Blind Box Industry Development Status and Market Research and Analysis Report", Ai Media Consulting, 2021, 01
3. "Behind KFC's Naming and Criticism: "Blind Box + Catering" Is Frequent, Inducing Waste Will Be Punished", The Paper, 2022.01
4. Latest Business Status for the Third Quarter of 2021, Bubble Mart International Group Limited, 2021.11
5. 500 billion market value slash, growth slowed down, bubble mart let capital buy how difficult? Sina Genesis, 2021.11
6. Will the blind box economy continue to be on fire? Tencent Research Institute, 2021.03