50 yuan a pound of baby noodles, three or four hundred yuan a set of tableware...... Many products are marked with the label of "infants, children" to double their value, and the price of some products far exceeds the reasonable range, but does not reflect the particularity of "special", and also exacerbates parents' parenting anxiety.
What makes "infant-specific" products double in price? What are the "consumption traps" behind high-priced products?
Labeling it "exclusive" sells for a high price
"The child is about to eat supplementary food, I specially purchased tableware that shows the temperature, the temperature spoon is more than 50 yuan, and the insulated bowl is 299 yuan. Ms. Wu, who lives in Panyu District, Guangzhou City, bought all kinds of supplementary food tableware for her 7-month-old baby. ”
However, it didn't take long for her to find that the so-called "sensible temperature spoon" was not as easy to use as advertised, the spoon battery capacity was small, the child ate slowly, and often the spoon ran out of power before eating a meal, and the handle had to be removed for charging.
The reporter noticed that some infant products are aimed at the mentality of novice parents who want to provide the best products for their children, and the price is far higher than that of ordinary products, but the actual efficacy is not much different.
In addition to all kinds of baby products, food is also one of the areas in which parents are willing to spend a lot of money.
With the increasing segmentation of the infant food market, some high-priced foods labeled as "infants and young children" have emerged. The reporter saw a "baby noodles" on an online shopping platform, the product name was marked as "vegetable noodles", and the production process was 3% vegetable powder added to wheat flour, and the price was 21 yuan/200 grams, about 50 yuan/catty.
According to data, the monthly expenditure of maternal and child products of "post-95" parents accounts for as much as 30% of the monthly family income, and they tend to pay for the concept of fine parenting. Yan Jun, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Jilin University, believes that some businesses have created an "irreplaceable" concept of products for parents, and young parents will be "harvested" by various advertising campaigns if they are not careful.
Behind the price "rising tide lifts all boats".
What problems are exposed behind the phenomenon of inflated prices of infant products?
Cai Gaosi, executive chairman of the Guangdong Food Safety and Quality Association, said that at present, the mainland has introduced a number of corresponding national standards and measures in the fields of infant formula, baby diapers, and baby pacifiers, which will help improve the quality of infant products and avoid safety risks. However, some products are not exclusively for infants and young children, but they use "suitable for infants and young children" as a selling point, creating a lot of "pseudo demand", but in fact, the publicity is greater than the content.
The reporter saw in a "maternal and infant food online store" that a certain brand of baby noodles is claimed to be "no salt", "contains a variety of trace elements" and "easy to swallow", but in the inconspicuous position at the bottom of the online sales page, it is marked that "our products are ordinary foods that can be eaten by all ages, not infant formula food", and the customer service also said that "this dried noodles do not meet the baby standard".
Liu Chunhong, a professor at the College of Food Science and Technology of South China Agricultural University, said that some foods labeled "children" or even "babies" look cute in packaging and have a relatively high price, but they may not be for babies. Parents are advised to read the ingredient list and nutrition facts list clearly and not be confused by the packaging.
In addition, the reporter's investigation found that a product in the field of infant products suddenly became an "Internet celebrity" and was collectively praised by many maternal and infant bloggers, which may be related to capital operation and media operation.
"Qin Qin", a mother and baby blogger with 100,000 fans, told reporters that diapers and baby toy merchants often take the initiative to contact them and invite them to promote their products. "They will take the initiative to send the product, ask to shoot a short video of soft advertising, have a baby to use it, and use colloquial expressions to say that the product is easy to use, and will give a reward of 500 to 1000 yuan after it is sent. "Qin Qin" said that some products have never been used by themselves, but they must praise their products for being easy to use according to the requirements of the brand owners in order to get paid.
"Baby-only" should not be for gold-absorbing
Deng Yong, a consumer dispute review expert in Shenzhen and a lawyer at Beijing Dongyuan (Shenzhen) Law Firm, reminded that some baby products on the market are not cute in shape and bright in color, and consumers should pay attention to whether the corresponding product standards are clearly indicated on the product or its packaging, and whether there are standardized warning signs, signs and instructions when purchasing baby products.
It is true that infant products have certain particularities, such as high material costs, strict production specifications, and a little higher price than ordinary products. The problem is that some products inflate the price of the product through hype and false publicity, but they are not careful enough in product quality and use effect, which is deeply criticized by consumers.
It must be admitted that under the influence of the concept of eugenics and the psychology of fine baby raising, the market does have a demand for high-standard and high-quality maternal and infant products, and it can even be said that it is just needed.
It should be vigilant that under the guise of "special for infants and young children", merchants market and create "pseudo demand" in order to "harvest" parents' wallets, such as infant hair dryers that claim to "can help babies improve eczema, heat rash and other symptoms", which are actually no different from ordinary hair dryers. High price does not equal high quality, and consumers are still aiming at the gold content of the product behind the high price. When a product focuses too much on fancy gimmicks and ignores the essence of practicality, sooner or later it will lose the market.
Therefore, for the abnormal "prosperity" of the infant product market, we cannot let it go unchecked. As recently called for by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission, it is necessary to return the positioning of infant products to the practical essence and strengthen the rectification of non-standard behaviors such as false propaganda by merchants. And those parents who "want to give their children the best", don't blindly believe in the promotion of goods such as "special for infants and young children".
Source: CCTV Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency, Guangzhou Daily