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Mooncake price war: Who is "cutting leeks"?
Every year on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the mooncake market begins to be lively. This year, however, is a little different. The price of a certain brand of mooncakes on different online platforms varies greatly, which has aroused widespread doubts and discussions among consumers. What went wrong? Are consumers really "cut leeks"?
How "conscience" is Brother Xiao Yang's "conscience price"?
Brother Xiao Yang, as a well-known Internet celebrity anchor, his ability to bring goods should not be underestimated. On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2024, Brother Xiao Yang sold Meicheng mooncakes at a price of 169 yuan for 3 boxes in the live broadcast, each box contains 8 pieces, and each box is about 7 yuan. As soon as this "conscience price" appeared in the live broadcast room, it immediately attracted a large number of fans to buy it, and they praised Brother Xiao Yang for being "too conscientious".
But it's not that simple. Consumers soon discovered that the price of mooncakes of the same brand on the Oriental Selection Platform was as high as 188 yuan per box, which was also 8 packs, and each cost 23.5 yuan. This huge difference sparked a heated discussion among netizens: "Why is there so much price difference for the same mooncakes?" "Was it selected by the East? ”。
Is the "high-end customization" of Oriental Selection really that high-end?
In the face of consumers' doubts, Dongfang Selection also had to stand up and respond. The platform explained that they sell a specially customized version of moon cakes, using higher-end ingredients and packaging, so the price is naturally higher. This explanation may sound plausible, but consumers aren't buying it.
Netizens began to compare the mooncakes on the two platforms and found that the so-called "high-end custom" version of the mooncakes had almost no difference in appearance from the ordinary version. What's more, someone went to the official website of Meicheng moon cake to check and found that the so-called "high-end custom" version of the raw materials were exactly the same as the ordinary version. This discovery is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Oriental Selection.
Who will guarantee the integrity of Internet celebrities?
The fermentation of this incident has made the integrity of Internet celebrities once again the focus of public attention. Many people began to question whether Brother Yang's low-price sales mean that other anchors have huge profit margins and damage the rights and interests of consumers?
In fact, behind the Internet celebrities bringing goods, there is a complex chain of interests and commercial manipulation. In order to quickly clear inventory or do promotional activities on specific platforms, some merchants will provide special low-cost resources to Internet celebrities. And these low-cost resources can often only be purchased in the live broadcast room for a limited time, and if they are missed, they will be gone. In this way, the prices of other platforms naturally appear high.
Transparency is the key to protecting consumer rights and interests
In the face of this information asymmetry, the protection of consumers' rights and interests is particularly important. How to protect the interests of consumers in the case of information asymmetry has become the focus of discussion.
Some experts suggest that merchants must be more transparent about their prices and clearly indicate what their products cost and why they are selling for them. At the same time, platforms should also strengthen supervision to ensure that all promotional activities and price information are authentic and reliable. In this way, consumers can have more references when buying, so as not to be "cut leeks".
Future implications for the influencer economy
This mooncake price war incident not only made consumers doubt the integrity of Internet celebrities, but also made the entire industry begin to reflect. The rapid development of the influencer economy has indeed brought many business opportunities, but the issues of integrity and transparency are also becoming more and more prominent. If these issues are not addressed, the future of the influencer economy will face many challenges.
Some consumers said that after this incident, they will be more cautious when shopping, and will not believe in promotional methods such as "Internet celebrity with the same style" and "limited-time special offer". More people are starting to pay attention to the true value of the goods, rather than being fooled by the flashy propaganda.
Similar events in the last five years
In fact, similar incidents have been common in the past few years. In 2020, a well-known beauty blogger sold a face mask in a live broadcast, claiming that it had "miraculous effects", only to be found by consumers to have mediocre results and a much higher price than other platforms. In the end, the blogger had to publicly apologize and refund some of the consumers.
These events are a reminder that information transparency and honest management are the cornerstones of the development of the online economy. If an industry loses the trust of consumers, then no matter how glamorous it looks, it may eventually decline.
Personal reviews
As an ordinary consumer, it is really uncomfortable to see this price difference. Internet celebrities bring goods to let us enjoy a more convenient shopping experience, but if there are too many cats hidden in it, it will make people more and more distrustful. This moon cake price war has given us a wake-up call: only by making more comparisons when shopping and not believing one-sided words can we protect our rights and interests.
Closing point
This mooncake price war once again revealed the importance of price transparency and integrity. In the future, we hope to see more merchants truly achieve price openness and transparency, so that consumers can buy clearly and use with confidence. After all, only transactions based on trust can benefit both consumers and merchants.