Blind box live streaming: Why do young people pay for it?

Blind box live broadcasts have emerged on platforms such as Douyin, attracting a large number of young consumers. With its unique gameplay and charm, it has created huge commercial potential, while also triggering thinking about consumer habits and product quality.

In recent years, blind box live broadcast rooms have set off a craze on the Douyin platform. From the initial card live broadcast rooms to the current influx of various products, blind box live broadcasts have attracted the attention and participation of a large number of young consumers with their unique gameplay and charm.

Is there a new logic of commercial monetization hidden behind this seemingly disordered consumption phenomenon?

1. Is blind box live streaming a new trend in the trendy economy?

Blind box live streaming was initially focused on the card field.

A box of 10 cards costs between 100 and 200 yuan. The anchor can easily make tens of thousands of yuan in sales in one night by opening boxes, removing cards, and checking cards in a smooth manner.

Data shows that the sales of leading card company Kayou on the Douyin platform in the first half of 2024 reached 278 million, far exceeding the full-year sales in 2023. This shows the huge potential of blind box live broadcasting.

With the success of the card live broadcast room, other ACG-related products have also entered the blind box live broadcast room. For example, the window sales of the "Jujutsu Kaisen" Baji product launched by the popular live broadcast room "Roast Chicken Card Opening" quickly climbed to 22,000, showing the strong driving force of blind box live broadcast on the ACG product market.

But blind box live streaming has not stopped at the two-dimensional field. More and more live streaming rooms have begun to emerge, selling some products that have no purchasing desire, such as outdated manicures and cheap handicrafts.

Although these products deviate from the mainstream market in terms of aesthetics, they have generated astonishing sales in the live broadcast room, showing the wide adaptability of blind box live broadcast. Behind this phenomenon of "buy even though it is ugly, buy even though it is useless", blind box live broadcast actually sells expensive waste to consumers? Unbelievable.

The gameplay of blind box live broadcast rooms is also constantly innovating, such as "Turtle Match" and "Mahjong Blind Box". These novel gameplays further enhance the ability to bring goods and give the live broadcast room content attributes.

While players were enjoying the exciting story of "placing 9 orders and emptying the merchant's warehouse", it also promoted the rapid growth of the number of fans.

For example, the "Roast Chicken Card Opening" live broadcast room made short videos of the process of users repeatedly winning prizes. These videos generally received tens of thousands of likes and over a million views, helping its fan base exceed one million on the evening of July 28.

The rise of blind box live broadcast rooms has undoubtedly brought a new business form to the trendy economy.

However, is this model, where entertainment experience is the key to attracting users to pay, and products are just accessories to add fun, really sustainable? Is there a new logic of commercial realization behind consumers paying for "useless things"?

On the one hand, blind box live streaming has attracted the attention and participation of a large number of young consumers with its unique gameplay and charm, bringing considerable sales and fan growth to merchants.

On the other hand, is this consumption model too dependent on entertainment and novelty? Once consumers become tired of this "blind box opening" gameplay, can blind box live broadcasts still maintain their appeal?

In addition, the products in the blind box live broadcast room often have significant profit margins, but this has also raised questions about the quality of their products. After purchasing, some consumers found that the quality of the purchased goods was far from their expectations, or even had quality problems.

Is this kind of live broadcast room, which is based on the logic of "sense of pleasure", too focused on the entertainment experience and neglecting the quality of the product?

2. How to play the “surprise economy”?

Blind box live broadcast, a carnival of entertainment and consumption, can young people really face it rationally? From ugliness to IP, the secret code of blind box live broadcast is a sales miracle of emotional value, or a clever exploration of profit space?

After reviewing the "blind box live broadcast phenomenon", we concluded that: first of all, the entertainment experience of the blind box is the core.

The core value of the blind box live broadcast room is undoubtedly the entertainment experience it provides. A survey in June 2023 showed that when consumers buy blind boxes, they enjoy the surprise and excitement of opening the box.

The products you get are often just accessories that add to the fun; the real attraction lies in the entertainment experience itself, which is the key to making users pay.

Second, the exploration of profit margins in blind box live broadcasts. Products in blind box live broadcasts often have amazing profit margins. The anchors use a half-sell and half-giveaway strategy, and the actual number of gifts is often several times the purchase amount, in order to maintain the popularity of the live broadcast room.

Although these products may not have actual use value, the hosts' clever marketing strategies and rich gift strategies can still make consumers feel satisfied and happy.

But taking a well-known blind box live broadcast room as an example, 10 packages can be opened for 20 yuan, while the same product can be bought 100 on Pinduoduo. The huge profit margin is self-evident.

Third, the sales model of emotional value. Blind box live broadcast is actually a sales model of emotional value. In the process of buying blind boxes, consumers experience a sense of dignity and attention similar to opening a bottle of Spade Ace in a nightclub.

This ever-increasing number of gifts not only increases consumers’ inner joy, but also further enhances the shopping experience. As one consumer said, “The moment I drew the hidden model, I felt like I had won 1 million! I will never forget it.”

It can be said that this is the secret of addiction, gambling-style stress relief. Although everyone knows that the things drawn have little practical value and only provide a short-term pleasure, why do some people still buy them again and again?

Because compared to the specific content of the blind box, the gameplay of "drawing the blind box" itself is the key. If you draw the color of your wish, you will draw an extra pack. If the same color appears, you will draw another pack. The more you buy, the greater the probability of drawing an extra pack.

The "full of luck" that was swiping across the screen in the live broadcast room became a carnival for consumers. This gambling-style stress relief method brought great satisfaction to both consumers and onlookers.

In order to enhance the fun of the game, the anchors will consciously reduce the difficulty and actively give away a few extra packs, so that consumers can open the "hidden version" to their satisfaction and leave with satisfaction. Behind all this is the anchors' precise control of profit margins and deep understanding of consumer psychology.

Appreciating ugliness is also aesthetics, and something that is eye-catching can also attract attention. Of course, the gameplay can only explain why some people pay repeatedly, but it cannot explain why they paid for the first time. In addition to relying on the current hot IP, the blind box live broadcast room also relies on the visual impact of curiosity to attract consumers.

For example, this year's popular nail product "wearable nails" appeared in the blind box live broadcast room with a tacky design that was shocking, and what stimulated consumption was the expectation for the next unknown style.

This curiosity about ugliness has become the main motivation for consumption. The key is that a good-looking product can only resonate with a small number of people with the same aesthetic standards, but an ugly thing can poke the mainstream public's funny points. The larger the radiation group, the greater the business opportunities.

Finally, let's look at the influence of IP and the "surprise economy". In addition to ugliness, leveraging the influence of IP is also an important way for blind box live broadcasts. Take Pop Mart as an example. Among the 85 IPs it operates, there are 12 self-owned IPs, 22 exclusive IPs and 51 non-exclusive IPs. These IPs have brought huge commercial value to the blind box industry.

According to statistics, the sales revenue of trendy toy products independently developed based on a certain IP of Pop Mart reached 41.02 million yuan, 213 million yuan and 456 million yuan respectively between 2017 and 2019.

The essence of blind box craze is a kind of "surprise economy". Wang Yueqin, deputy director of the Publishing and Media Department of the School of Film and Television Media of Shanghai Normal University, pointed out that the "surprise economy" will create unexpected spiritual and material values ​​and is a convenient means to generate psychological pleasure.

Social attributes and the second market. The blind box craze reflects, to a certain extent, the young people’s demand for cultural products that are humane, personalized, diversified, fashionable, and high-quality.

Blind box manufacturers and fans use social platforms to intentionally or unintentionally establish social circles from online to offline, completing social activities such as communication, discussion, sharing, and exchange. This social attribute is also an important reason why blind box products are sought after and hyped.

In addition to the social nature of blind boxes among young people, the blind box craze has also promoted the development of the secondary market and surrounding industries. According to data from the second-hand idle trading platform "Xianyu", 420,000 players traded blind boxes in 2019.

Take Pop Mart as an example. The transaction price of one of its blind boxes in the second-hand market was inflated by nearly 39 times.

Different groups of people have different views on blind boxes. Some parents think that their children spend too much on toys and that it is an over-consumption. However, some veteran blind box players do not think so. They believe that there is a rational way to play blind boxes, and they can increase the probability of drawing the desired blind box by studying the feel, weight, etc.

Wang Yueqin believes that blind boxes are essentially "impulsive consumption" and reminds young people not to indulge themselves in them and to return to rational consumption. This is indeed a question worth pondering.

3. From the surprise economy to the double-edged sword of impulse buying

Is blind box live streaming a product of trendy culture or a hotbed of consumer addiction? After all, the products in blind boxes have little practical value. Should consumers be more rational when purchasing? Behind the surprise economy, how does blind box live streaming affect our consumption habits?

Objectively speaking, blind boxes, as a product of trendy culture, have risen rapidly in recent years. Manufacturers continue to launch various toy IPs to attract consumers to choose from.

The IP attribute of blind boxes not only stimulates the fans' continued consumption enthusiasm, but also gives birth to a unique circle culture. This cultural phenomenon not only promotes the vigorous development of the blind box industry, but also drives the prosperity of the secondary market and surrounding industries.

However, blind box live streaming has two sides.

The essence of the blind box craze is a "surprise economy", which creates unexpected spiritual and material value for consumers and becomes a convenient means to generate psychological pleasure.

However, the social attributes of blind boxes also stimulate more purchasing behavior, sometimes even leading to irrational impulse purchases. When consumers compete with each other to grab blind boxes in the live broadcast room, their bodies secrete a large amount of dopamine, which brings a short-term sense of pleasure and stress relief, but this kind of impulse consumption often makes people temporarily forget their usual frugality and indulge in the pleasure of spending money.

Finally, consumers need to be more wary of the potential risks of blind box live streaming.

Wen Peifen, a second-level psychological counselor, pointed out that the popularity of blind box live broadcasts is influenced by the psychology of curiosity and herd mentality. Changes in contemporary consumption structure have increased consumers' social needs, making blind boxes in live broadcasts a social product.

However, she also reminded consumers that the emotional peak experience brought by blind box consumption is short-lived and should be viewed rationally to avoid addiction. She suggested that consumers enrich their spiritual world and cultivate healthy consumption habits by learning to delay gratification, increasing outdoor activities and hobbies.

There are also many concerns about the quality of goods in blind box live broadcasts. Many consumers have reported that the quality of the blind box goods they received is uneven, and there are even problems such as "poor quality" and "pungent odor".

According to relevant laws and regulations in my country, there are clear quality requirements for toys for people under the age of 14. The platform should ensure that all toys and props used by merchants comply with relevant national regulations to protect the rights and interests of consumers.

Regulations and responsibilities are also the way to standardize blind box live streaming.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Consumer Rights Protection Law" and the "Specifications (Trial)", blind box operators should fully inform consumers of the basic necessary information about the quality of the goods and ensure that the source of the goods is reliable and the quality is qualified. Merchants should also fulfill their responsibilities to protect the rights of consumers during online live broadcasts.

The platform is obliged to disclose the seller's name, address and other true information to consumers, and to improve the product quality system on the platform through basic entry thresholds, regular and quantitative sampling inspections, etc.

Conclusion

Blind boxes, as a product of trendy culture, have undoubtedly set off a consumption boom among young people. However, can this boom continue? Will the trend economy that comes with it gradually decline as people's love for trendy culture decreases? These are all unknown.

The blind box live broadcast room has demonstrated its unique appeal in terms of entertainment experience, profit margin, emotional value sales model, etc.

But at the same time, we should also see the problems: the prevalence of ugly culture, the risk of impulsive consumption, etc. Therefore, when facing blind box live broadcasts, we should remain rational, enjoy the fun, and avoid overconsumption.

In the final analysis, what is the future of the blind box economy? Perhaps only time can tell us the answer. Five, ten, or twenty years later, everything will be self-evident. Before that, all we can do is to remain rational and treat this emerging consumer phenomenon with caution.

It can be said that blind box live streaming, as a product of trendy culture, has brought the dual effects of surprise economy and social attributes, but consumers need to be wary of its potential risks, and platforms and merchants should also jointly protect consumer safety.

Written by Li Jiaman Edited by Yang Yong Source | Hydrogen Consumption Production ID | HQingXiaoFei
This article is written by the author [Hydrogen Consumption] of Operation Party, WeChat public account: [Hydrogen Consumption]. It is originally created/authorized to be published on Operation Party. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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