Internet-addicted parents, crazy shopping in the live broadcast room

With the development of short videos, e-commerce live streaming has been infiltrating our lives. It is not only young people who are addicted to live streaming, but even our parents. Old people who are addicted to the Internet may be more crazy than young people in adolescence. What is it about live streaming that makes the elderly so addicted? And why?

"My mother is addicted to shopping in live broadcasts. The Hetian jade and gold she bought back home with appraisal certificates are piled up in express boxes." "My father bought something for 99 yuan in the live broadcast room. I found it for 9.9 yuan on the e-commerce platform. My father said that the one I found was fake." "How can I stop my parents from buying things? I want to call the police."...

Elderly people addicted to the Internet may become more crazy than adolescents.

“Three-no” daily necessities, health products, jade bracelets, calligraphy and paintings are piled up like mountains at home. Many netizens are driven crazy by their parents’ frequent “shopping sprees” in the live broadcast room.

In order to "save" their addicted parents, children have tried every possible means to stop them, including leaving messages in the live broadcast room to remind them, reporting the room, restricting their parents' payment methods, setting up youth mode, and forcibly preventing their parents from placing orders. Some even wanted to take their parents to see the anchor in person, but their parents' shopping enthusiasm only increased.

What kind of live broadcast makes the elderly so addicted?

Homemade skits with twists and turns, celebrity anecdotes, getting rich overnight, and health lectures are basically the hardest hit areas for the elderly. Health products, jewelry, paid courses, daily necessities, etc., as long as they are labeled as low-priced and welfare, can easily attract some elderly people.

The helpless young man asked: "How can I save my parents?"

1. Parents are addicted to livestream shopping, and their home is filled with piles of antique calligraphy and paintings

This Spring Festival, Xiaofei returned to his hometown in Harbin and found that both houses were filled with jade, calligraphy and paintings, and ceramic vases. Xiaofei was shocked, while his mother happily showed off the so-called famous paintings and antiques she had bought. "My mother said these things are worth more than 10 million yuan, but they were only sold for a few hundred yuan because something happened at the boss's home. If we can find a good channel to sell them, we can buy a house in Beijing." Xiaofei felt angry and amused when he heard this.

During the seven days at home during the Spring Festival, Xiaofei noticed that his mother was watching the live broadcasts of emotional anchors on the video account all the time, where all kinds of twists and turns and bizarre stories were played out. The anchors helped people settle things, rescue hostages, track down victims, or connect with fans to mediate family disputes, and help wives whose husbands had cheated catch mistresses. There was constant "dog-blood" plots.

According to rough estimates, Xiaofei's mother bought fifty or sixty items, most of which were priced within 1,000 yuan, with most of them costing one or two hundred yuan, and the total cost was at least over ten thousand yuan.

"One of the paintings my mother called an 'antique' had neat seams between the patterns, which was obviously made by a machine. I immediately found the same one on Taobao and it was selling for 190 yuan," Xiaofei asked his mother how much she paid for it, and she replied 185 yuan. "I don't know if she made up the price to satisfy me, but at least it's definitely not an antique."

Another painting that had not yet been unpacked had a shipping address in Yiwu, Zhejiang. Xiaofei told his mother that it was an ordinary imitation product from the Yiwu small commodity production base, and not some collection that the boss had encountered difficulties and let people pick up at a bargain price. But Xiaofei's mother said that it had been explained in the live broadcast room that the boss was in Yiwu.

Lina from Wuhan doesn't live with her parents. She went home several times and woke up at 2 or 3 in the morning to find her father still watching Kuaishou live broadcast. She watched it several times and found that the stories broadcast were all similar. For example, a rich boss cheated on his wife, and the anchor helped the original wife catch the mistress to fight for the inheritance. At the end of each broadcast, they would sell things, and the things that were said to be worth tens of thousands of yuan were only sold for a few hundred yuan.

"My dad has two mobile phones, which he charges every day. He watches live broadcasts and goes on a shopping spree day and night." Lina has seen some of the health products her father bought. Some of the packages only have "XX oral liquid" written on them, without even information such as the manufacturer and ingredients.

Things Lina's father bought/Photo provided by the interviewee

Her house also has various jade beads, bracelets, rings, necklaces, and magnetic clothes bought by her parents, many of which have not even been opened in the express boxes. Lina asked her father why he bought them if they were useless, and her father said it was to help others.

Once, Lina saw her mother buy a set of skin care products worth more than 300 yuan. She had never heard of the name. She called the number on the box, but no one answered. "After buying many things, the links no longer exist, the anchors also changed their numbers, and there was no place to find anyone for after-sales service."

Rongrong and his parents, who are nearly 60 years old, have been watching Kuaishou live broadcasts and shopping together for more than a year.

They bought a lot of "health products", including various oral liquids and "pills". Rongrong was particularly anxious because they were something to be taken orally. She found that some of the "health products" had "XX oral liquid" or "XX pills" written on the packaging, but in the lower right corner it was written in very small font that they were fruit drinks or compressed candies. Many of them were not health products at all, let alone medicines, but their parents still thought they had effects on the body.

"My mother also bought a pendant and a bracelet, spending nearly 2,000 yuan on both. They were said to be made of natural stones that could protect the whole family. I specially asked someone to do an appraisal, and the other party said they were made of ceramic and very cheap." Rongrong asked for a refund, but his mother insisted on not returning the goods.

Screenshots of some shopping orders from Rongrong's parents/Photo provided by the interviewee

Some elderly people always believe in their own judgment, while some parents realize that they have been tricked but it is too late.

Li Zhengzhong is 64 years old and often plays the fast version of Douyin. Some time ago, he saw a live broadcast by a host teaching people how to make money with Douyin accounts. The host said that he could help make avatars, accounts, and teach how to edit videos with goods, and post product links. He could earn hundreds of yuan a day, with a guaranteed monthly income of 6,600 yuan.

According to him, after watching the live broadcast, a staff member contacted him to sign up for a course. The course that was priced at 5,999 yuan only cost 2,999 yuan after the discount, and they promised to refund the money within 10 days without any reason. They also gave him Douyin account traffic and fans, so he could earn back the tuition fee in a short time, which made Li Zhengzhong very excited.

After paying, he found that the course was about making short videos and selling goods. There were many professional terms in it. He did not have a high level of education and could not understand the content of the lectures at all. He asked the teacher for a refund. The teacher made excuses for various reasons, and sent him a link to a class every morning and afternoon. Later, Li Zhengzhong opened the contract for the course and found that it stated that when refunding, the fees for the courses that had already started would be deducted, 99 yuan per class, and the service fee was 299 yuan, and a penalty of 20% of the total course would be borne.

It was delayed until the 7th day, and the teacher had already sent Li Zhengzhong the links of 13 lessons. Seeing that the problem could not be resolved, Li Zhengzhong told his niece. After some communication, the other party agreed to settle the bill. After deducting the above fees, only 804 yuan of the 2,999 yuan was refundable.

"We older people are indeed a little easily instigated. In recent years, I feel that the era of short videos has arrived, and anchors have made it too easy to make money by selling goods. I yearn for what the anchors promote, thinking that if I can do it, I will be better than my peers and appear very powerful in front of everyone. In the end, I was deceived," said Li Zhengzhong.

2. Children tried all kinds of ways to stop me, but none of them worked

The children were anxious when they found out that their parents were addicted to watching live broadcasts and shopping, and they tried all kinds of ways to dissuade them.

"I have clicked on complaints and reports in the live broadcast room, but sometimes it was useless. Sometimes the broadcast would stop for a while and then resume. Some accounts were banned or blocked, but they could immediately start broadcasting again by changing to another account. The host also told fans that it was an enemy who reported it, which made my parents and the host more united." Xiaofei said.

In order to stop her parents, Lina went to the live broadcast room to watch these people's tricks. Once, she left a message saying, "The girl was called Xiaoyu just now, why is she called Xiaohong again? You are obviously cheating people." The other party replied, "The anchor was very busy and accidentally called the wrong person." Lina continued to swipe the screen in the live broadcast room to accuse the anchor of deceiving the elderly with "three-no" products, but she was banned after just a few words.

Forced into a corner, Lina wanted to take her father to find the anchor he often watched. "I told my dad to ask the anchor where he is, and we should buy tickets to go to the scene to see where he is broadcasting and how he helps people. My dad said that he is traveling all over the country." Once, when her father wasn't paying attention, Lina turned the APP he used to watch live broadcasts into youth mode. When her father got the phone, he found that he could no longer see that kind of live broadcast. Lina kindly said that the platform was rectified and all those were banned. "As a result, my dad registered a new account overnight and started watching again."

Later, Lina took away her father's salary card and only gave him some pocket money every month. Her father used the pocket money to buy things. Sometimes when he was out of money, he would ask Lina if he could transfer a few hundred yuan to buy something, and the items in the live broadcast room would be sold out immediately.

Rongrong and her mother have had countless arguments over buying things by watching live broadcasts. "My mom's bank card was unlinked, and she used WeChat to buy things. After she changed the password on WeChat, she used my dad's phone to buy things. She used to buy things openly, but now she buys things secretly."

There are also children who try their best to stop their parents from placing orders once or twice, but their parents still approve of the anchor and the products he recommends from the bottom of their hearts, and the risk of continued addiction in the future still makes their children worried.

Bingbing's mother Li Mei is 61 years old this year. She often watches live broadcasts on the video account telling celebrity anecdotes, singing and selling goods. She was attracted by the free Chinese studies course recommended by the anchor in one of the live broadcast rooms, and switched to the WeChat group. She listened to the "Book of Changes" and divination-related courses in the WeChat group on time from 8 to 12 o'clock every night for a week. On the last day, the "teacher" began to introduce offline courses with an original price of 80,000 to 90,000 yuan, which can be purchased online for 9,800 yuan. According to the "teacher", after learning, you can predict good and bad luck for your family, predict the trend of stocks, and make money by fortune-telling for others, earning several thousand yuan for one order.

"She was attracted on the spot. She usually saves a few cents when buying vegetables, but at this time she said she was willing to spend money to sign up." Bingbing told her that these were all "tricks", but her mother insisted on signing up. Later, Bingbing found her father and brother, and they persuaded and criticized her mother and finally pulled her back.

However, Bingbing's mother buys "wool sweaters" for 39 yuan, coats for 79 yuan, and sausages for more than 100 yuan in the live broadcast room every day.

"Although my family didn't let me sign up to learn the I Ching, I still think the host's class is the best I've ever heard. The subject is also very useful. 9,800 yuan is not expensive for 6 courses, and it will be very useful after learning it." Li Mei said. In Bingbing's opinion, her mother still hasn't realized that the live broadcast content is carefully designed by the host to sell goods or courses.

Wenyuan, who lives in Qingdao, has always known that her mother often shops in the live broadcast room, but she has never interfered. Last year, her mother had a colitis operation, and her recovery was slow and she was in pain all the time. Recently, her mother suddenly said that she wanted to go to a traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Shijiazhuang for treatment. Wenyuan only found out that her mother learned about this hospital while watching a live broadcast on Douyin, saying that this hospital has patented drugs that are very effective for colitis. Moreover, her mother has been taking traditional Chinese medicine for 6 months according to the instructions in the live broadcast, spending tens of thousands of yuan. Her mother herself feels that it is effective, so after the "yang" before the New Year, colitis recurred and she decided to go to this hospital for treatment.

Wenyuan searched online and found that many netizens were saying that this hospital was cheating the elderly. After some netizens went there, they found that many of the elderly people came there after watching Douyin. Some people spent 8,000 yuan in treatment in a week, but their illness was not cured.

"When I learned that she was going to such a hospital for treatment, I was so angry that I couldn't speak. She took medicine for six months without telling me. Who knew what the ingredients were? And even if she didn't take medicine in six months, her body might have recovered." Wen Yuan said.

Wenyuan then tried his best to stop his mother and made an appointment for her to have a colonoscopy at a regular hospital. "Although I stopped her temporarily, my mother is still obsessed with it. I sent her what netizens said, but she still said she wanted to give it one last try. It's like she's possessed by a demon and doesn't recognize her relatives, but what she said on the live broadcast."

3. Why are the elderly addicted to live streaming sales?

It’s no use for the children to try to stop them, and the parents still don’t stop even after being taught a lesson. What’s so magical about selling goods through live streaming?

Shenran noticed that there are usually two logics when anchors switch from "small drama" to selling goods: one is to punish bad guys and let fans buy their things at low prices. For example, the "mistress" who was caught has a factory. The anchor team enters the other party's system background and sells things that originally cost several thousand yuan at a low price, calling on fans to buy goods to make her "lose a lot of money"; the other is that good people are in trouble, such as the factory owner goes bankrupt or a rich girl is in trouble, and the anchor calls on fans to buy things to help people.

The goods sold by these anchors are also very distinctive. The first category is health care products. The older the elderly are, the more they value health, which makes them most likely to fall into the trap of this kind of live broadcast; the second category is jewelry, jade, calligraphy and painting, beads, and Buddha statues. In the eyes of many people, these types of things have collection value and can be passed down from generation to generation. Some of them have some superstitious colors of blessing family members. Once there is a so-called "leak", the elderly are easily deceived; the third category is daily necessities. This kind of consumables that can be used in daily life, compared with the prices of offline and other e-commerce platforms, the live broadcast room can attract the elderly by offering certain discounts.

These live broadcast rooms take advantage of the fact that the elderly pay attention to health and are particularly compassionate. The items are not expensive and will not exceed their daily consumption level. In addition, the prices of items such as health products and jewelry and jade vary in the market, making it difficult to protect their rights.

Dou Donghui, a psychology professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, analyzed that the elderly are sensitive to prices, and as long as a fictitious "original price" or "discount" price is given, the elderly will have the illusion of "getting a bargain". In addition, the elderly lack online shopping experience and are more likely to believe the anchor's words.

Another thing is that the atmosphere created by these live broadcast rooms is also very attractive to the elderly. Shenran entered a live broadcast room based on the account provided by the interviewee. At around 0:00 p.m., the live broadcast room was selling a lotus Buddha hand statue for 499 yuan. The anchor was explaining, "Moms and dads, I want you to be healthy and have more and more blessings. My son tells you that if you buy this thing, the fortune of the elderly, the career of the young, and the study of the children will all turn around. This represents many children, wealth, and happiness." The anchor also said sincerely from time to time: "You are not relatives to me, but you are better than relatives." At the same time, he reminded the elderly "Don't sell them after buying them, hide them in your own home, and protect these things well."

Dou Donghui pointed out that most of the elderly are in the "empty nest period" and have a stronger psychological need for social belonging. The live broadcast room creates a virtual space, and the atmosphere of "family" and the gathering of people of the same age and the same hobbyists gives the elderly an emotional sustenance. The purchase behavior becomes a "participation certificate" to strengthen identity recognition. In addition, the reason why the elderly can highly trust the anchor is that they have more free time to stay in the live broadcast room. The pure exposure effect (like because of familiarity) makes it easy for them to trust and rely on the anchor.

Many young people analyzed their parents' addiction to live shopping, and all agreed that they, as children, have a certain responsibility for not having more time to accompany their parents. In addition, the short videos and live broadcasts that are popular nowadays can indeed make people immersed in them, and some of the live streaming methods that skirt the rules urgently need platform supervision and constraints.

Some of the elderly people who are addicted to it are unwilling to admit it even if they feel something is wrong later due to face-saving. They do not tell their families that they have suffered in silence, thus condoning similar routines to be played out again and again.

Lina told Shenran that one time her father bought a jade stone that looked relatively large during the live broadcast, but the item he received was actually very small. Lina saw her father ask in the anchor’s live broadcast room, “Why was the item sent to me so small?” No one paid attention to him. Lina’s father explained that “there were too many people watching the live broadcast, and the anchor didn’t have time to reply to the fans.” Later, the matter was left unresolved.

Li Zhengzhong mentioned, "I bought a bracelet for 999 yuan. The anchor said that the original price was 30,000 yuan. Wearing it is prestigious and it can be passed on to future generations. He also said that this is a reward for fans. I was moved at the time." But half a year later, Li Zhengzhong found three identical bracelets for 100 yuan at an exhibition. "I realized that I was indeed tricked, and I never bought anything like that again. I also bought a health product containing blueberries, saying that it is good for the eyes of people who often look at their phones. It cost 100 yuan for three boxes, but it actually had no effect. Although I thought I had some experience, I fell into the trap again when I met the course seller this time."

Li Zhengzhong was too embarrassed to tell his daughter about this. "I am considered a very smart person by everyone. How can I tell her that I was cheated? But I can't solve the problem myself. I haven't been eating or sleeping well recently, and my blood pressure is a little high."

As children, what we can do is to help the elderly shift their interests, spend more time on outdoor activities, communicating with others and interacting with the real world, provide them with more scientific and formal information channels, better identify product information, and use cases on the Internet where the elderly have suffered financial and mental losses due to their addiction to online shopping to provide timely reminders to the elderly.

*At the request of the interviewees, Xiaofei, Lina, Rongrong, Bingbing, Li Mei, Wenyuan and Li Zhengzhong are pseudonyms in this article.

Author: Tang Yahua; Editor: Li Ming

Source public account: Shenran (ID: shenrancaijing), focusing on innovative economy and dedicated to in-depth content.