STUDY USA: BLIND BOXES ARE EFFECTIVE FOR GETTING PEOPLE TO BUY STUFF, FINDS STUDY

People looking for hard-to-find Labubu dolls will be familiar with blind boxes – when it’s unclear which doll you’ll get – and now there’s scientific research to prove that combining this mystery with perceived scarcity can be effective in motivating people to buy.

The study – conducted in China and published by Elsevier – makes the case that marketers who are able to create scarcity in certain situations and then are able to match this to product goals will improve their effectiveness.

Hedonic vs Utilitarian

The study makes the distinction between hedonic and utilitarian products. Hedonic products, say the authors, “provide consumers with aesthetic pleasure, offering emotional and sensory experiences”. In contrast, utilitarian products “serve functional purposes, fulfilling specific needs based on rational judgment”.

According to the research, two types of scarcity, supply or demand-based, add to the allure of blind boxes which are often purposely created to have limited availability.

This study makes the evidence more persuasive by linking the outcomes to underlying neuropsychological mechanisms (which we will warn readers are fairly complex).

Takeaways

• When people perceive a hedonic product in a blind box to be in short supply – because its supply has been intentionally limited by a producer – it triggers feelings of loss of control and emotional arousal.


• When demand exceeds supply for utilitarian products – because of a sudden surge in consumer desire – it increases the likelihood of people making an impulse purchase, driven by a sense of urgency.


• Limiting supply is a more effective strategy with hedonic products, such as Labubu dolls, than it is with utilitarian ones; impulse purchasing tends to increase in the event of demand-based scarcity.

Why blind boxes matter

The rise of the blind box sales strategy has become a distinct phenomenon within the Chinese market, driven in part by the incredible success of Pop Mart, which sells and markets the wildly popular Labubu dolls.

The study notes that Pop Mart’s sales grew consistently from 2019 to 2023. In the first half of 2024, the company achieved sales of 4.56 billion yuan, marking a 62% year-on-year increase. “These figures highlight the substantial growth potential of the blind box economy,” conclude the authors.

[Image: Labubu dolls, part of a series available in blind boxes, Pop Mart)

Source: warc.com; sourced from Elsevier