chongqing outlook丨who is raising "sheep" in the live streaming sales world?
2024-09-21
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another top anchor with 100 million fans has been pushed to the forefront. this time, the one in trouble is the "crazy little yang brother" family and the three sheep company behind it.
on september 17, the hefei high-tech zone market supervision and administration bureau issued a notice to investigate the suspected "misleading consumers" behavior of the three sheep company in live streaming the "hong kong meicheng mooncakes". after the regulator intervened, douyin's customer service also said that the platform has intervened and will cooperate with the investigation and will not condone it.
the “three sheep incident” has turned from a farce in which top anchors quarreled with each other and netizens watched the show, to a serious drama about consumer rights protection and the regulation of live streaming sales.when the fog of words about “family”, “brothers” and “sisters” is dispelled, the public who have returned to their identity as consumers may need to re-examine:
in the era of live streaming sales, how should everyone's rights be protected? who is raising "sheep" in the live streaming sales world? how should the chaos of live streaming sales be rectified and standardized?
▲announcement on the investigation of the three sheep company. / screenshot from chongqing outlook
the "trigger" of the three sheep incident was due to the different pricing of a crab, which caused the top anchors of the two platforms to fight each other. the two sides went from verbal battles to exposing black material, and the situation continued to escalate. later, the "rashomon" of the three sheep hong kong meicheng mooncakes surfaced, and the "family members" who once supported the anchors discovered that behind those "brothers" and "family members" who shouted at the top of their lungs, there might be a carefully planned deception.
for brands, it’s not just the crabs that are rampant, but also the top anchors who “hold on to their fans”; for consumers, what flows in the mooncakes is not only the milk yolk, but also the unscrupulous calculations.
from the "crab incident" to the "mooncake incident", many consumers have discovered that the sincerity of these anchors in the live broadcast room is just to gain more benefits and harvest more "leeks". the so-called "lowest price on the entire network" that they desperately grab is just to monopolize the bargaining power; the so-called hong kong brand mooncakes that are enthusiastically recommended are actually not available in hong kong at all.
live streaming has broadened marketing channels and given consumers more choices, but it has unexpectedly become a disaster area where consumer rights have been severely damaged.
it is no accident that the mooncakes sold through live streaming by three sheep were exposed. judging from the overwhelming public opinion, consumers have long suffered from the chaos of live streaming. judging from the products sold in the live streaming rooms of three sheep company, the exposed pork belly with plum sauce and the questionable origin of maotai liquor... behind the dazzling "battle report", how many consumers have been fooled and acted as "suckers".
however, after the product is exposed or questioned, the seller is often able to evade responsibility and stay out of the matter. they lure consumers into the trap by selling products in a high-profile manner, but when problems arise, they ignore the damage to the rights of their “family members” and escape by being an “advertiser”. it is no wonder that such a business that only makes money but does not take responsibility attracts so many live-stream sellers.
equality of power and responsibility should be the basic rule for the operation of society. however, behind the chaos of live streaming sales, there is obviously an imbalance of power and responsibility. fake goods are rampant, and the goods are not what they claim to be...the disordered ecosystem of live streaming e-commerce has allowed anchors to make a fortune, but has also caused consumers to be frequently deceived and have nowhere to appeal, forcing them to endure the grievance and helplessness of being deceived by their "family members."
▲on the eve of the mid-autumn festival, xiao yangge sold "hong kong meicheng mooncakes" in the live broadcast room. / screenshot from chongqing lookout
the anchors are trying to fish in troubled waters in the chaotic live broadcast world. who is actually raising the "sheep" to cause trouble?
the platform has an unshirkable responsibility. what is the most important thing in the field of live streaming? of course, it is traffic. as the operator and wholesaler of traffic, the platform acts as the actual largest advertiser. the anchors, especially the top anchors, are just subcontractors of traffic and often need to obtain traffic through "recharge".
at the same time, the platform needs to use anchors to complete the value conversion of traffic, and anchors must use this traffic to grab value, so they must find ways to get the producers and consumers. many anchors, on the one hand, suppress the profits of the product side to compete for the "lowest price on the entire network", and on the other hand, reduce the quality of the product to cheat consumers, and finally maximize their profits by squeezing both ends.
pay the lowest cost, take the least responsibility, and gain the most benefits in the entire consumption chain. this is the so-called "traffic value".under this distorted "traffic value", producers are forced to give up the pursuit of product quality, and the quality of the products consumers buy is often greatly reduced due to the "discount price" of the anchor.
in fact, the traffic value achieved by the deformed live streaming ecosystem is at the expense of diluting product quality, consumer rights and market order. in this regard, both the platform and the live streamers are blinded by the interests and turn a blind eye.
the three sheep incident has been fermenting for so long, including the previous meicaikourou incident and the controversy over the sale of questionable maotai. why is the platform always in a state of detachment and waiting? even in this "rashomon" mooncake incident, it waited until the relevant departments intervened before speaking out? the indulgence of the top anchors in the live broadcast world may be due to the huge temptation of interests. between the huge sales brought by the top anchors and the rights of consumers, it is not difficult to judge which side the platform leans on.
in addition, whether the relevant regulatory authorities take the initiative is also the key to whether consumer rights can be better protected in the emerging business of live streaming. a light-hearted characterization of "just an advertiser" not only fails to answer the doubts in the minds of consumers, but is more likely to condone the fearlessness of the sellers. this scene has caused controversy in the chaos of celebrity endorsements. therefore, for the chaos of live streaming, the regulatory authorities should dispel the fog of rights and responsibilities as soon as possible. even if the anchor is the "advertiser", there should be a clear red line.
raising "sheep" is a scourge to consumers and damages consumer rights. if the so-called traffic value conversion needs to be achieved at the expense of consumer rights, then it is not difficult to find the culprit for the current situation in which live streaming is difficult to clarify.
platforms, anchors, and consumers, who are raising the "sheep" and who are the lambs to be slaughtered? the answer should not be in the turbid traffic and vague responsibilities.
▲ honesty is the basic requirement for live streaming sales. photo by wang peng/xinhua news agency
the three sheep have been investigated by the market supervision department. we look forward to the early announcement of fair and transparent investigation results.
every time a livestreamer, especially a top livestreamer, fails, it means the loss of consumer rights and interests, challenges to market order and rules, and damages the integrity of society. the lack of perfect order and rules for livestreaming sales is not conducive to the protection of consumer rights and interests, nor to the healthy development of the industry.
as consumers, we hope that the exposure of this mooncake incident involving the top anchor will lead to the rectification and standardization of the entire live streaming e-commerce industry.only by clarifying the responsibilities of producers, platforms, sellers and regulators can live streaming e-commerce get out of the chaotic zone and bid farewell to the state of wild growth, and move towards standardized, orderly and healthy development, and the rights and interests of consumers can be more comprehensively protected.
in the "three sheep incident", whether it is the emergence of "industry compensation" or the awareness of "three times compensation for fake products", it shows that some top anchors have realized that if live streaming is allowed to consume integrity and ignore fairness and grow barbarically and disorderly, the industry is doomed to fail. unfortunately, this is not a rigid system and rule, and there is no industry consensus yet.
in order to allow the "three sheep" to grow in a healthy soil and to create a healthier ecology for live streaming e-commerce, the top priority is to clarify the rights and responsibilities of this emerging business model and draw clear institutional red lines for live streaming e-commerce.
in summary, only by focusing on consumer rights protection and improving laws and regulations can live streaming and live streaming anchors not deviate from the track of fairness and integrity, and traffic can truly bring benefits to consumers rather than traps.。
