Why Consumers Love Blind Boxes

With the increasing prevalence of the blind box economy, blind boxes have become a commonplace "necessity" in our daily lives, replacing their previous status as mere non-essential. Despite blind boxing becoming ubiquitous, there has been minimal research into the motivations behind why consumers are drawn to this trend. Against this background, this research will primarily utilize secondary data, complemented by a questionnaire survey, to analyse the factors driving consumers' fondness for blind boxes and analyze the factors contributing to the appeal of Blind Boxes, focusing on the popular Brand IP Marketing developed by Blind Box publishers and the "Blind Box-Funky Group" established by consumers. This study adopts the "STEPPS" theoretical framework and on this basis, also divides the reasons for the popularity of blind boxes into two aspects: user- perceived and blind box corporate offerings. It is found that Social currency and Emotions are the two main aspects of the popularity of blind boxes. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the external triggers that blind box companies intentionally create for consumers also contribute a lot. Our findings provide guidelines for the blind box companies in managing the rationale behind the Blind Box consumer market and offer fresh insights for its future development.