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When the silver-haired economy encounters algorithmic hunting, this seemingly absurd intergenerational consumer conflict is actually a cognitive asymmetry business war in the digital age.
Wen Ba Jiuling WeChat public number Wu Xiaobo channel
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The first month has just passed, many home for the New Year’s netizens in the social platform of the Internet addiction under the topic of the elderly to recognize the same parents Some addicted to earn gold, online for eight hours in order to earn 2 yuan Some do not think about tea and rice, brushing short videos, watching short plays, listening to novels late at night There are also obsessed with online shopping can not be extricated, many of them are convinced of a glimpse of fake goods.
Elderly people looking at cell phones in the park
Many young people lamented that the original stable and transparent parents, under the bombardment of electronic information, the style of dealing with things all of a sudden became childish!
The price is not equal to the efficacy, and it is mostly a scam. I’ve told him many times, but he still can’t help but order.
Originally recognized by the whole family as the most rational mother, but now it is surprising to be deceived. She has unconditional trust in the anchor and believes whatever the anchor says.
A few days ago, China Youth Daily, a thousand people survey questionnaire shows that 69 7 respondents and elders in the family have had disagreements on online shopping. Among them, more than 4 adults bluntly said that, compared to family members, the elderly in the product function and quality of good and bad judgment on the more trust in the anchor.
On the other hand, on the social media Direct broadcast of health care bureau set up the elderly elderly people for the anchor reward can not be recovered Drama live room rounding up the elderly and other events are commonplace. There is no lack of cases, and when the children find out, the elderly have spent all their savings, and even carry a high debt.
When the silver economy encountered algorithmic hunting, this seemingly absurd intergenerational consumption conflict, in fact, is a cognitive asymmetry of the digital era of commercial warfare. Behind this, what reasons are intertwined, and what trends are reflected?
How to set up the elderly
According to a number of media investigations and combing, the merchants set the old man’s methods, complete and numerous, can be described as step by step, precise strokes.
For example, some merchants will be in the parks and vegetable markets to pull the elderly to the store to listen to lectures to receive eggs, explaining the health content. It does not matter whether the elderly listen to hear, sit full time will be able to get eggs. Intermittently after half a month, the staff will pull the old people into the WeChat group, let them watch the designated live punch card will be able to collect coupons, there are red packets to grab, the amount of money from a few cents to a few dollars ranging from the same time, but also to get the whole field of general discount coupons.
Live streaming activities for the elderly
Image source Network
However, giving things away is fake and selling things is real. When free gifts and low-priced goods to cultivate trust and consumption habits, merchants will begin to sell high-priced products online The anchor in the group will first recommend soap, Kleenex and other small commodities, with the old man and mother and other words to coax the elderly, and then mixed with high-priced commodities mixed sales, to induce the purchase.
In the live broadcast, some merchants will be fictional antique experts and other professional identity, show jadeite stone paintings and other false high-priced goods, to get rich overnight, such as the value of the city and other terms of marketing, while employing the water army to create the illusion of snapping up. The actual delivery is cheap and inferior products, and customized products are not returnable as a reason for refusing after-sales service.
Fake Antiques Selling Live Streaming
Source CCTV News
Some anchors will also be in the name of recycling to lower the old man’s guard Put a few years, now is two thousand dollars shot, by the time it will appreciate to a few million, and so we come to recycle, will let you get rich overnight.
There are also live broadcasts, with PK drama to drive the atmosphere Lianmai two sides seem to stand in the opposing camp, the losing side, the anchor team will arbitrarily sell their goods cheaply, as a way for the fans out of anger. Claimed tens of thousands of dollars of bracelets, after the anchor price reduction, only need 200 yuan However, such a few minutes to sell a few thousand pieces of explosive, in fact, just a few dozen dollars worth of ordinary Dongling jade.
In some of the health live broadcast, the anchor will also be wearing a white lab coat Top anti-cancer special foundation secretary-general of the national level of health care practitioners and other titles, talking about general knowledge of health. As the live advance, the topic gradually led to the products sold by the police investigation found that many health products such as small molecule peptide Snow Lotus Rhodiola Rosea, etc., claiming that the astronauts special or well-known enterprises special supply, in fact, neither the manufacturer, but also no date of production, is a typical three-no product, and does not have the role of the treatment of disease, but can be doubled the price of the sale, and even let the elderly to pay out more than 100,000 yuan.
Health live scam
Source: People’s Daily Online
Emotional value is an important means for merchants to get hold of the elderly Short videos and live broadcasts of family members, such as mom and dad, and other intimate titles, to fill the emotional gap in the reality of some of the elderly in the social world. Specific operation, merchants often two-pronged on the one hand, to create the last batch of goods inventory shortage illusion, on the other hand, fabricated brothers against each other, husband and wife separation thousands of people searching for people and other emotional stories, the use of moms and dads to help me quickly to create an atmosphere of urgency, prompting the elderly in the psychological pressure to accelerate the decision to order. At this stage, the development of AI technology has also facilitated the scam, picking up the wealth of experts, under the script, there is often a combination of AI forged commodity identification certificates or test reports. The concept of science and technology can usually hit the pain points of the elderly, all kinds of quantum products, new oxygen machines, super stem cells, etc., will make them fall into the trap after the fascination.
The operation mode of the tragic industry chain
In fact, it is a complete grey chain of miserable business to make use of the loneliness, health anxiety and information gap of the elderly to make profits through emotional manipulation and false publicity. Every egg that falls from the sky is secretly marked with a higher price.
In order to create the illusion of regularity, many businesses will be opened near the neighborhood similar to the physical store of the bird station, the elderly order goods delivered directly to the store. With the endorsement of the offline store, coupled with the successful experience of the previous small pilot, the elderly will be more convinced. In addition to the live room, the word private domain also appears frequently in the case. The so-called private domain, compared to the jittery microblogging and other public open platforms, the exchange or transaction will not be subject to the rules of too many restrictions, typical representatives such as microblogging.
At this stage, the WeChat group, the circle of friends and other private e-commerce model has been quite mature In the private domain, you can interact with the fans in depth, to understand the real needs, and at the same time repeatedly reach, to establish a deeper trust and contact.
However, precisely because of its private attributes, it has also become a shelter for merchants to disperse capital flows and avoid regulatory scrutiny. Many hosts will continue to create new trumpets, new numbers live, the elderly will be diverted to this.
Even if the broadcasting room is blocked in violation of the law, added to the old man’s WeChat, you can still send links to goods, and arrange child care in the group to create an atmosphere of snatching, induced to follow the trend of the order, and then refused to deal with disputes on the grounds of not in the formal platform transactions. Elderly people’s money is not easy to earn, but good to cheat, is the silver economy circle widely popular phrase. According to a survey, if they are cheated in online shopping, as many as 57 elderly people would rather suffer in silence and eat a dumb loss. Some industry insiders revealed that certain well-known senior university franchise brand, is vigorously promoting the elderly private e-commerce model, recruiting franchisees nationwide, directed to invite Filtering low judgment ability of the elderly. Mainly targeting the sinking market of the third and fourth tier and the following cities, the threshold of 100,000 yuan to join. In the headquarters of the unified planning and operation, from the design to product placement, from the opening time to sales rhythm, each link has a standardized process, just like a set of precision operation of the harvesting machine The so-called 30-day marketing to develop plans, the first 15 days will never sell, only gifts Chat Hush Warmth, and gradually disintegrate the old man’s wariness.
As many elderly people’s cognition of the Internet is still stuck in the era of television shopping, in their view, the anchor of the live broadcasting room is as credible as the hosts on television, but they do not know that they may be professionally trained actors. It is saddening that some of the franchisees of private e-commerce companies do not realize that they are in fact one of the prey of this game of enclosure. From fake gold, silver and jewelry to beauty and skin care products to household appliances and health care products, cases of stockpiling and then rotting in the hands also abound.
The Expansion and Elimination of the Digital Divide
In addition to emotions and mindset, from an external perspective, in recent years, with the extension of 5G and gigabit optical networks to rural areas, the phenomenon of digital divide generated by different groups of people at the level of use and cognition has shown a contradictory trend.
On the one hand, the infrastructure gap between urban and remote areas is gradually narrowing, and more and more older people are able to access the network, thus bridging the gap from nothing to something. On the other hand, however, the rapid upgrading and iteration of new technologies has made it more difficult for new Internet users to keep up, resulting in a gap in digital skills between urban and rural older persons that may, on the contrary, continue to widen.
At present, China’s population aged 60 and above is about 310 million people, the size of the elderly Internet users amounted to 157 million On average, for every 2 elderly people, there is 1 online, and the prevalence rate of online shopping is close to 70 . The growth rate of consumption is no less than that of young people.
Online shopping for the elderly
Among the 7.42 million new Internet users in the first half of 2024, the silver-haired group aged 50 or above accounted for 36, which can be regarded as the main group of Internet users, and the growth rate of consumption is not inferior to that of young people at all. In order to cater to the elderly, various platforms are constantly promoting the ageing-friendly transformation of apps. By switching to the elder mode, care mode, large and clear words, voice search, taking photos to buy the same model and other functions, to help the elderly from the visual perception, recognition and other aspects of more convenient online shopping. Meanwhile, the improvement of the logistics network and services such as same-day and next-day delivery have further strengthened the convenience of consumption.
However, although access to the Internet is no longer a problem, it is still difficult for most older people to shop online. According to official data, less than half of Internet users aged 60 and above are able to use the senior mode of cell phone applications, and only 81 of them are proficient in using it. According to a recent survey conducted by the Tonight Newspaper, only 444 elderly people are able to do online shopping independently, 27,95 are sometimes able to do it independently, and another 27,61 are unable to do it independently.
In addition, in the process of urbanization, offline public service resources such as community elderly centers are unevenly distributed, whereas the Internet has broken the geographical restriction, enabling the elderly to enjoy a variety of experiences on a more equal footing However, this equality also brings risks due to different cognitive differences. In addition to online shopping, the elderly are also prone to be addicted to short videos, live broadcasts, micro-dramas, etc., and all kinds of marketing tactics and scams have begun to adapt to aging. For example, when watching short dramas, platform payment traps usually attract clicks by offering $0.01 for the first episode, but automatically renewing the subscription by default on a hidden page, which causes older users to continue to pay unconsciously.
Since it is unavoidable for the elderly to go online, how can we help them cross the digital divide?
In short, at the macro level, many parties need to strengthen online regulation to ensure that information is true and reliable, and encourage platforms to develop relevant preventive functions. Offline, communities should be encouraged to organize more cultural and sports activities to promote the social participation of the elderly. At the family level, children should patiently teach the elderly how to use smart devices, pay attention to their mental health, and enhance their digital adaptability through companionship. In this way, the elderly can better integrate into the digital society and enjoy the convenience and fun it brings.
References
4 Middle-aged and elderly people are addicted to shopping in the live broadcasting room, and nearly 70% of the respondents have differences with their elders because of this , Guangming.com
This author Yuan Yiyin Responsibility Editor He Mengfei
Editor-in-chief He Mengfei Source VCG
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