"Three, two, link!"

　　Since November last year, Wu Liming, a resident of Hefei, Anhui Province, found that the sound of the live broadcast room could always be heard from his grandmother Zhao Jing's mobile phone. "I watch the live broadcast room until midnight every day, and I don't listen no matter how I persuade you." Wu Liming said.

　　What accompanied the online shopping products that arrived at home - 5 boxes of health products, 10 bottles of shampoo, and 10 toothpaste. When the anchor shouted "Add to the link", Zhao Jing seemed to be fascinated and could not help but place an order.

　　"We will return the goods immediately after seeing them, but sometimes the speed of return cannot keep up with the speed of grandma placing orders." When it comes to these, Wu Liming was a little helpless.

　　Like Zhao Jing, many elderly people are addicted to live broadcast rooms, which leads to a large number of irrational shopping behaviors. How to help the elderly avoid irrational consumption in live broadcast rooms?

　　Health gimmick, limited-edition

　　Beware of live broadcast room marketing routines

　　Every day at 3:30 pm, in the live broadcast room where Zhao Jing often watches, a "expert" who claims to be a national-level famous doctor will appear on time to explain health knowledge on topics such as cancer, blood pressure, and blood sugar that the elderly are concerned about.

　　After less than 20 minutes of explanation, the "expert" changed his tone and began to promote his own health drink, claiming to have the effects of lowering blood sugar, strengthening immunity, and preventing cancer. "A bottle in hand can be solved all problems." At the same time, because it is a "limited model", only the top 100 customers have the opportunity to buy it.

　　After the health drinks were posted on the link, Zhao Jing immediately placed an order to buy a box of 6 bottles, which cost 5,000 yuan. The product was immediately sold out. However, even if you didn't buy it, the anchor will then "concertically" restock the goods and go to the link again.

　　In Wu Liming's eyes, Zhao Jing has been saving money in the past. "I've been wearing more than ten years and I'm reluctant to throw away my clothes, let alone buy things randomly." But in the online live broadcast room, Zhao Jing suddenly became willing to spend money. "Many things are bought in boxes, either saying that eating can cure diseases, or saying that they are very cheap. If you buy them, you make a profit." Wu Liming said.

　　"For the elderly, especially those with limited mobility, shopping in the live broadcast room allows them to buy the items they need without leaving home, which brings great convenience. This has a promoting effect on the development of the silver economy, but what is worthy of being vigilant is irrational consumption." said Hu Xiaowu, executive dean of the Institute of Urban Sciences of Nanjing University and associate professor of the School of Social Sciences.

　　"Compared with the traditional offline consumption field, some live broadcast rooms use the anchor's marketing strategies to grasp the emotional characteristics of the elderly, and at the same time create a sense of tension and oppression in shopping. For some elderly people who have poor consumption control ability, irrational consumption is prone to occur." Hu Xiaowu said.

　　Healthy anxiety, loneliness

　　Live broadcast room interaction brings psychological comfort

　　Behind the irrational consumption in the live broadcast room is the anxiety of the elderly about their physical condition and the loneliness of lack of communication.

　　Kong Xiaoming, director of the Department of Elderly Psychology of Anhui Mental Health Center, has been engaged in psychological diagnosis and treatment of the elderly for nearly 20 years. During the daily diagnosis and treatment, he often encounters excessive anxiety among the elderly due to fluctuations in blood sugar and blood pressure, shadow nodules and other problems. "The elderly are particularly sensitive to health issues. The promotion of health products in the health live broadcast room captures the health anxiety of the elderly." Kong Xiaoming said.

　　In the face of aging, the elderly will inevitably have some psychological gap. "Due to the changes in life status and the decline in health status after retirement, the elderly may feel that they are marginalized and their self-worth identity has further declined." Kong Xiaoming said, "But in the live broadcast room, through large-scale consumption, the elderly have become objects of respect and gratitude to the anchor, and regained their sense of social participation."

　　During this period, Liu Ping, a resident of Hefei, Anhui Province, found that his mother, who lives alone, was obsessed with watching the live broadcast. "When we came to see her, she couldn't help but turn on her phone to watch it."

　　Zhang Yanmin has several anchors who often watch. Among these anchors, the mother in her 60s became an "aunt", "godmother" or even "sister". When they saw Zhang Yanmin enter the live broadcast room, the anchors would take the initiative to say hello and ask about their well-being.

　　Gradually, Zhang Yanmin's family has many more products recommended by anchors, "There are many health products, as well as necklaces and jewelry. Because she lives alone, we don't know what other things she bought," said Liu Ping.

　　"The live broadcast room is a strong interactive field. For the elderly who feel lonely and depressed due to lack of parent-child communication, live broadcast room interaction has become an alternative social interaction for the elderly. Sometimes they even feel that the anchor’s concern for the well-being is more considerate than their children. In order to continue interacting with the anchor, some elderly people will choose to consume a lot in the live broadcast room." Hu Xiaowu said.

　　Increase attention and improve supervision

　　Protect the consumer rights of the elderly

　　Liu Ping has a lot of quarrels with his mother because of shopping in the live broadcast room. "Every time I advise her not to buy it, she is impatient and sometimes even has a big fight," said Liu Ping.

　　In Kong Xiaoming's view, because of their busy work, children tend to simplify the behavior of the elderly in irrational shopping in the live broadcast room, and some elderly people are not good at expressing their own demands, which triggers family conflicts. "It is better to lose your mind than to block it. Children should care more about the elderly and understand their real needs." Kong Xiaoming said.

　　Yue Zhaohua, an elderly man living in Luyang District, Hefei City, Anhui Province, is busy planning the Tai Chi morning training team in the community recently. Previously, she was addicted to the live broadcast room for a while and bought a lot of health products. Two years ago, my daughter helped Yue Zhaohua sign up for the Tai Chi class at the District Senior Citizens University. "Every day everyone gets together to exercise. They spend less time looking at their mobile phones, their bodies become stronger, and their mood is more comfortable!" After two years of study, Yue Zhaohua has made many new friends at the Senior Citizens University.

　　"The Senior Citizens University can not only let the elderly learn a skill, but also provide them with a platform to reintegrate into society and enrich social interactions." said Zhang Qinglin, executive vice president of the Luyang District Senior Citizens University.

　　"It's not only the senior citizens' universities, but also the senior chess and card rooms, senior citizens' tour groups, family gatherings, etc. The key is to enrich the social activities of the elderly and bring them back from the live broadcast room to real life." Hu Xiaowu said.

　　Children do not have to regard shopping in the live broadcast room as a "fighting beast". "Watching online live broadcasts moderately does help the elderly reduce their loneliness. What children need to do is to help the elderly form bottom-line thinking and learn to shop rationally." Kong Xiaoming said.

　　"The community can organize lectures and interactive activities on improving the media literacy of the elderly, so that they can learn to identify marketing methods in live broadcast rooms." said Ma Mei, executive dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, Anhui Normal University.

　　Supervision is also indispensable. Starting from May 2024, the Anhui Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau has launched a three-year improvement action to standardize live e-commerce operations across the province. "As of now, we have monitored 3,234 live broadcasts, tested 6,548 hours, and verified and dealt with 205 clues of problem." said Huang Jianon, director of the Online Transaction Supervision Department of the Anhui Provincial Market Supervision Administration.

　　"At present, we are mainly supervising the top live broadcast rooms at key nodes such as 'Double 11''618', which makes it difficult to achieve full coverage." Huang Jianon believes that online live broadcast platforms should actively fulfill the main responsibility of protecting the consumer rights of the elderly. "On the one hand, it is necessary to establish a risk identification model and promptly identify live broadcast rooms that guide the elderly to consume irrationally, especially the so-called 'health live broadcast rooms. Once violations are found, they will be warned or even banned; on the other hand, an anti-addiction mechanism for the elderly can be set up to limit the viewing time and consumption amount of the elderly every day."

　　Kong Xiaoming also reminded that the irrational consumption of the elderly in the live broadcast room may also be a sign of cognitive decline. "In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the personality of some elderly people will change, or even develop towards extremes. Specifically, it is manifested as a decrease in impulse control ability, tending to choose instant satisfaction, and making decisions without careful consideration. If families find similar situations, they should take the elderly to a regular medical institution for treatment in time." (Reporter Luo Yangqi)

[Editor in charge: Ran Xiaoning]