Emotional products such as “Good Luck Spray” and “Einstein’s Brain” are selling like hotcakes on e-commerce platforms. Experts believe that——

　　The rules for selling emotional virtual goods cannot be empty.

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　　At present, there are no clear regulations on emotional virtual goods in my country. In practice, it may also cause some problems, such as merchants using other people's trademarks, brands or copyrights without authorization, which may lead to legal disputes and damage to the brand image. Secondly, some virtual goods may involve gambling, pornography, violation of social order and good customs and other bad information, causing a negative impact on society.

　　Recently, nonsensical products such as "Good Luck Spray", "Einstein's Brain" and "Scolding to Awaken Love Brain" have been selling like hot cakes on some e-commerce platforms. These products merely provide emotional value but do not actually deliver such results and cannot actually be shipped. At present, my country's laws and regulations do not clearly have relevant regulations for this type of emotional virtual goods, but experts believe that rules still cannot be missing. Platforms should strengthen product compliance inspections, and merchants should fully ensure consumers' right to know.

　　Emotional virtual products are popular

　　Recently, a product called "Good Luck Spray" has been selling well on an e-commerce platform, triggering widespread discussion among netizens. On the product details page, it is displayed, "One spray will eliminate all worries, and everyone says it is easy to use." It is accompanied by a reminder: This product is a virtual product and does not require logistics delivery. The buyer needs to directly confirm receipt. If you don’t like the entertainment items, you can get a refund. If you mind, please be careful!

　　Not long ago, Zhang Yuting, a college student in Beijing who was taking the postgraduate entrance exam, told reporters that a few days before the postgraduate entrance exam, in order to add a positive psychological hint to her exam, she bought a "good luck spray" priced at 0.5 yuan. According to reports, this product mainly provides entertainment chat services, and buyers can chat with customer service.

　　The reporter learned that virtual products that provide emotional value, such as "good luck spray", have been increasingly popular recently, with prices ranging from only a few cents to a few yuan, and are popular among young people. Every exam season, sales of virtual goods with a blessing meaning such as “offer good luck spray” and “exam preparation landing” will experience a surge. Such goods are not actually shipped. Consumers usually know that the goods do not really exist, but only relieve personal stress and obtain emotional value through the positive psychological suggestion of purchasing.

　　The product "Einstein's Brain" is particularly popular. The seller claims that "it will automatically grow on the brain after payment", "IQ +1", "can be given to relatives and friends", etc. A reporter found on an online shopping platform that a store selling "Einstein's Brain" sold tens of thousands of copies. When purchasing, you can choose from 24 sub-products according to your needs, with prices ranging from "General IQ +1" (priced at 0.01 yuan) to "Love IQ +1000" (priced at 5 yuan).

　　Products that seem like a joke can become a hit in the market. In this regard, Liu Qian, a national second-level psychological counselor, believes that this reflects the pursuit of emotional value by contemporary young people. "Nowadays, young people are paying more and more attention to the observation and release of their own emotions. What consumers spend money to buy is not the real 'smart', 'lucky', 'love' and 'wealth', but their own yearning and longing for a better life."

　　Is there any legal basis for the sale?

　　Legal professionals believe that although virtual goods can bring mental relief, they are still subject to legal questioning in the real world. So, under my country’s current laws and regulations, is there any relevant basis for selling such emotional virtual goods?

　　Lawyer Xiong Chao from Beijing Jingshi Law Firm told reporters that currently, my country does not have clear regulations for this type of emotional virtual goods. In practice, some problems may arise, such as merchants using other people’s trademarks, brands or copyrights without authorization, which may lead to legal disputes and damage to the brand image. Secondly, some virtual goods may involve gambling, pornography, violation of social order and good customs and other bad information, causing a negative impact on society.

　　Professor Chen Zhongyun of China University of Political Science and Law believes that many "nonsense" products have exaggerated descriptions, such as "Einstein's brain automatically grows on one's body after placing an order" and "after taking a picture, one will become a master who must pass every exam", etc. For some, For consumers, it may easily cause misunderstanding. "If primary school students with low cognitive abilities see such narratives on the platform, and they do not have sufficient discernment ability, they may believe it to be true, and then the product will be falsely advertised."

　　According to market analyst Liu Huan, it would be unbelievable for many people to obtain huge sales out of thin air by merely providing so-called emotional value that is invisible and intangible. This aspect also needs to be regulated by law. "From another perspective, emotional virtual goods can only make consumers pay by pretending to be real and seriously promoting the effects of increasing intelligence, transporting people, etc. that they cannot achieve. Their behavior is outside of legal regulations and completely relies on operators and consumers. Only the tacit understanding between the parties can work.”

　　Although sales are booming, some buyers have recently raised questions about emotional virtual goods. Consumer Xiao Zheng told reporters that he bought an emotional virtual product, but the merchant did not even send the blessing written in the introduction. When contacting the merchant, he only had a preset answer given by the robot, which was very perfunctory, "Although the price is not expensive, it is very perfunctory." I still feel cheated.”

　　Expert: Rules cannot be missing

　　Some experts believe that products can be virtual, but rules must not be missing.

　　Xiong Chao suggested that in the absence of specific legislation on this issue, e-commerce platforms should first strengthen inspections of the safety and compliance of virtual goods to ensure that the content of the goods is healthy and positive. "Once a platform discovers that a product does not have a business license, or is a product or service that is prohibited from trading by laws or administrative regulations, it should take necessary disposal measures in accordance with the law and report to the relevant competent authorities."

　　Chen Zhongyun said that in accordance with the provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, operators have the obligation to provide true and comprehensive information; according to the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law, advertisements must not contain false or misleading content. "Merchants should describe the products in detail and remind consumers that they only provide emotional value to ensure consumers' full right to know and fair trade." Chen Zhongyun also reminded consumers to pay attention to protecting the security of personal information when purchasing and preventing information leakage. Do not transfer money easily or meet offline to avoid causing financial losses or other harm.

　　The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission recently called on merchants or platforms to explain the true condition of the goods on the product promotion page when selling virtual goods. They can also clearly inform consumers by uniformly labeling relevant virtual goods or providing reminders when placing orders. The particularity of the goods purchased by the consumer is protected to protect consumers’ right to know and avoid consumer disputes. Relevant platforms should earnestly fulfill their management obligations, pay close attention to public complaints about this emerging consumer product, and come up with regulations for its management and after-sales based on actual conditions, so that virtual products can be followed by rules. (Worker Daily)