IT House reported on January 30 that at the beginning of the new year of 2023, the China Consumers Association today announced the "Top Ten Consumer Rights Protection Public Opinion Hotspots in 2022", namely: "Price Assassin" violates the principle of integrity in clearly marked prices; "Technology and ruthless work" "Reflects consumers' concerns about illegal additions to food; medical beauty risks and traps hinder the release of "beauty-seeking" consumer demand; there are potential infringement risks in the quality and application scenarios of prepared dishes; the problem of anchors selling fake products exposes the infringement chaos of live broadcasts; "Chop Knife" The controversy of "You can't slap garlic" warns companies to respect the rights and interests of consumers; e-commerce platforms' "guaranteed price" services are accused of "routine" consumers; immersive entertainment forms such as "Escape Room" and "Script Killing" hide unsafe factors; CNKI is suspected of monopoly The fined incident warned that platform development cannot ignore consumer rights; the suspension of online games and deletion of files triggered disputes over virtual property infringement.

1. “Price Assassin” violates the principle of integrity in clearly marked prices

Social Impact: 94.2

Topic analysis

In the summer of 2022, the term “ice cream assassin” was trending. Consumers use it to describe some high-priced ice cream that is usually "hidden" in the freezer. When they check out, they find that the price is higher than expected, and they feel like they have been "cheated". Since then, "Fruit Assassin" and "Stationery Assassin" have also appeared on social platforms. This reflects consumers' satire on some "ordinary commodities" with inflated prices. It also shows consumers' concern about the existence of unclearly marked prices and unspecified prices in real life. Dissatisfaction with issues such as inconsistent units of measurement and irregular price tags that infringe on consumer rights.

Public opinion believes that "price assassins" use various means such as irregular price tags to disguise some high-priced goods as ordinary goods so as to "trick" consumers into paying. In essence, it is a disguised price fraud that violates consumers' informed consent. rights and choices. In July 2022, the "Regulations on Clearly Marked Prices and Prohibition of Price Fraud" promulgated by the State Administration for Market Regulation clearly requires that operators should clearly mark prices in a conspicuous manner and clearly indicate the goods or services corresponding to the prices. This regulation is hailed as a "price guard" that can effectively fight back against "price assassins". Public opinion calls for local regulatory authorities to strictly enforce the law, truly implement this regulation, and eliminate all kinds of "routines" of disguised price fraud so that consumers can consume clearly. Merchants should abide by their moral bottom line, abide by price regulations, strictly standardize clearly marked prices, prevent consumers from "wasting money", and create a good consumption environment that is honest, safe and secure.

2. “Technology and hard work” reflect consumers’ concerns about illegal additions to food

Social Impact: 92.2

Topic analysis

"Synthetic hawthorn fruit tea", "Synthetic blended soy sauce", "Synthetic steak", "Sanhua evaporated milk instant soup"… Since the second half of 2022, some bloggers have released short videos revealing the "insiders" of food production, claiming to be "technology and ruthless work" has aroused public attention on food safety issues. Some consumers believe that this kind of phenomenon exposes some problems in the current market that use food additives to "synthesize food", which threatens consumers' health. However, some people say that such short videos are a misunderstanding of food additives and confuse them. The concept of illegal additives and food additives is suspected of being a gimmick to gain attention.

Public opinion believes that the public's belief in and pursuit of "technology and hard work" reflects their dissatisfaction and resistance to the proliferation of "illegal additives" in the market. These "illegal additives" have become popular under the name of "food additives" and have become the main culprits of "demonizing" food additives. They not only hinder the protection of consumer rights and interests, but also become a "stumbling block" to the high-quality development of the industry. In the wave of healthy consumption, how to make consumers "eat with confidence" is a must-answer question that all parties in the food industry must answer in the process of promoting high-quality development of the industry. Public opinion calls for the market and government to work together to eliminate public concerns about food safety hazards and "justify the name" of food additives. On the one hand, food companies should consciously abide by relevant laws and regulations, use food additives reasonably and compliantly, and promptly and accurately inform consumers of their actual efficacy and specific content, leaving the right of choice to consumers. On the other hand, relevant departments need to strengthen review and supervision, intensify the crackdown on illegal and illegal abuse of additives, completely eliminate unscrupulous companies and "illegal additives", revive consumer confidence, and stop consumers from talking about "food additives". "Change in color. In addition, public opinion also calls on the food industry, consumer associations and other parties to strengthen science popularization work to help consumers better understand food additives and eliminate health concerns.

3. Medical cosmetology risks and traps hinder the release of “beauty-seeking” consumer demand

Social Impact: 91.4

Topic analysis

With the improvement of consumption levels, the continuous advancement of domestic medical beauty technology and the gradual improvement of market supervision, the growth potential of my country's medical beauty market continues to be released. However, the professionalism of the medical beauty industry has caused an "information gap" between medical beauty institutions and consumers. It is difficult for consumers to understand the specific content of some medical beauty projects, and they are easily misled by medical beauty institutions, which leads to many consumer disputes and makes consumers The future of the industry is clouded. Statistics from the China Consumers Association show that from 2015 to 2020, the number of complaints about the medical beauty industry received by the National Consumers Association each year increased from 483 to 7,233. The main problems include: some medical beauty institutions have incomplete licenses and have not obtained medical beauty certification. Business license or operating beyond the scope; institutional staff do not have professional qualifications and operation is not standardized; medical product channels are unknown, and some medical aesthetic institutions use fakes, parallel-imported injections, and copycat equipment; medical aesthetic effects are difficult to evaluate, and service quality is inconsistent with consumers It is expected that there will still be a large gap. In November 2022, the China Consumers Association issued a consumer reminder, calling on consumers to rationally view their medical aesthetic needs, correctly choose medical aesthetic institutions, and make prudent medical aesthetic decisions.

The development of the medical beauty industry reflects the public's yearning for a better life, and its industry order is directly related to the life, health and safety of consumers. Public opinion believes that relevant departments continue to strengthen the supervision of the medical beauty industry, industry associations, consumer associations and other means to guide consumers to consume scientifically and rationally. Medical beauty institutions proactively implement their main responsibilities, continuously improve medical technology and service quality, and work together to ensure the safety of consumers. The right to know and the right to choose are necessary to better release the consumer demand for medical beauty.

4. There are potential infringement risks in the quality and application scenarios of prepared dishes

Social Impact: 87.5

Topic analysis

In July 2022, media reported that some consumers found that the dishes they spent a lot of money on in restaurants may only cost one-third of the cost when they appear in supermarket freezers. There are also some consumers who feel deceived after discovering that restaurant dishes are made from pre-prepared dishes after consumption, thinking that their original intention of coming for the "sparkle of freshly prepared meals" has failed. According to media surveys, no restaurant has proactively informed consumers about the use of pre-prepared dishes before dining. In September 2022, a topic "Experts say prepared dishes are like 'pig and dog food'" made prepared dishes once again the focus of public opinion.

In recent years, prepared dishes with advantages such as convenience, speed, and rich varieties have become popular. Its advantages such as reducing operating costs have attracted more and more catering companies to try to expand their business. However, consumers’ voices of controversy are also rising. On the one hand, the reason is that while consumers are pursuing efficiency and convenience in catering choices, they are also paying more and more attention to safety and nutrition. However, prepared dishes have been repeatedly exposed to have uneven quality and Problems such as poor taste and incomplete labeling information have caused concerns among consumers. On the other hand, some catering merchants may have intentionally or unintentionally concealed the fact that the meals are made from pre-made dishes, resulting in consumers who want to taste the dishes cooked by chefs. The person felt "cheated". In this regard, public opinion calls on relevant departments and industry associations to explore the establishment of a quality and safety supervision mechanism for prepared dishes, jointly study and formulate relevant standards for prepared dishes, maintain the bottom line of food safety, and ensure the safety on the tip of consumers' tongues. Enterprises that produce and sell prepared dishes must strictly implement their main responsibilities, adhere to concepts such as health, greenness, and environmental protection, and improve the processing, preservation, and transportation technologies of prepared dishes to make prepared dishes healthy and delicious. Catering companies that use pre-prepared dishes must also do a good job of informing them to protect consumers' rights to know and choose, and to maintain fair competition in the market.

5. The problem of anchors selling fake goods exposes the infringement and chaos of live broadcasts

Social influence: 86.9

Topic analysis

Live streaming is a popular way of shopping nowadays, but when consumers are attracted by the high-quality and low-priced products in the live streaming room, they also face the problem of damage to their rights and interests caused by fake goods. Since 2022, public security, market supervision and other departments in various places have investigated and dealt with many cases of counterfeit sales through live broadcast platforms, many of which involved amounts of more than 10 million yuan. The "2022 "Double 11" Consumer Rights Protection Public Opinion Analysis Report" released by the China Consumers Association shows that chaos in live broadcast sales has become one of the focuses of consumer rights protection. Counterfeiting, incorrect goods, and differential discounts are major problems. From CCTV’s “March 15” party’s exposure of the Jade Live Broadcast fake sales scam, to Kuaishou and Douyin’s top anchors being “cracked down on counterfeiting” one after another, many controversial incidents have exposed live broadcasts selling fake goods, causing consumer chaos.

Public opinion believes that compared with sales models such as offline stores and traditional e-commerce, live streaming has the characteristics of greater immediacy, a wider audience, and the separation of goods delivery and delivery. However, due to these characteristics, consumers are more likely to face difficulties in obtaining evidence and safeguarding rights when purchasing counterfeit goods. The forbearance of some consumers has inadvertently encouraged unscrupulous merchants to "commit crimes against the odds." Therefore, regulating live broadcast e-commerce behavior fundamentally requires complete laws and regulations to increase the cost of illegal activities. Relevant departments should uphold a "zero tolerance" attitude towards counterfeit goods, seriously investigate and deal with illegal activities in live streaming, and form a strong deterrent to anchors and live streaming platforms. In addition, various platforms also need to strengthen self-management and consolidate regulatory responsibilities; merchants and anchors must adhere to professional ethics and enhance their sense of social responsibility. Consumers should also improve their self-protection awareness and risk prevention capabilities, avoid blind impulse, and achieve rational consumption.

6. The controversy over "A kitchen knife cannot chop garlic" warns companies that they must respect the rights and interests of consumers.

Social influence: 86.3

Topic analysis

In July 2022, the well-known time-honored brand Zhang Xiaoquan sparked heated public opinion due to "consumer complaints that the kitchen knife broke when hitting the garlic." "Peeling garlic" is one of the most common scenes for public cooking. As a time-honored brand famous for its traditional knives, Zhang Xiaoquan's customer service said, "It is not recommended to use this kind of knife to pound garlic or cucumbers." This made consumers unable to understand the simple emotions. . Underneath the question, "Is a kitchen knife that can't chop garlic still a kitchen knife?" is people's criticism of Zhang Xiaoquan for not meeting consumer demand. This incident also exposed that in the context of consumption upgrading, some merchants forcefully promote products with extremely low cost performance, and then complete the closed loop of harvesting through so-called "consumer education", causing consumers to spend unjustly and suffer unspeakable pain. Industry pain points.

Public opinion believes that as a time-honored brand with the "feelings" of consumers, it should clearly understand its own positioning, target market demand, and convey respect for consumer habits while evolving its brand and products. In the fierce market competition, it is understandable for time-honored brands to improve their processes, promote new concepts and create differentiated products to broaden sales and increase profits. However, consumers' right to know and choose cannot be ignored, let alone the so-called "consumption". Marketing methods such as "customer education" have changed the original intention of product innovation to better serve consumers.

7. The "guaranteed price" service of e-commerce platforms is accused of "routine" consumers

Social influence: 85.0

Topic analysis

Price-guaranteed services have become the focus of publicity for major e-commerce platforms in the "Double 11" promotional activities in 2022, but the effectiveness of their implementation has aroused public opinion doubts. In late October 2022, e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, JD.com, and Douyin all emphasized the platform's guaranteed price service in the promotion of "Double 11" related activities. The guaranteed price ranged from 27 days to 34 days, and some platforms also added "one-click" services. "Price difference refund" channels; merchants on major e-commerce platforms have also launched price guarantee services with different rules, which to a certain extent boosted consumers' confidence in the "Double 11" promotions and became the focus of public opinion for a while. However, some media investigations have found that many merchants actually attach various conditions to their price-guaranteed services. Some increase prices first and then lower them, some modify product links to evade price guarantee responsibilities, and some set full-reduction rules at will, which not only makes Consumers are "seeing flowers in the fog" and there are also hidden dangers of infringing on consumers' rights and interests.

The original intention of the guaranteed price service was to alleviate consumers' doubts about the "first increase in price and then decrease in price" of goods, provide consumers with a price "reassurance", and also allow merchants to balance the pressure on manpower, logistics and other factors during the promotion period. However, multiple incidents during the "Double 11" period triggered heated discussions in the public opinion, showing the public's concern: price guarantee services have become another marketing tool for e-commerce platforms and merchants, rather than an effective way to protect consumer rights and interests. Consumption experience has instead added a “consumption trap”. Public opinion calls for platforms and merchants to fully protect consumers’ right to know, clearly state the exclusions for price guarantees, and continuously improve the price guarantee system. Relevant departments should strengthen the supervision of illegal activities in promotional activities such as "Double 11". Consumers Association and other organizations should also continue to supervise merchants and platforms, urge them to protect consumer rights and interests, and continue to guide consumers to pay attention to their own rights and interests. Enhance awareness of rational consumption and green consumption.

8. Immersive entertainment forms such as “Escape Room” and “Script Killing” hide unsafe factors

Social influence: 81.8

Topic analysis

In recent years, entertainment consumption has continued to heat up, and immersive entertainment projects represented by "Escape Room" and "Script Killing" have flourished. While meeting the people's diverse spiritual and cultural life needs and promoting cultural consumption, they have also become a source of consumer complaints. of the hardest hit areas. First, many "escape rooms" and "script-killing" themes involve elements such as thriller, horror, blood, ghosts, etc. However, some stores have failed to clearly inform consumers of game rules and environmental issues, especially the failure to remind and dissuade minors. . Second, "room escape" and "script killing" are often carried out in small and dark spaces, and the game scenes are decorated with flammable and combustible materials, which poses certain safety risks. Third, prepaid consumers suffered unilateral property losses due to the bankruptcy or disappearance of individual operators. In addition, alleged plagiarism of scripts, accidental injuries to consumers, and harassment of store staff have also been reported frequently.

"Escape rooms" and "script killing" are rapidly expanding and growing wildly, and the risks they bring cannot be ignored. Public opinion believes that relevant departments should follow the requirements of documents such as the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Scripted Entertainment Business Venues" and the "Guidelines for Fire Safety of Scripted Entertainment Business Venues (Draft for Comments)" to further improve business safety, protection of minors, and content security. Strengthen supervision and promote the healthy and orderly development of the industry. Consumers' associations should open channels for complaints and handle consumer complaints in a timely manner. Merchants must strengthen industry self-discipline, adhere to the bottom line and operate with integrity, strengthen the main responsibility for safe production, use high-quality scripts and good experiences to attract consumers, and at the same time protect the rights of minors from infringement. In addition, consumers should also pay attention to choosing places with standardized operations for consumption, and report merchants with relevant violations of laws and regulations.

9. CNKI’s alleged monopoly and fines warn that consumer rights cannot be ignored in platform development

Social Impact: 81.7

Topic analysis

On December 26, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation imposed administrative penalties on CNKI for abusing its market dominance in accordance with the law, ordered CNKI to stop its illegal activities, and imposed a fine of 87.6 million yuan in accordance with the law. CNKI responded by sincerely accepting this, resolutely obeying, and 15 rectification measures were announced, and the monopoly dispute over CNKI came to an end. As a knowledge infrastructure project supported by the state, CNKI has continuously developed in the Chinese academic document information service and knowledge service market, and has become an academic document digital service platform with considerable market influence in my country. However, there have been increasing criticisms in recent years about the platform’s “big shop bullying customers”. “College students sued CNKI for setting a minimum recharge amount as an overbearing clause.” “Professors sued CNKI for not providing duplication checking services to individuals.” “College students Collectively complaining about "excessive plagiarism check fees"… Behind the incidents that have repeatedly attracted public attention, they not only expose the problem of platforms infringing on consumer interests and social public interests, but also reveal the hidden dangers of platforms hindering the dissemination of knowledge and technological innovation.

CNKI's punishment is an important measure taken by my country's antitrust law enforcement agencies to actively respond to social concerns and regulate the platform economy in accordance with the law. It is also important for maintaining fair competition in the academic literature database service market, promoting knowledge production and flow, promoting innovative development, and protecting intellectual property rights. etc. are of great significance. Public opinion believes that as my country's platform economy regulatory regulations are increasingly improving, the "good days" of abusing market dominance to make money have come to an end. CNKI can no longer treat consumers with an "arrogant" attitude. It must return to its position as a "stepping stone" in scientific research services. On the basis of paying attention to the protection of consumer rights and interests, it will build the platform into a world-class academic resource information platform with Chinese characteristics. Contribute to improving my country's scientific and technological innovation capabilities.

10. The suspension and deletion of files in online games triggered controversy over virtual property infringement

Social Impact: 76.5

Topic analysis

In recent years, some improperly operated online games have caused virtual property disputes due to "stop service and deletion of files", resulting in consumer complaints that have repeatedly attracted public attention. For example, in February 2022, the suspension of operations of the mobile game "Yunshang Yuyi" caused a lot of dissatisfaction among consumers. After the intervention of the China Consumers Association, the game operator suspended the service suspension process. In late October 2022, the media reported a case of "a man suing a game operator for suspending the service." In this incident, the Beijing Internet Court determined that the mobile game operator was at fault and should compensate the player in a certain proportion of the recharge amount. In late November 2022, the "NetEase and Blizzard ceased cooperation" incident also triggered public attention on the potential damage to consumer rights and interests caused by games such as "World of Warcraft" and "Hearthstone" with large player groups. In related cases, the focus of public opinion controversy is mainly that most games will delete game-related data archives after the service is stopped, and they are questioned as infringing on the rights of game players. Moreover, most of the compensation measures proposed by some game operators are gift packages or benefits that are diverted to other games of the company, which in turn leads consumers to question the so-called compensation plan as another way for game operators to "cut leeks".

Some media investigations have found that in online virtual property disputes, consumers often fall into rights protection difficulties due to factors such as lack of relevant knowledge, difficulty in obtaining evidence, and insufficient rights protection mechanisms. Public opinion believes that consumers’ rights and interests cannot be “deleted whenever they want.” When online game operators adjust their business strategies, they must respect consumers’ wishes and choose methods acceptable to consumers. Regulatory authorities should urge enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities, consciously safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and punish illegal activities that infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers in accordance with the law and regulations. Relevant laws and regulations should also be continuously improved to build a solid protection wall for consumers’ virtual property and better protect consumers’ confidence in consumption.

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