Go & Stop Signals in Gambling-like Consumption - the Case of Labubu Blind Box

Aug 20, 2026

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Labubu’s success as a Pop Mart product is analyzed through the Go and Stop Signal Framework, focusing on how reported and unconscious consumer signals shape collecting desire. The study summarizes prior explanations involving gambling-like blind box mechanics, celebrity promotion, and visually distinctive IP. It also critiques risks from an unreasonable replenishment mechanism and changes in core ownership that may destabilize future demand. Using Go/Stop signals, the work aims to predict consumer behavior and identify potential hazards while suggesting strategies for maintaining consumer sentiment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and Motivation

Development of Go and Stop Signals

Overview of Go & Stop Signals

(Further subsections not shown)

Go & Stop Signals in Gambling-like Consumption: the Case of Labubu Blind Box Chengyu Luo College of Management, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, China [Rayn607@outlook.com](Rayn607@outlook.com) Abstract. As one of Pop Mart's most successful products, Labubu's marketing strategy, product quality and cultural inclusivity have all contributed to Pop Mart's unprecedented revenue. Based on the summary of previous studies in this paper, Labubu's success can be attributed to its effective use of a gambling-like blind box mechanism to create a desire to collect, celebrity promotion to popularise the product and eye-catching designs and IP to retain consumers. However, the current unreasonable replenishment mechanism and the departure of the core shareholder have created instability in Labubu's future market. Therefore, this study argues that stabilising consumer sentiment through public relations, stopping the exploitation of popular IP value and providing high-quality products is important. Research on the macro impact of social opinion and herd behaviour on consumer behaviour is currently well developed. Using the Go and Stop Signal Framework, this study will analyse Labubu's popularity from the perspective of consumer insight and behaviour. This will enable researchers to understand the impact of reported and unconscious signals on consumers, predict their behaviour, analyse potential risks, and contribute to the advancement of the relevant research field by providing ideas for future studies. Keywords: Go and Stop Signal Framework; Consumers’ behavior; Blind Box 1 Introduction PopMart's financial report released on August 21, 2025, showed that the company's revenue in the first half of the year increased by 204.4% compared to the same period in 2024. Pre-tax profit surged by over 400%, reaching 401.2%, while operating profit grew by a staggering 436.5% year-over-year. From the data of the financial report's release to August 24, PopMart's stock price rose by 14.1 percentage points. The continuous positive trend in PopMart's revenue growth is closely tied to the global buying frenzy driven by Labubu (See Table 1) . © The Author(s) 2026 X. Pan et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the 2026 11th International Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2026), Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research 382, [https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-642-5_106](https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-642-5_106) Go & Stop Signals in Gambling-like Consumption: the Case of … 1005 Table 1. Pop Mart interim results announcement for the six months ended 30 June 2025(in terim results highlights) [1] . | Six months ended 30 June | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | (Unaudited) | (Unaudited) | | | | 2025 | 2024 | Change | | | RMB’000 | RMB’000 | (%) | | Revenue | 13,876,276 | 4,557,831 | 204.4 | | Gross profit | 9,761,064 | 2,919,105 | 234.4 | | Operating profit | 6,043,741 | 1,126,417 | 436.5 | | Profit before income tax | 6,156,872 | 1,228,438 | 401.2 | | Profit for the period | 4,681,713 | 964,142 | 385.6 | Many existing research studies analyze consumer psychology and behavior from the perspective of businesses and companies, with most recommendations and strategies focusing on social psychology and mass communication. Current research studies mainly focus on the the social influence and popularity of Labubu like Collective Effervescence and benefit of the advertisement. Scholars and researchers have studied the shopping habits of Generation Z (Gen-Z) and concluded that the Fear of Missing Out(FOMO) is the main motivation for purchasing [2]. Businesses and companies take effective advantage of consumers mentalities in order to stimulate consumers' desire to purchase due to scarcity and time-sensitive offers. From mass communication perspective, the combined effects of social media and celebrity influence have propelled Labubu from a niche product into the mainstream spo

FAQs

What explains Labubu’s market success in this study?

The study attributes success to a gambling-like blind box mechanism that drives collecting desire, celebrity promotion that popularizes the product, and eye-catching design and IP that help retain consumers.

What risks does the paper identify for Labubu’s future market?

It highlights instability caused by an unreasonable replenishment mechanism and the departure of the core shareholder, which can affect consumer confidence and demand.

How does the Go and Stop Signal Framework support predictions of consumer behavior?

By treating consumer action as a competition between Go and Stop processes, the framework helps analyze how signals—both expressed and unconscious—can influence behavior, enabling prediction and risk assessment.

Aug 20, 2026

Upload by Oliver