In 1955, the first Disneyland opened in Los Angeles, USA, and the theme park business model was a huge success. Subsequently, Disneyland was established in many cities around the world, becoming a “regional-level” business card for the local area and having a significant effect on city marketing.
In essence, Disneyland is a type of consumption space, and its popularity also reflects the shift in the direction of urban development: after entering the consumer society, urban construction under the dominance of consumerism is centered on the production of “consumption experience” space. Theme parks such as Disneyland and Universal Studios are large-scale testing grounds for “consumption experience”.
The “Disneyization of Society” is a sociological concept proposed by British scholar Alan Bryman. According to the research of Bryman and others, “Disneyization” has several core principles: thematicization, mixed consumption, commodification of cultural content, performative labor, and sensorialization.
Currently, a cultural and creative product of the Gansu Provincial Museum in mainland China has become popular: the plush version of “Gansu Spicy Hot Pot”. A plush clay pot is placed on the gas stove, and the staff puts the “dishes” of meat and vegetables into the clay pot, covers it with a “pot lid”, and waits for a few minutes, and the fresh “spicy hot pot” is out of the oven.
The Shaanxi Provincial Museum in mainland China followed suit. As soon as the plush version of the cultural and creative “Roujiamo” was launched, a long queue formed on site to buy it. It was common for it to be sold out and need to be restocked. Some netizens even commented affectionately that this kind of museum plush cultural and creative products are the Jellycat of the Chinese people.
Selling Plush Toys to Adults Is a Good Business
The interactive purchasing method of “playing house” has collided with cultural and creative products to create sparks. The “social Disneyization” phenomenon represented by thematic, mixed consumption, commercialization and performative labor can be seen everywhere in urban life. The wind of emotional economy has finally blown into museums.
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We Found That The Popular Cultural and Creative Plush Toys Have 3 Things in Common:
1. Thematic Consumption Scenarios
In September 2023, Jellycat opened a fast food experience store called “Jellycat Diner” in the FAO Schwarz store in New York. The clerk will simulate the waiter’s production and packaging, allowing consumers to immerse themselves in the process of buying “food”. Through the online sharing of overseas users, domestic netizens expressed their exclamation of “I can’t imagine how happy I would be if I worked here”, which boosted the sales of fast food series dolls in China. Since then, Jellycat has also launched similar dining car experiences in some shopping malls in China.
The consumption scene of the spicy hot pot cultural and creative products of the Gansu Provincial Museum is similar to this. From overseas “restaurants” to domestic “dining cars”, the three theme elements of “scene + toys + retail experience” are cleverly combined, further increasing user stickiness.
2. Mixed consumption
That is, different forms of consumption are mixed in the same consumption occasion, so that consumers stay longer and increase their possibility of consumption.
As the first place of consumption, the museum has longer stay time for visitors than other consumption scenes. Experiencers of urban history have their own understanding of urban culture, and under the touch of this scene, they are more likely to become consumers in the city.
3. Commercialization of Cultural Content
Various cultural and creative products with museum or city logos embody travelers’ cognition of a city, their experience of local culture, and the beautiful memories associated with the city.
The most noteworthy are performative labor and sensory. Let employees become actors, treat work as a performance, and convey positive emotions to customers through appropriate body movements, expressions, language and other information. The immersive experience makes consumers feel that they are getting more value for money.
The “Green Horse” cultural and creative products of the Gansu Provincial Museum have attracted many young people to buy them with their agile posture and grinning expression. These products are not just toys, but also a kind of emotional sustenance and spiritual support.
In addition, the appearance, function and aesthetics of museum cultural and creative products can be copied and replaced, but the interactive purchasing experience and emotional connection with toys can provide more “emotional value” for young people.
“Kidult” means that when the boundaries between adults and children gradually blur, they continue to desire positive emotions without age restrictions after growing up, and psychologically regain the freedom and happiness of childhood. Plush toys allow people to unilaterally demand emotional value with the simplest means, which is not only to keep their childishness, but also to fight anxiety and loneliness.
It is not difficult to see that in the market environment where cultural and creative products are already hot, the performative interactive purchasing experience can further stimulate consumers’ enthusiasm for purchasing cultural and creative products.
Customers who go shopping in museum souvenir shops are not only consumers, but also experiencers of urban culture. Souvenirs that combine urban culture add experiential service scenes when spreading images, enhance the audience’s on-site interaction, and thus help improve the communication effect of urban culture.
