Of growing popularity at present is the phenomenon of the ‘mystery box’: a box or case purchased – usually from an online provider – that contains various ‘unknown’ objects. A fairly typical example would cost somewhere in the region of £90 and will be described by the seller as either unclaimed luggage from an airport or a collection of items including lost deliveries or goods returned to online retailers. Numerous questions can be raised with regard to the supply of the contents. We might wonder how these goods came to be lost in the first place and were never returned to or reclaimed by the original sellers or travellers, but have somehow made their way to online vendors. There are, however, interesting and salient considerations regarding the consumption of such boxes – the demand side of the equation, as it were. Is there anything unique or unusual about the market for mystery boxes and people’s engagement with them? And is its emergence indicative of any social or cultural trends?

Gambling and Games of Chance

There are certain features common to buying a mystery box and forms of gambling: the purchaser parts with money in the hope of a decent return, but there is also the prospect of loss. When the box arrives, it might contain something far more valuable than the outlay, such as a new laptop, but equally might contain something that the buyer will consider useless, such as some ill-fitting footwear and a damaged photograph frame. There are therefore elements of risk and luck involved, which might go some way towards explaining the growing popularity of mystery boxes. However, since there are no stated or calculated odds to inform the buyer’s decision, the comparison with conventional forms of gambling is limited. The absence of any clear element of play also puts strain on the idea that buying a mystery box is akin to well-known, small-scale games of chance, like hook-a-duck or a tombola. In spite of the similarities with gambling therefore, the transaction remains a purchase. That is to say, the buyer parts with money and expects to receive goods, even if he or she does not know what those goods will be. Moreover, the fact that the transaction is a purchase and not a bet in the usual sense is reinforced by the experience of disappointment frequently reported by buyers and their willingness to complain about the goods that they receive – a response that would be out-of-place in a casino or at a village fete.

The Experience Economy

Perhaps a more fruitful approach to making sense of the phenomenon of the mystery box would be to understand it as part of the experience economy. Reports indicate a shift among consumers towards the purchase of an experience rather than some concrete good – hence the growing importance of attending gigs over buying downloads of music. There is an increasing prevalence of themed evenings in the hospitality sector and a growing trend among some readers to visit a bookshop and pay for a book wrapped in brown paper, presumably with a view to being exposed to a kind of literature that they might not normally choose. In this light, the mystery box can be interpreted as the purchase of a certain type of experience involving uncertainty and excitement – an understanding that makes more sense when we consider that buyers will often upload to social media an ‘unboxing’ video when their purchase arrives. Thus, the mystery box purchase becomes a shared experience, additionally attracting followers to a social media channel, which itself potentially brings various emotional and often pecuniary rewards for the buyer (though it is unclear whether the financial return for attracting ‘views’ would cover the cost of the box itself). Nevertheless, we are still faced with the fact of disappointment. When customers buy experiences such as a bungee jump or a climb over the O2 Arena, there is an expectation of a certain quality or level of experience, commensurable with the price. Unlike mystery boxes, people do not make these purchases with the expectation that they might well be disappointed. Part of the appeal of a mystery box is doubtless lies in the ‘experience’ but it is not clear that the phenomenon is simply reducible to this.

Consumption, Desire and Catholic Thought

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer described boredom as a situation in which the pressure of the will remains but has no object towards which it can be directed – hence the prevalence of card games and habits such as smoking, as humanity devises means of passing time which is felt to be a burden. Schopenhauer’s famously pessimistic account of human existence was based on a very particular metaphysics but his account of boredom, by which we are led to ‘go in quest of society, diversion, amusement, luxury of every sort, which lead many to extravagance and misery’ might inform our understanding of the market for mystery boxes. Rather than having its explanation in a will that has no object, perhaps buying a mystery box is suggestive of an urge to consume, only without a clearly desired object. Thus, the act of buying itself becomes the object and in this, the purchase differs from normal transactions. However, when the goods arrive and prove not to have been worth the outlay, the usual norms of purchasing reassert themselves and the buyer feels disappointed.

If this is indeed what is going on – at least in part – then Catholic thought has something to contribute and might offer an analysis in terms of ‘disordered concupiscence’ or cupidity. Human beings have an array of natural and necessary desires, such as for life or food, but desires often extend beyond our needs and will reach for wealth, fashion or fame. Such ‘non-natural’ desires are potentially infinite and can run out of control. When unrestrained and no longer subordinate to reason, which aims at the good of the whole person, these appetites can affect our judgement, leading us to excess, intemperance and a focus on gratification, rather than the pursuit of a life of flourishing, informed by a correct understanding of goods and their relative importance in life. In short, we are lured away from our ultimate purpose.  

No single account is able to explain entirely the emergence of the market for mystery boxes. Buyers are likely to be driven by different motives, but it seems clear that there are elements of risk, the hope of rewards beyond the outlay, the enjoyment of the experience itself and the potential to share this with others via social media. Importantly, the purchase – unconventional as it is – remains a purchase. The moral question arises when we consider the possible end or source of such transactions.   

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Neil Jordan is Senior Editor at the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics. For more information about Neil please click here.