Analyzing the causal effects of product uncertainty and product appeal on repurchase intention in blind box toys

Amid the rapidly changing environment of mobile commerce, the blind box concept has emerged as an innovative marketing strategy, introducing uncertainty into the purchasing process to stimulate sales. Despite global popularity, especially in markets like China, Japan and Southeast Asia, limited empirical research has examined this phenomenon in the Philippines. This study addresses this gap by investigating factors influencing repeat purchases, applying the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework. The model tested the effects of product appeal and uncertainty (stimuli) on perceived functional value, emotional value, social value and perceived luck (organism) and examined whether these internal states subsequently drive repurchase intention (response). The Structural Equation Modeling analysis of data from 872 respondents showed that perceived luck and emotional value were the strongest mediators linking product stimuli to repurchase intention, followed by social value. These results indicated that the role of psychological and societal factors in shaping consumer behavior is evident in blind box products, while also denoting uncertainty as a key driver of interest. Furthermore, the implications of the study included guiding marketers to focus on enhancing emotional engagement and the ‘blind factor’ concept-leveraging uncertainty to boost consumer loyalty, informing marketing strategies and improving product design to foster sustained consumer interest.