Before starting the article, let me briefly introduce my background about purchasing a car and why I chose NIO.
I am a person who cannot feel the pleasure of driving, so I had no intention or need to buy a car for a long time. However, I like the freshness brought by technological advancement, and in the past few years of rapid development of new energy, my attention to cars as a whole has increased. From this perspective, assisted driving, which is something that ordinary people may not be particularly concerned about, has become a major reference factor for me when buying a car.
Combining appearance, performance, assisted driving, and budget, the range of new energy cars I chose was greatly reduced to three cars, namely smart, model 3p, and ET5.
Coincidentally, ET5 has the appearance that I like the most, and coupled with the inherent perception of this company’s “Haidilao-style service”, I was originally most fond of this car.
So, what am I dissatisfied with?
It’s too simple, it’s the PUA of users.
Many times, companies think that the more they invest in users, the stronger their stickiness will be. But the fact is often the opposite: the more users invest, the stronger their stickiness will be.
The simplest example is this: when you buy something that is entirely without cost performance, you will find rationality for this part of the operation by yourself, which is human nature. For example, when a boy who has a crush on a girl pursues her crazily, the moment you are most attached to her is actually when she is ignoring you.
Does it sound familiar? Yes, this is PUA.
So how does NIO’s ET5 PUA users?
- Prolonging the delivery time
It can be said that NIO’s N models have all come this way, and I believe that they did not sincerely want this result, but the fact is already the case.
The car released on December 18, 2021, will be delivered in September of the next year.
Come on, this is hardware. Giving users such a high expectation and letting them continuously pay attention to other models during this period, I have only seen this kind of play on concept machines in the entire hardware industry.
Waiting is tiring, but the longer you wait, the higher the sunk cost, and this is one of the PUA techniques.
- Weird operation on the interior
The interior in the promotional pictures was later removed and replaced with a completely different interior. Can you understand this?
Forgive me for not understanding the law. I don’t even know if this kind of operation violates consumer protection laws.
Although I myself do not care about what the seat looks like, the fact that the official keeps silent about the final “Patrick Star seat” and sneakily replaced the promotional picture makes me speechless.
Drawing a big pie and saying “it’s actually because you didn’t work hard enough” is another PUA technique.
- The shady operation of blind ordering
It is said that ordering ET5 requires blind ordering, that is, locking the order without any chance to test drive it. In fact, compared with the timeline of ET7 and the number of test drive cars at the time, I think this operation is not surprising.Not surprising doesn’t mean it’s not a scheming move. Looking across the industry again, I have only seen this kind of maneuvering in crowdfunding projects.
It’s a good way to entice buyers. Those with high loyalty levels will be given priority for delivery, and those with trustworthy personalities will be urged to pre-order quickly.
It’s also a great example of starving marketing. In the context of this year’s production capacity, only blind pre-ordering will enable you to receive your car quickly.
So is it true that the end justifies the means? By placing reality second and allowing beliefs to take the lead, does this not resemble a jerk who promises you countless future possibilities, then asks you to sleep with him on the night he gave you 50 bucks?
This is PUA #3.
Every brand has its fan base, and the existence of haters is actually a problem for brand management. However, those so-called “Fan-Tuan” who can’t stand it when someone else expresses a different opinion and responds with “why don’t you return the car, then” have truly fallen victim to PUA tactics.
We are consumers, and we sit on the consumer side of things. Manufacturers should think of ways to better safeguard our interests and make information more transparent. This is what consumers should demand and advance. If we sit on the wrong side, we will only sink deeper and become users who are controlled by PUA tactics.
Of course, you ask me if I’ll return the car? I certainly won’t, as I genuinely like the car, which has little to do with my opinion of the company. However, I am genuinely dissatisfied with NIO’s scheming moves lately.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.