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Why are unboxing videos so popular?

I watch these videos if I am trying to research something I want to buy. But I always skip to where the item is out of the box.
 
With the let's play videos the person doing the commentating is important. Nobody is going to watch someone boring. They want excitement.

Exhibit A: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtiYMYf3zq560behgSrLudA

Ben Mawhinney's gaming channel. Notice he only has 9 subscribers, yet he has been doing let's play videos for 2 years.

Exhibit B: https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie

Pewdiepie has over 32m subs and counting. Why? Because he's exciting and funny.


As for those unboxing videos I think people like to watch new items get unboxed!
 
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Mai72 said:
Pewdiepie has over 32m subs and counting. Why? Because he's exciting and funny.
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I was at a friends house for brunch last weekend and his daughters were watching Pewdiepie on the TV. Its probably a generational thing but I really don't get his success. I watch playthroughs when I don't quite want to buy a game, probably due to the game mechanics, but its still interesting. I almost always watch no commentary, or the person playing is older. I rather have the person make reasonable decisions in the game than try to be funny.

As far as unboxing videos, I might watch some when I am researching a purchase, but I try to avoid videos without a practical demonstration and review. I think just the unboxing is popular because of what dighn said, a lot of people can get the satisfaction of buying something without spending money.
 
oldsmoboat said:
I watch these videos if I am trying to research something I want to buy. But I always skip to where the item is out of the box.
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sao123 said:
yep this...

much better than buying something then being force to return it because it isn't what you wanted.
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I believe these videos are popular because so many companies do such a BAD JOB at communicating what they are selling you. They lump it in with product manuals as "something nice to do if you have the time."
 
oldsmoboat said:
I watch these videos if I am trying to research something I want to buy. But I always skip to where the item is out of the box.
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Ditto. I can often get a lot more from those videos than photos posted on product pages, and sometimes even pro reviews; especially when trying to figure out accessories, insides of PC cases, how small light things are meant to stay put (or not), etc..
 
I don't watch many unboxing videos, but I've found them to be pretty informative overall. Quite often the reviewer will pull something out of the box that clues me in on some capability of the device that I didnt know about previously, or perhaps I'll notice that it doesn't include something that I was assuming it did. I don't think I would ever look at an unboxing video of a product I wasn't considering purchasing though, and it would be only one of several avenues of research I would take before pulling the trigger.
 
I only watch them for items I am about to buy, they are great for showing exactly what comes in the box, sometimes you can't tell from the retailer's website. They are also great for showing how something is packaged and the resulting likelihood of it being intact or broken by the time UPS/FedEx get done with it.
 
Childs said:
I was at a friends house for brunch last weekend and his daughters were watching Pewdiepie on the TV. Its probably a generational thing but I really don't get his success. I watch playthroughs when I don't quite want to buy a game, probably due to the game mechanics, but its still interesting. I almost always watch no commentary, or the person playing is older. I rather have the person make reasonable decisions in the game than try to be funny.

As far as unboxing videos, I might watch some when I am researching a purchase, but I try to avoid videos without a practical demonstration and review. I think just the unboxing is popular because of what dighn said, a lot of people can get the satisfaction of buying something without spending money.
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I don't get his success either. When I said that he was funny and exciting I wasn't talking about how I perceive him. This is how very young people think he is. Also, he is a good looking guy so he attracts the young female viewers.

When the young girls are watching his videos I think most could care less about the video game. They don't care about the mechanics of the game, or if it's any good. They just want to see Pewds play the game, and to look at his face. Just my opinion.
 
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I'm guilty of making a few to cash in on shit I already paid for. No commentary though and right to the point.
 
I watched one for a computer case I am interested in. Oh, and a drone I bought.

But here's a bigger question: What does Location: ::1 mean???
 
Sometimes it nice to see how things look IRL instead of photo shopped product images. But other than that, the unboxing in itself is really not interesting.
 
SlitheryDee said:
I don't watch many unboxing videos, but I've found them to be pretty informative overall. Quite often the reviewer will pull something out of the box that clues me in on some capability of the device that I didnt know about previously, or perhaps I'll notice that it doesn't include something that I was assuming it did. I don't think I would ever look at an unboxing video of a product I wasn't considering purchasing though, and it would be only one of several avenues of research I would take before pulling the trigger.
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I watch quite a few and agree. Good unboxing videos contain a lot of useful information. Personally I like Linus's unboxing videos, they are well done and he gives a lot of good info about the product and even some comparison with other similar products.
 
I think they can sometimes be very helpful, although many are pretty dreadful. They can answer some of the most basic questions. How big is it? What does it come with? How hard is it just to get it to do something? Does it appear to be well made? Does it smell funny? Is the color as expected?

You know what they say about "first impressions"? That's what unboxing videos are all about. Someone who's never seen that product, pulls it out of the box and .... what are their first impressions?
 
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