Why are we so eager to buy products without knowing what's inside?

Would you buy a product without knowing what you will get inside the box? The automatic thought is likely no, but it turns out that the sense of mystery and anticipation often overcomes the instinct of curiosity, causing people to get excited about purchasing products with unknown contents.

"The success of Blind Box and Mystery products is not accidental," says Dr. Willy Avraham, head of the Department of Technological Marketing at Sapir Academic College and an expert on consumer behavior. "It relies on a simple yet powerful psychological mechanism: the less the consumer knows about what awaits them inside the packaging, the greater the sense of anticipation. The moment of discovery becomes a central part of the product, sometimes even a more significant experience than using it after opening. Uncertainty arouses curiosity, activates the brain's reward system, and turns a daily action like shopping into an exciting event. In doing so, brands manage to combine a tangible product with an experience."

At the Elite brand from Strauss, they decided to follow this trend and recently launched chewing gum under the Crunch series with the mysterious branding — "Mystery". It is a plastic jar branded in purple with many question marks, while the gums themselves are a uniform purple color. The consumer does not know which flavor they are about to put in their mouth.

Elite, which offers its chewing gums gluten-free and sugar-free, launched strawberry and peach flavors at the end of 2025 and later expanded to watermelon. The chewing gums in the Mystery kit include these company flavors.

Flying Tiger Copenhagen has taken a slightly more surprising approach. The customer buys a cardboard bag marked only with identification for boys, girls, or mixed, and only after opening it do they discover which games, stationery, craft products, or design items are included. To motivate consumers, Flying Tiger sells each bag for 40 NIS, while the value of the contents, according to the company, is at least 80 NIS.

Purchasing as an exciting experience

According to Dr. Avraham, "Studies in consumerism indicate that experiences tend to remain in memory longer than material purchases. A family vacation, for example, may become a story mentioned for years, while the excitement of a new car or an expensive item usually fades quickly. Surprise products try to enjoy both worlds: selling a tangible product wrapped in a moment of anticipation, discovery, and storytelling."

Surprise kits connect well to social media, where unboxing videos create a mysterious experience. "This model is especially suitable for Gen Z, which grew up in a digital environment where experience and authenticity are sometimes as important as the product itself. Opening a Mystery box or tasting a product whose contents are unknown in advance are experiences that photograph well and are easy to turn into social media content. In many cases, the consumer is buying not just the product, but the moment of exposure and the possibility to share it," says Avraham.

But what happens when the surprise bag turns into a disappointment? We certainly remember the L.O.L. dolls hysteria, where children bought boxes without knowing what they would get and sometimes received the same doll repeatedly. Dr. Avraham notes: "When the product does not meet expectations, or when the consumer feels the brand hid information to justify a high price or create artificial enthusiasm, trust may be damaged. Therefore, the success of Mystery products depends on a delicate balance between uncertainty and actual value. Brands that maintain this balance enjoy high engagement and long-term consumer loyalty."

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