There are subtle moments in focus group rooms that make us pause—not because of a single striking answer, but because of a pattern quietly repeating itself. This is often how new trends begin to take shape: subtle, yet consistent. In one group discussion following a series of in-depth interviews with Gen Z users, we identified a surprisingly recurring pattern: young consumers open the Shopee app every day—often multiple times a day—yet make purchases only a few times each month.
“What are they doing there every day?” This seemingly simple question sparked a multi-year exploration that led us to uncover one of the most significant shifts in digital consumer culture today: Shoppertainment—where the boundaries between shopping and entertainment gradually dissolve.
Phase 1: E-commerce – A Functional Solution
In the early days of e-commerce, Vietnamese consumers approached platforms such as Shopee and Lazada with a highly pragmatic mindset. Through multiple in-depth interviews, we repeatedly heard statements like:
“I use Shopee because the prices are better and I don’t have to travel far.”
“I only visit the site when I need to buy a specific item.”
At this stage, e-commerce functioned primarily as an efficient tool to meet practical needs: saving time, saving money, and expanding access to products. There was little room for entertainment or interaction—the shopping experience was purely goal-oriented and utility-driven.
Phase 2: Gamification – When Shopping Becomes a Game
Over time, through continuous behavioral observation and recurring interviews, we began to notice a subtle but meaningful shift: users were opening the app every day—not to shop, but to play.
“Grow a tree to earn coins,” “shake your phone to get vouchers,” “daily check-ins”—these gamified mechanics encouraged users to return frequently, even without any concrete purchase intent. In many cases, the time spent on these game-like activities outweighed the time spent browsing or selecting products.
From a qualitative perspective, we interpreted this as gamification tapping into micro-dopamine needs—small, frequent moments of pleasure, achievement, and a sense of control.
This pattern was echoed across other categories as well, such as MoMo’s “Lucky Shake” campaigns, pointing to a broader shift: consumer behaviors were gradually being redefined as a form of entertainment, blurring the line between utility and play.
Phase 3: Livestream – Shopping as a Live Show
Another turning point emerged with the rapid rise of livestreaming. Initially seen as just a new sales format, livestreaming has in fact become a revolution in how consumers interact with brands.
Through the analysis of numerous popular livestream sessions, we found that most of the airtime was not spent on product demonstrations, but on conversation, storytelling, entertainment, and real-time interaction.
One participant described this shift vividly:
“Before, when I had free time, I’d walk around the mall. Now watching a livestream feels the same—I just sit still while someone else ‘shops’ for me. If I see something interesting, I buy it. And while watching, they tell stories and I learn new things too.”
From a qualitative lens, livestreaming does more than transform selling—it reimagines window shopping for the digital age, turning shopping into a social, emotional, and highly engaging experience.
Phase 4: TikTok Shop – The Peak of Shoppertainment
In 2022, the launch of TikTok Shop pushed this trend to an entirely new level. Here, the boundary between content and commerce no longer exists—instead, entertainment and consumption are fully fused.
Through behavioral observation and in-depth interviews with TikTok users, we identified a fundamentally new shopping model:
1. Non-intentional discovery: users are not searching for products, but for content
2. Instant emotional connection: purchase decisions are triggered within seconds of emotional engagement
3. Normalized impulse buying: a few simple taps complete the purchase
HMost interviewed consumers openly admitted that they bought products on TikTok Shop with “no prior intention.” The driver was not functional need, but captivating content, heightened emotion, and extreme convenience.
Phase 5: Shoppertainment – A Cultural Shift in Consumption
Looking back at this journey, we realized that Shoppertainment is not a marketing tactic, but a reflection of a deeper cultural transformation in how people consume.
Consumers—especially younger generations—no longer draw a clear line between shopping and entertainment. Every interaction with a brand becomes an opportunity to:
– Reward oneself (self-care)
– Seek micro-moments of pleasure (micro-dopamine)
– Explore a new version of the self
Early signals—from “growing trees to earn coins” to “shaking for lucky money”—could easily be overlooked. Yet it is precisely the ability to listen closely, connect context, and recognize emerging patterns that makes qualitative research such a powerful lens for seeing what comes next.
Conclusion: Qualitative Research as a Guiding Compass
In a constantly shifting market, the greatest value of qualitative research is not its ability to predict the future with precision, but its power to detect early signals of change—those shifts that have yet to be named.
This is when brands need a partner who understands consumers beyond numbers, by reading emotions, behaviors, and the subtle patterns that repeat beneath conscious awareness.
And that is our role: a qualitative research team that consistently puts itself in the consumer’s place—so we can see what is coming, before the market finds the words for it.
Research Note: This article is grounded in real-world research data collected between 2016 and 2024.
For more details on the research methodology, please contact us.