Luckin Coffee Reduces Coupon Distribution Frequency! Netizens Express Dissatisfaction and Engage in Collective PUA?

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat (ID: qjcoffeex)

Why Are People "PUA-ing" Luckin Coffee Recently?

"Why has Luckin become so expensive lately? It's ridiculously pricey! If they don't make it cheaper, I'm switching to Cotti!"

"Cotti is absolutely killing me! Great taste while being significantly cheaper than Luckin!"

"Estimated final price 9.9 yuan?! How come I'm paying 16 while others get it for 9.9 yuan?! What makes Luckin so premium?! Maybe I should just stop drinking it?!!"

Recently, Luckin Coffee has been collectively "PUA-ed" (a form of psychological manipulation) by netizens. The reason: their recent product prices often reach 10-20 yuan, and they've rarely been distributing direct coupons. Netizens who are accustomed to drinking Luckin for under 15 yuan feel it's no longer a good deal, so some have taken to social platforms to post "PUA declarations," hoping that big data recognition will prompt Luckin's system to automatically send coupons.

Surprisingly, this approach seems to have worked, sparking a trend suggesting that posting "Why has Luckin become so expensive lately? It's ridiculously pricey! If they don't make it cheaper, I'm switching to Cotti!" would actually get you cheap coupons.

Thus, netizens began collectively "PUA-ing" Luckin, using Cotti—Luckin's "brother from the same father"—as leverage for their threats, leading to the scenes we saw at the beginning.

Does This Strategy Actually Work?

Well... it's hard to say. Although many netizens joined in the "PUA" campaign, few seem to have received follow-up results. And those who did receive follow-ups found content identical or similar to the screenshots shown above.

The Real Reason Behind Reduced Coupon Distribution

Why has Luckin been less active in distributing coupons lately? Because they've shifted to livestreaming! Morning, noon, afternoon tea, evening—whenever people have free time to browse videos on their phones, Luckin is running livestreams. Unlike directly distributing coupons, which users might know about but not immediately use, or see and then forget about (similar to how we mentally "reply" to messages but never actually type them out), livestreams create immediate engagement.

Livestreaming works differently. Although the discount levels are the same as direct coupons, each topic/theme and interaction can further attract user attention and create resonance, leading to sharing and传播. Direct coupons don't encourage users to share and promote the deals. For example, last November, Luckin's livestream featured male models of different styles expressing product characteristics, complemented by the host's sophisticated sweet talk that further highlighted product features. This absolutely captivated female viewers. Both product coupon sales and livestream viewership doubled that day.

Users who purchase coupons through livestreams typically use them the same day or the next day, or at least remember to use them. This is because users specifically select products they're interested in after watching the livestream, or because something said or done during the stream sparked curiosity and anticipation about a particular product, making them eager to redeem and try it immediately.

Today, major brands prefer livestream marketing for several reasons: first, livestreams attract more precise user groups and can achieve rapid monetization; second, the interactive nature of livestreams allows for timely problem-solving, improving service timeliness and accuracy, thereby enhancing service satisfaction.

Actually, as long as people go to the livestream, they can buy cheap coupons. Why bother writing lengthy posts to "PUA" Luckin when it might not even guarantee you'll get coupons?

Image source: Internet

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473