Quick Comment from Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform: Are companies closing stores either “withdrawing capital” or “the economy is failing”? Be wary of this kind of news
Recently, many well-known brands have been on the hot search list due to news such as "store closures" and "will be acquired". Soon, companies publicly spread the rumors, and even some brands that were exposed as being "closed" accelerated the opening or upgrade of stores. So, after the traffic peak, everything calmed down.
Just let go of the rumors of "store closing"? Employees from different companies privately told the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform that similar rumors are very harmful to companies and even the entire market. “Companies have to spend a lot of effort to clarify rumors, which disrupts normal work arrangements and is not conducive to development; it is even more harmful. The less malicious interpretation is very frustrating and affects the confidence of the entire market. "
From this perspective, it is necessary to analyze the reasons for the "store closing" rumors, and also to see which interpretations are "malicious."
The Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform noticed that in the notifications or introductions of the companies involved, one detail was mentioned: the self-media or media that released the news did not seek verification from the company, and most of the sources concealed their true identity information and could not be verified. "Inside information", "informed persons" or the results of the information publisher's own statistics.
In other words, the accuracy of such information is worthy of scrutiny. Why can news without reliable sources spread so widely? One of the reasons is still related to the “traffic password” of current social platforms.
Judging from the communication rules of social platforms, tags such as "well-known brand", "closed" and "transfer" plus "inside information" and "exclusive" can usually get very good traffic. Attracted by traffic, many accounts are keen to publish such news. This does not exclude publishers and forwarders who "listen to the wind and it rains", nor does it exclude the fact that some accounts deliberately fabricate news for the sake of traffic. At the same time, the lack of strict review and various “algorithm recommendations” on social platforms have led to the further spread of false news.
Because of this, for some time, various "store closures" and "shutdowns" news have appeared every now and then, making it difficult to distinguish between true and false, and also overwhelming the companies involved.
To solve these problems, we obviously need to start from the source and check the publisher and forwarder of the message. Relevant platforms must not stay out of the matter. They must not only increase efforts to refute rumors after they are clarified, but also adjust their flow support for relevant information based on "algorithms" and assume the responsibilities of review and governance.
On the other hand, the public should also be wary of some accounts’ interpretation of corporate “store closing” news. Take a foreign brand that has recently been on the hot search list as an example. Although it has closed several stores, the brand is also undergoing store upgrades and has plans to open new stores. Moreover, judging from public information, the brand has significantly increased its upgraded "super stores" in recent years, and its sales in China are also good. It has clearly expressed its long-term confidence and determination to be optimistic about the Chinese market. However, none of these contents appeared in the relevant "store closing" information. In other words, accounts that publish relevant information either generalize and spread falsehoods, or they are suspected of setting topics and taking information out of context, deliberately avoiding the current situation of companies actively developing in the Chinese market.
In fact, "opening and closing" is a normal market law. There is no regulation in any country or region in the world that companies can only open stores and cannot close stores. Regardless of whether the store is large or small, it is normal to adjust or close stores that are poorly managed and have unsatisfactory performance, or even withdraw from the market. It may be regrettable that some companies have closed stores or gone out of business, but after all, it is the result of market choice, and there is no need to over-interpret it.
Looking at the current "store closing" news, you will find that some accounts have particularly harsh interpretations, frequently linking the brand's "store closing" and "transfer" with statements such as "foreign companies withdrawing investment" and "the real economy is failing." Judging from the recent rumors clarified by the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform, foreign-funded enterprises and physical store brands are particularly likely to become the protagonists of such rumors. Combined with the so-called "China's economy is in ruins" argument by some accounts, it is not difficult to speculate that some people are deliberately taking advantage of normal market phenomena and even fabricating so-called "store closures" news to pessimize the Chinese economy and undermine market confidence.
It is true that the current global economic recovery is sluggish and the severe and complex international and domestic environment has caused many companies to face "hard times". However, this does not change the reality that China's economy is generally improving and China's business environment is constantly improving, nor does it change the positive attitude of companies. The determination to seek change and face difficulties. At this time, some accounts used the business adjustments of one or two companies as "arguments" to pessimize the market, which is obviously far-fetched - they neither respect the laws of the market nor deliberately ignore the market's resilience.
"On and off" is a normal market phenomenon, and there is no need to go online. This does not mean that we cannot pay attention to store closings - from the perspective of consumers, whether a company's business adjustments affect the consumer experience and whether it affects after-sales services is worthy of follow-up investigation and even supervision. However, it is obviously with ulterior motives to frequently combine a company's internal decisions with macroeconomic and even national development, especially if it is used as "evidence" to speak ill of the current economic development.
Therefore, while companies are encouraged to proactively respond to rumors and explain the truth, netizens must also keep their eyes open and strengthen their confidence to avoid being led astray by interpreters with ulterior motives.
