Dan Ariely: The Significant Objects Project

danariely.com

36 points·huangm··4 comments

Very cool. I guess J. Peterman knew it all along :)

I've a question to people following Ariely & co's work: Is there anything there that might help explain why people have no problem paying a few bucks for coffee at Starbucks, but not for, say, an iPhone/Android app?

(I use the Starbucks example since most consumers don't hang in the coffeeshop, so no experience or particular quality involved, just a cup of coffee that lasts a few minutes)

While you're drinking the cup of coffee, people see you drinking the cup of coffee: that alone is enough to allow for socially-constructed value to be passed along. On the other hand, most things we do with our phones, we do staring into them where others can't see what we're doing, so although the phone itself might get admired, the apps won't. (There are a few exceptions—games with unique and outwardly-recognizable input mechanics, for example, like marble tilting or the Ocarina app, or apps that interact with the environment outside of the user's personal space, like Shazam.)

This blog post is from a year ago, but I think there are a few useful & relevant ideas within w.r.t. getting users, customers and investors to try, buy and invest in your product. Narrative is important.

Also probably some relevant tips for giving good gifts. It's holiday season after all.

I did this with a few Everquest accounts when I was in high school. Unfortunately, it was not strictly allowed under the ToS, so the first one ended up getting banned when I didn't think to change the name.

It's still the closest I've been able to come to explaining the added value of quality copy.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com