How To Manufacture Desire

Here’s the gist:

- The degree to which a company can utilize habit-forming technologies will increasingly decide which products and services succeed or fail.

- Addictive technology creates “internal triggers” which cue users without the need for marketing, messaging or any other external stimuli. It becomes a user’s own intrinsic desire.

- Creating internal triggers comes from mastering the “desire engine” and its four components: trigger, action, variable reward, and commitment.

- Consumers must understand how addictive technology works to prevent being manipulated while still enjoying the benefits of these innovations.

Addiction or fad? Back in the 1980s, there were people addicted to the CB Simulator of CompuServe. Some spent over $1,000/month in connect-time fees. That didn't save CompuServe in the face of change. And I'm not sure those CB Simulator addicts transferred their addiction to AOL. And if they did, are they on Twitter today? I really doubt it.

"Addiction" is just the latest marketing hype (it seems marketeers have also dumped "Tipping Point" for "Inflection Point") for those looking for the tech world equivalent of The Secret. There really is no guaranteed road to success at all.

Too broad, the article ignores the fact that companies like Zynga hire actual behavioral psychologists to create compulsive game mechanics that hook people in.

The consumers that do understand how addictive technology works don't use it because they know it's a zero-sum game that yields nothing, ergo not the target market for these strategies.

The fact of the matter is that addicted customers don't last nearly as long as loyal customers do.

>> "Type the name of almost any successful consumer web company into your search bar and add the word 'addict' after it. "

^ I really think he means "successful gaming or social media consumer web company." "Dropbox addict" just sounds silly.