Emotion through Essentialism

Description:

Motivator 6: Essentialism is the extrinsic lizard motivation. The human mind has an inborn intuition that things have an underlying reality or true nature that one cannot directly observe or measure. It is this hidden essence that matters. It’s called essentialism. Essentialism is basically our economic motivation. We compare and contrast similar products in order to determine their value (more like their spiritual essence) in the market. We are determined to do this because the world is a scarce place. Economic value is something that only exist in our collective imagination. However it does follow rules that everyone believes in. For example, the scarcer a resource is, the more valuable it becomes. The harder it is to make a product, the more valuable it becomes. The more everyone wants it, the more valuable it becomes. If an item is tied to a historic or artistic significance, the more valuable it becomes. If a person obtains the valuable item, his social status increases compare to his peers as long as they recognize the value as well. Any one of these rules can be hijacked strategically to increase engagement and attraction.

Motivator 6: Essentialism on the motivation map

Strengths:

·       Sense of urgency

·       Increase the perception of value

·       Provides a feeling of importance in the social landscape

Weaknesses:

·       Short-term effectiveness

·       If the parameters are too tight, it will backfire. For example if you make something artificially scarce too obviously, the people will distrust your intentions.

·       Buyer’s Remorse: Use education-based selling to inform the customers what they are really getting. Help them make an informed decision but don’t force it down their throat. Then align their personal goals (Motivator 2) with the product. Don’t be afraid to genuinely compare yourself with the competitors. Finally, make sure you have a good return policy. At least make it easy to reverse the commitment made by the buyer.

Relationship with other motivators: 

.       Motivator 3: Freedom is enhanced by using Motivator 6. Perhaps you may have of the saying: Necessity is the mother of all invention. A sense of scarcity liberate the mind to think of creative solutions to solve big problems. 

.       The power of Motivator 6 is enhanced when used together with Motivator 4: Security. Acquiring scarce and exclusive resources increases the feeling of satisfaction and safety. 

.       Motivator 8: Fear (namely fear of loss) increases the power of Motivator 6. The limitation of time, money, physical effort, mental effort and social acceptance is the essence of using essentialism at its full potential. 

Psychological Techniques:

·       Exclusive offers - Game developers usually advertise the fan-favorite feature to be a part of pre-order package. It is not necessarily the best item but the second most desired one. If you buy the game after the pre-order period, you won’t get it anymore.

·       Time vs Money: This is the microtransaction model from the gaming industry. Either commit a large amount of time and effort to obtain something desirable or buy it cheaply with real money.

·       Artificial capping: Repeated actions in the system are limited artificially in order to increase their attraction. For example, Tinder 100 swipes or Poké Balls in Pokemon Go.

·       Force stopping: The experience of using the product is stopped immediately and the user have to wait a determined amount of time before he can use it again.

Reinforcement schedules: Determine a small window of time every day to get a benefit like a discount.