I wonder if you have the following experience:
- When the phone leaves your sight for a while, you panic;
- When you go to the bathroom, you always take your mobile phone and swipe WeChat Moments;
- When you see other comments on your WeChat and Weibo, you are always madly surprised;
These are all manifestations of addictive behaviors. Many successful Internet products have one characteristic in common: they are addictive, such as WeChat, Weibo and many mobile games. The addictive behavior of games is particularly obvious in many products.
From a psychological point of view, why do people become addicted to games?
Randomness
For example: your boss will give you a year-end bonus, there are two options:
- Get 100 yuan
- 01% probability to get 1,000,000 yuan;
In terms of expectations, both are the same, but most people will choose the latter. Random positive feedback with a certain probability is the most important reason why people are addicted in the “treasure box”, “lottery” and “card game” games.
When you open the treasure chest and draw a lottery, you always look forward to a good result. At this time, the brain has already begun to secrete dopamine, instead of waiting for good things to happen before starting to secrete it. When you are satisfied, you will secrete more dopamine, resulting in stronger consolidation than normal behavior.
The timely feedback of the game brings instant gratification to users
People like actions that can see their effects instantly, rather than actions that require long-term accumulation to experience the effects. Seeing the blood on the monster’s head fall down, this kind of satisfaction is immense.
The game satisfies people’s desires that cannot be realized in real life
Compared with the unknown in real life, the game world has a fixed structure. As long as you follow the set path, you can complete the final goal. In the game world, you can be “knowledgeable” about the world, which is exactly what it means for people to travel and explore in real life.
When playing a game, why does the player keep failing, but still keep playing until the level is cleared?
For example: a gambler took 1,000 principals to the casino and made 100 yuan. If you are asked to leave the casino at this time, it should be easy; but if he loses 100 yuan and ask him to leave the casino, it is not so at this time. It’s easy.
Why does 900 yuan and 1100 have such a big impact on people’s psychology? Because he regards 1,000 yuan as his psychological standard line, the negative sentiment brought by a certain amount (100 yuan) of losses is greater than the value satisfaction brought about by the same amount (100 yuan) of profits. This is also a core theory of behavioral economics: the pain caused by losses is far greater than the satisfaction of gains.
I recently read an English book “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”. It is about how to develop a product that makes users addicted. This book introduces a hook model theory.
What benefits will you get by developing a product that makes you addicted?
Viral growth
Users are willing to share good products with friends, word-of-mouth marketing costs are low, and the effect is remarkable.
Increase pricing flexibility
Using a product for a long time makes users rely on and trust the product. This kind of trust and dependence also increases the possibility of users paying.
Monopoly of thinking
Why do we think of Momo when we are lonely, Baidu when we search, and WeChat when we want to find friends to chat? This is the mindset formed by long-term habits in our brains. This kind of thinking has led other search engines (Sogou, 360, Shenma) to defeat Baidu in a difficult way. Because they not only want to surpass Baidu from the product level, but also let them change the mindset that people have formed for a long time.
The core reason for the success of a product must be that the product solves user problems?
A successful product needs to go through the process of vitamin -> painkillers. When you first use a new product, users don’t know what you can provide. Most users think your product is more interesting, and they are not very clear about what your product can provide. But when the user establishes a habit, your product becomes a painkiller. Leaving your product, users will feel that life is missing.
Good habits (running, photography) can increase the joy of life and give it full power, while bad habits (gambling, alcoholism) can only make people feel uneasy, unhappy, and accomplish nothing. To judge whether a product is a good product, it should not only be based on the number of users and the dependence of users, but more should be based on whether it provides users with positive value. If a product only makes users addicted, but does not improve the user’s body or heart, then this product cannot be called a really good product.
