The Economics of Human Intention
Haven’t heard of it yet? Maybe that’s because you don’t speak Dutch. It’s means ‘Live where you want’: a new initiative from ING bank that allows consumers to place offers on houses that aren’t yet on the market, in the hopes that an appealing enough offer might cause the current owner to consider the sale.
This is an absolutely brilliant move. I heard about it through Springwise, which picks up on the connection to Doc Searls’ Intention Economy:
The Intention Economy grows around buyers, not sellers. It leverages the simple fact that buyers are the first source of money, and that they come ready-made. You don’t need advertising to make them.
This concept is exactly what VortexDNA is based on. The lives we are after, the sites we visit, and the products we buy are shaped around our intention, not that of our vendors.
Imagine a world in which there is no marketing, only needs arising and being fulfilled. The ING concept and Searls’ Intention Economy is the difference between trying to create need to match your product and operating at the point where need arises spontaneously.
The spontaneous nature of market demand in the Intention Economy can yield far greater results with less effort, because there’s no need to change buyer behavior. You don’t have to convince anyone that they can only find love by using a certain mascara or owning an iPhone. So all of the investment that is put into trying to change people’s minds about whether they need something can instead be put into making superior products with an outstanding customer experience.
Last night, I went to a presentation by UK-based behavioral scientist Howard Lees. It was absolutely fascinating. Don’t worry about the psychology of it, he said. Look at what people say they’re going to do, and at what they actually do, and then compare the two.
This is highly practical advice. What are people actually doing? My favorite-font-of-information Brian Hayes pointed out that Barack Obama’s advisory group includes a bunch of behaviorists dedicated to understanding what people do; their insights drive his foreign policy and economic positions.
Lees also said that if you want to change behavior, you have to start by changing the environment. Turn the TV off. Move the furniture around. Burn the bridge.
Be practical. Don’t buy into an idealistic position just because you buy into the ideology. The Intention Economy is a great idea because it accurately incorporates the way people really are.
Do you have any experience with behavioral science or the Intention Economy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
