The Attention Economy: Where the Customer Becomes the Product

What is the scarcest resource? In today’s “attention economy”, our very own attention has become a scarce commodity. We are bombarded with countless information, from social media to news sources, that it is difficult for any one source to truly captivate our attention. Social media platforms in particular have taken advantage of this by designing addictive and interactive user interfaces to keep us hooked on our screens while also collecting data about our preferences that is sold to advertisers. While we cannot deny the benefits that technology has brought us, how can we become more responsible consumers in an economy that commodifies our attention? 

Source: Team Felix for NET205

What is the scarcest resource? When we think of scarce resources, what comes to mind are tangible goods, like oil or diamonds. They are goods that have been so overused there are no longer enough to satiate our demand. However, in today’s Age of Information, our very own attention has become a scarce resource. In the past, we were the customers, now, our attention has become the product. In the so-called “attention economy”, our attention is constantly bombarded with information, from social media, television, or news sources, such that it is difficult for one particular information source to truly captivate our attention and influence us. An easily distracted audience means that marketers must devise new strategies, whether that be through addictive/engaging UI or through social media “influencers”, to endorse their products in order to stand a chance in this new economy. As a result, human attention has become commodified, and harvesting this attention is now an integral part of the revenue generation strategy implemented in numerous business models. Essentially, the attention economy is fed by a vicious cycle in which we are the product of the attention economy yet also the customer who is unknowingly manipulated into reinforcing it.

Easy access makes media platforms a focal point for harvesting attention to maximize revenue. Media sources like television advertisements are hotspots for collecting attention, which is then sold to advertising industry customers. A large portion of Facebook’s $7.05 revenue per person is through advertisements, in which advertisers can bid for the ability to direct their advertisements towards users based on location, demographic information, or profile information. The more viewers who are collected, the more attention that is sold, driving up the price of advertising. Our own attention is used as a product against us so that we then become the customers of a particular product or service. Notably, most social media is free for use, meaning that the more users who access a platform, the more they can be subtly manipulated using targeted advertising strategies that collect massive amounts of data from individuals — such as what photos we like, how much time is spent on a website, what we search, or even what files we download. One unique study showed that a computer algorithm can predict more about a person’s personality than their friends can from an analysis of “70 likes”, more than one’s family can from “150 likes” and more than one’s spouse from “300 likes”.

Revenue generation is not limited to targeted advertising. While many argue against the wealth inequality present in society, there is also an ever-growing attention inequality. Specifically, influencers with massive followers can use their ability to collect more attention in order to “influence” or sell a product or service for a particular business. In 2019, 89% of marketers say Instagram is strategically important to their influencer marketing strategy—which is greater than any other social media channel in the industry, and it is predicted that Instagram influencer marketing expenses could reach $2.3 billion by the end of 2020. 

But how can we break the cycle of being both the product of the attention economy and the unknowing and targeted customer who reinforces it? We cannot deny the benefits that the Age of Information has brought about, nor can we entirely avoid being a product of the attention economy. Many of the products we buy, while brought to our attention via manipulative strategies, have nonetheless benefitted us. Therefore as consumers, we can strive to become more active and intelligent in resisting the efforts of advertisement schemes that entirely dominate our attention without us even realizing. 

Perhaps the easiest stance is to simply not buy into marketing schemes. Targeted advertisements or influencer marketing schemes only work when we, the customer, allow them to affect us. By clicking on a certain ad that sparks our attention — without realizing that this is because it is being targeted towards us — we reinforce the power of data mining and play into the strategy of maximizing revenue. While it is easy to be swayed by the latest product that Kim Kardashian claims will help lose weight, clicking on such ads allows for even more data collection on an individual, and this will only increase targeted advertisements for, say, other weight loss products that we blindly think we need. However, the feedback mechanism that such strategies hold is leveraged by us, the consumers. Even by reducing time spent surfing the Internet, or on social media, we cannot totally reduce the loss of data privacy, but by simply choosing what sources influence us, we can gain the upper hand. Now that technology has become a facet of our everyday lives, it may become impossible to ever fully separate ourselves from its less-than-consensual tendencies to captivate our attention. But technology does not have the power to make decisions for us. 

By refusing the force of the attention economy, we may gain the power to redirect our attention. Rather than clicking the next “recommended for you” video on YouTube, or scrolling through recommended posts on Instagram, or jumping to view clickbait, we can choose the situations in which we willingly give our attention and break the cycle of being the product of the attention economy. Resisting the attention economy will be difficult, but if we start paying attention to what we watch or browse or like, we can become more informed, intelligent, and less manipulated consumers.