How to make people want to be part of the 'sustainable' clan
As part of my masters degree, together with a team of friends, I designed and created a social news website. It was all created using various free web apps. It was great - fully functional, easy to use and with an attractive user interface - but no one used it. Why - because I made too freely available. At the time I had no understanding of the principle of the value of scarcity. It got to the stage where I changed the 'home' page of the communal computers to the site in an attempt to get people to use it. I was forcing it down people's throats and they weren't interested.
The scarcity principle suggests that things that are scarce are more valuable.
Why is this relevant to the sustainability movement generally? Because the sustainability movement wants to get everybody on board. It wants to be seen as grass roots. It wants to be something anybody can get involved in. There are few barriers to entry. There is little scarcity value placed on being part of the 'sustainability' clan.
Now, I'm simplifying the scene quite a lot. There are many counter examples. Cars like the Tesla have made environmental driving something that only the very rich can be involved in. This has automatically given it scarcity value. The Forum for the Future masters course has created a pretty exclusive alumni network that has a very high scarcity value.
So how can the 'sustainability' clan make itself seem scarce and accessible at the same time? The answer: by having offerings at all levels, be they products, networks and services, but by focussing on the scarce ones. By talking and enforcing the idea that many of these things are highly scarce people will want to be part of it. So there you have it: focus on the scarce but have offerings at all levels.
Oh and by the way, there are only 20 spaces available on my social news site. If you want one of them you need to write to me at pcbrock (at) gmail dot com and explain why you think you should be allowed to participate.
The scarcity principle suggests that things that are scarce are more valuable.
Why is this relevant to the sustainability movement generally? Because the sustainability movement wants to get everybody on board. It wants to be seen as grass roots. It wants to be something anybody can get involved in. There are few barriers to entry. There is little scarcity value placed on being part of the 'sustainability' clan.
Now, I'm simplifying the scene quite a lot. There are many counter examples. Cars like the Tesla have made environmental driving something that only the very rich can be involved in. This has automatically given it scarcity value. The Forum for the Future masters course has created a pretty exclusive alumni network that has a very high scarcity value.
So how can the 'sustainability' clan make itself seem scarce and accessible at the same time? The answer: by having offerings at all levels, be they products, networks and services, but by focussing on the scarce ones. By talking and enforcing the idea that many of these things are highly scarce people will want to be part of it. So there you have it: focus on the scarce but have offerings at all levels.
Oh and by the way, there are only 20 spaces available on my social news site. If you want one of them you need to write to me at pcbrock (at) gmail dot com and explain why you think you should be allowed to participate.
Posted 1 year ago
by Pete Clutton-Brock
