Maxwell’s Demon and the Dwindling Supply of Consumer Attention

Eric Anderson ()

Chapter Chapter 9 in Social Media Marketing, 2010, pp 165-179 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The physics concept of Maxwell’s Demon provides an apt metaphor for the increasing demands on consumer attention levied by social media participation; consumers must continually sort relevant and irrelevant content and connections in order to make their participation worthwhile. As more marketers participate at a greater volume in social media, they face the threat of consumer exhaustion; how much of their dwindling supply of attention will consumers devote to brands? The Volunteer’s Dilemma, in which players must set aside their short-term interests for the long-term good, illuminates this question. Marketers’ increasing demand for quantifiable results can create a perverse incentive to maximize short-term gains, at the risk of alienating consumers in a cooperative arena. The use of “counterreinforcers” that hold marketers accountable to acceptable rules of engagement may prevent mutual defection.

Keywords: Social Medium; Information Overload; Personal Brand; Mutual Defection; Perverse Incentive (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-642-13299-5_9

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-13299-5_9

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