{"id":1377,"date":"2009-12-16T08:30:30","date_gmt":"2009-12-16T16:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2009\/12\/the_intention_economy\/"},"modified":"2009-12-16T08:30:30","modified_gmt":"2009-12-16T16:30:30","slug":"the_intention_economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/the_intention_economy.php","title":{"rendered":"The intention economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been a bunch of conversation about how the on-line worlds are changing the nature of the traditional marketplace. Some have suggested we’re now in an experience economy<\/a>, where people are buying an immersive experience surrounding a good or service rather than just the good or service itself (aka, Starbucks). Others have focused on the new currency of these new markets, suggesting that an attention economy<\/a> is now in play, where people’s focus and interest is more scarce and more valuable than cash for maximizing business success (although, I imagine that cash is still pretty handy for paying the electricity bill).<\/p>\n

Given my recent blathering about ticketing systems<\/a>, however, I’m increasingly intrigued by a concept framed by journalist\/blogger\/tech maven Doc Searls back in 2006: The Intention<\/i> Economy<\/a>. Searls was feeling that the ”attention economy” wave building momentum back then was missing an essential point — attention might be the beginning of something, but it’s not sufficient to forge an economy. Rather, he thought, it’s an individual’s intention<\/i> to do something that provides the essential stuff of markets. Says he:<\/p>\n

\n

The Intention Economy grows around buyers, not sellers. It leverages
\nthe simple fact that buyers are the first source of money, and that
\nthey come ready-made. You don’t need advertising to make them. The Intention Economy is about markets, not marketing. You don’t need marketing to make Intention Markets. In The Intention
\nEconomy, the buyer notifies the market of the intent to buy, and
\nsellers compete for the buyer’s purchase. Simple as that.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While it may sound like just a twist on other iterations, the Intention Economy is actually upside-down, particularly when we think about the arts. In the traditional approach, a bunch of individual arts organizations prepare and present content, and try to ‘capture’ the attention and commitment of some portion of the market. In an Intention Economy, ‘intent to act’ is the commodity up for sale. The consumer signals their interest in something (through a behavior or a specific statement out loud or online), and they receive offers to satisfy that intent. Think of it as a Lending Tree<\/a> for everything else.<\/p>\n

Searls original musing has evolved since then, in part into Project VRM<\/a> (an inversion of CRM – customer relationship management – systems, letting customers manage their vendor relationships instead of vendors manage their customer relationships). More recent developments in the online world make it even more powerful. For example, in 2006, Searls suggested that a consumer would need to broadcast specifics:<\/p>\n

”I’ll be skiing in Park City from March 20-25. I want to rent a 4-wheel
\ndrive SUV. I belong to Avis Wizard, Budget FastBreak and Hertz 1 Club.
\nI don’t want to pay up front for gas or get any insurance. What can any
\nof you companies do for me?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now that most of those specifics are already swirling around our on-line profiles, and swimming through our media choices (our Pandora radio stations, iTunes lists, Amazon purchases, Netflix rentals, restaurant preferences, and the like), the signal of intent can be much more succinct:<\/p>\n

”I’ve got a few open spots in my Google Calendar this week and some friends in town. Fill them with stuff I’ll like.” <\/p>\n

or, more simply: ”I’m bored. I intend not to be.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are all sorts of creepy privacy issues embedded in that exchange, but it’s already coming (SonicLiving<\/a> already makes event recommendations based on your iTunes and Pandora choices, your location, and a database of available performances). And people are increasingly willing to share bits of their behavior online in order to access better filters and recommendations on what to read, what to do, and who to meet.<\/p>\n

The larger point is this: Arts and cultural experiences are among the most personal and complex goods on offer. It might be time to embrace an upside-down view of the marketplace that begins with the person primed for action rather than our separate (though desperate) organizational needs to fill our spaces.<\/p>\n

RANDOM ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: Some smart programmer could build an autobot that scans Twitter and Facebook for statements of intent, and builds the actual marketplace where intent could meet provider. A simple hashtag could be the first attempt. Twitter example: ”I #intend to eat out tonight.” Your Twitter geotag provides your location. Your preference profile suggests your particular interests (discounts, adventurous food, social spaces, quiet dining, funky bars), and the bidding would begin.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been a bunch of conversation about how the on-line worlds are changing the nature of the traditional marketplace. Some have suggested we’re now in an experience economy, where people are buying an immersive experience surrounding a good or service rather than just the good or service itself (aka, Starbucks). Others have focused on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}