January 2017
It is a Friday evening, and here I am sitting in the cozy dining area of the Kulkarni's residence, discussing with them how to spend my tomorrow, i.e., a Saturday morning exploring Philadelphia. Among the many options, they are suggesting is a visit to the Barnes Foundation, home to one of the world's most magnificent collections of paintings by Renoir, Matisee, Picasso, Van Gogh and many other iconic painters. A strong recommendation by both the husband and wife. For someone who does not have an artistic bent of mind, nor a single artist bone, my first thought is, ''Museum...blah. How boring!''. (I know my friends will forgive me for sharing this here!)
Thankfully, the voices in our heads do not come with a sound amplifier.
I conveniently filter out that option and show my eagerness to hear about other exciting alternatives from them.
After much deliberation, the eagerness and enthusiasm of Kulkarni's coupled with the curious keeda inside me, get the better of the art-skeptic side of me. By the end of the discussion, I have decided to visit the Barnes Museum after all. Just FYI, this was the same me, who, while on holiday in Amsterdam a couple of years ago had walked passed the Van Gogh museum on many occasions without even casting a second glance at it.
The same me was now ready to spend almost half a day in an Art Museum.
Change of he(art)!
October 2017 (Nine months later)
Here I am, sitting at home on a Saturday morning, lending the final brush strokes to Farmhouse in Provence, which is my sixth feeble attempt to ape Van Gogh's iconic oil painting. Nine months back if you had asked me to draw or paint, I would have brushed it off as a joke. And much worse, if I were asked to replicate the famous art pieces of Van Gogh (pronounced as Van Go), the situation would be close to painting myself into a corner (metaphorically, of course!).
Honestly, I counted myself among the artistically challenged who would be happy to pat their own back for drawing an exact ''round'' circle at the first attempt. And today, I am sitting at my desk with five paintings in watercolors (albeit, extremely rudimentary versions) safely tucked inside the drawer. This neophyte is now finishing off the sixth from Van Gogh's repertoire in nine short months.
All this was a huge revelation not just for me but also for all those who knew about my artistic ability (or rather the lack of it).
So why am I sharing this with you? '
Well, for starters, this post is not about ''showing off'' a wannabe dabbler's interpretations of Van Gogh nor her newfound interest.
This post is about how a change in human behaviors occurs. Yes, you got that right! Nothing to do with the art or painting.
As I looked back on the last nine months, I wondered how I got the initiative to take up painting when there was not a single iota of interest in the field of art. So here I am trying to deconstruct it here, lest the learning fades into oblivion.
Musings of a Marketer who stumbled on an interesting human behavior model
As part of the regular internet reads on marketing management and human behavior I had in the recent past stumbled upon The Fogg Behavior Model (FBM). A fascinating model that helps to understand how a change in human behaviors occurs. It helps in creating Persuasive Design and useful for UX designers or marketers or for anyone who is interested in studying human behavior.
It explains how three elements viz. Motivation, Ability, and Trigger must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur. When a targeted action does not happen, it means at least one of those three elements is missing.
I thought let me understand this theory to understand the change in my behavior more clearly. In my case, the difference in behavior was the apparent fact that I had taken up watercolor painting with a zeal like never before. And as I mentioned earlier, painting never occurred to me anytime in the three decades of life that had passed... the phase which came after school (where drawing meant a mandatory homework). Even in those days, the assignments were outsourced to the sister or mom. As is apparent, I did not consider myself artistically inclined at all.
So how come this penchant for watercolor painting now!
What were the three elements as per The Fogg Behavior Model (FBM), i.e., Trigger, Motivation and Ability that made this change in my behavior?
After much mulling over, I concluded that my Motivation was the immense pleasure of doing a challenging activity which was new to me, and to prove myself that even this can be done. And in the whole process, creating my versions of Van Gogh paintings (yes, no other painter, only Van Gogh).
The Trigger was my visit to the Barnes Foundation and hearing and knowing in detail Van Gogh's moving life story** for the first time.
What was left was the element of Ability.
FBM elaborates that ability is nothing but six elements of simplicity.
If it requires little time, less money, less physical effort, less mentally fatiguing, is socially acceptable and is a routine activity, then it gives you complete ability to change behavior with motivation and trigger also being present.
In all the six cases that I decided to create my interpretation of Van Gogh's paintings, motivation and trigger was always there, time was the only element which was a variable factor and in short supply. Rest of the five elements were not an issue at all.
So when time was available, it increased my ability to pick up the brush and get those six paintings done.
FBM also shows that motivation and ability can be traded off (e.g., if motivation is very high, ability can be low) for behavior change to happen. If you have a strong motivation, you can overcome the lack of your abilities and still create a change in behavior with a trigger.
Now just apply this model to anything in life and one can create a positive change in behavior just by ensuring that the three elements of motivation, ability, and trigger are present at the same time.
As a marketer, I think this is a fantastic model for persuasion and creating a change in the behavior of the customer to purchase your product or service.
Firstly, it is a useful model in the age of disruption and instant online purchases where all of us are perpetually living in a world of persuasion.
Also, a relevant model in times when a marketer's enemy is not just it's competitive product but even the customer's fragmented attention.
So given these circumstances, how can we as marketers encourage our target audience to take the desired action?
First, check whether the six elements of simplicity are being addressed to increase his/her ability to take necessary action.
Second, check how we can influence his/her motivation by using the appropriate core motivators (in the diagram above - pleasure/pain, hope/fear, acceptance/rejection) and putting them into force.
And the finally Trigger element. How do we wisely use Google analytics, do contextual brand promotions or re-marketing at the right time (when customer is motivated and also able to perform the behavior) to produce the target behavior.
In conclusion, I can say that this model is great to understand more clearly about human behavior, why we are not able to achieve intended outcomes, how we can channel our energies more effectively and how it can be used for persuading users to make the target behavior.
If interested, more details on the model can be found here
http://www.mebook.se/images/page_file/38/Fogg%20Behavior%20Model.pdf
**Story of Vincent Van Gogh (in brief)
Vincent van Gogh is considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, although he remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life. Vincent Willem van Gogh (March 30, 1853 to July 29, 1890) was a post-impressionist painter whose work, notable for its beauty, emotion, and color, highly influenced 20th-century art. He struggled with mental illness, and remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life. Van Gogh died in France at age 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Though he completed more than 2,100 works, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings and sketches, he sold only one painting in his lifetime. Several of his paintings now rank among the most expensive in the world; "Irises" sold for a record $53.9 million, and his "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" sold for $82.5 million. A few of Van Gogh’s most well-known artworks include: The Starry Night, Sunflowers and Self-portraits. (Source: https://www.biography.com)
And here are my six humble attempts to recreate Van Gogh's master pieces and the reason I wrote the blog on behavior change.
It is a Friday evening, and here I am sitting in the cozy dining area of the Kulkarni's residence, discussing with them how to spend my tomorrow, i.e., a Saturday morning exploring Philadelphia. Among the many options, they are suggesting is a visit to the Barnes Foundation, home to one of the world's most magnificent collections of paintings by Renoir, Matisee, Picasso, Van Gogh and many other iconic painters. A strong recommendation by both the husband and wife. For someone who does not have an artistic bent of mind, nor a single artist bone, my first thought is, ''Museum...blah. How boring!''. (I know my friends will forgive me for sharing this here!)
Thankfully, the voices in our heads do not come with a sound amplifier.
I conveniently filter out that option and show my eagerness to hear about other exciting alternatives from them.
After much deliberation, the eagerness and enthusiasm of Kulkarni's coupled with the curious keeda inside me, get the better of the art-skeptic side of me. By the end of the discussion, I have decided to visit the Barnes Museum after all. Just FYI, this was the same me, who, while on holiday in Amsterdam a couple of years ago had walked passed the Van Gogh museum on many occasions without even casting a second glance at it.
The same me was now ready to spend almost half a day in an Art Museum.
Change of he(art)!
October 2017 (Nine months later)
Here I am, sitting at home on a Saturday morning, lending the final brush strokes to Farmhouse in Provence, which is my sixth feeble attempt to ape Van Gogh's iconic oil painting. Nine months back if you had asked me to draw or paint, I would have brushed it off as a joke. And much worse, if I were asked to replicate the famous art pieces of Van Gogh (pronounced as Van Go), the situation would be close to painting myself into a corner (metaphorically, of course!).
Honestly, I counted myself among the artistically challenged who would be happy to pat their own back for drawing an exact ''round'' circle at the first attempt. And today, I am sitting at my desk with five paintings in watercolors (albeit, extremely rudimentary versions) safely tucked inside the drawer. This neophyte is now finishing off the sixth from Van Gogh's repertoire in nine short months.
All this was a huge revelation not just for me but also for all those who knew about my artistic ability (or rather the lack of it).
So why am I sharing this with you? '
Well, for starters, this post is not about ''showing off'' a wannabe dabbler's interpretations of Van Gogh nor her newfound interest.
This post is about how a change in human behaviors occurs. Yes, you got that right! Nothing to do with the art or painting.
As I looked back on the last nine months, I wondered how I got the initiative to take up painting when there was not a single iota of interest in the field of art. So here I am trying to deconstruct it here, lest the learning fades into oblivion.
Musings of a Marketer who stumbled on an interesting human behavior model
As part of the regular internet reads on marketing management and human behavior I had in the recent past stumbled upon The Fogg Behavior Model (FBM). A fascinating model that helps to understand how a change in human behaviors occurs. It helps in creating Persuasive Design and useful for UX designers or marketers or for anyone who is interested in studying human behavior.
It explains how three elements viz. Motivation, Ability, and Trigger must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur. When a targeted action does not happen, it means at least one of those three elements is missing.
I thought let me understand this theory to understand the change in my behavior more clearly. In my case, the difference in behavior was the apparent fact that I had taken up watercolor painting with a zeal like never before. And as I mentioned earlier, painting never occurred to me anytime in the three decades of life that had passed... the phase which came after school (where drawing meant a mandatory homework). Even in those days, the assignments were outsourced to the sister or mom. As is apparent, I did not consider myself artistically inclined at all.
So how come this penchant for watercolor painting now!
What were the three elements as per The Fogg Behavior Model (FBM), i.e., Trigger, Motivation and Ability that made this change in my behavior?
After much mulling over, I concluded that my Motivation was the immense pleasure of doing a challenging activity which was new to me, and to prove myself that even this can be done. And in the whole process, creating my versions of Van Gogh paintings (yes, no other painter, only Van Gogh).
The Trigger was my visit to the Barnes Foundation and hearing and knowing in detail Van Gogh's moving life story** for the first time.
What was left was the element of Ability.
FBM elaborates that ability is nothing but six elements of simplicity.
- Time - Does it require little time or a lot of time?
- Money - Does it require less money or lot of money?
- Physical Effort - Does it require less physical effort or is it exhausting?
- Brain Cycles (Mental Effort) - Is it less mentally fatiguing or more challenging?
- Social Deviance - is it socially acceptable or isn’t?
- Non-Routine - Is it routine or isn't?
If it requires little time, less money, less physical effort, less mentally fatiguing, is socially acceptable and is a routine activity, then it gives you complete ability to change behavior with motivation and trigger also being present.
In all the six cases that I decided to create my interpretation of Van Gogh's paintings, motivation and trigger was always there, time was the only element which was a variable factor and in short supply. Rest of the five elements were not an issue at all.
So when time was available, it increased my ability to pick up the brush and get those six paintings done.
FBM also shows that motivation and ability can be traded off (e.g., if motivation is very high, ability can be low) for behavior change to happen. If you have a strong motivation, you can overcome the lack of your abilities and still create a change in behavior with a trigger.
Now just apply this model to anything in life and one can create a positive change in behavior just by ensuring that the three elements of motivation, ability, and trigger are present at the same time.
As a marketer, I think this is a fantastic model for persuasion and creating a change in the behavior of the customer to purchase your product or service.
Firstly, it is a useful model in the age of disruption and instant online purchases where all of us are perpetually living in a world of persuasion.
Also, a relevant model in times when a marketer's enemy is not just it's competitive product but even the customer's fragmented attention.
So given these circumstances, how can we as marketers encourage our target audience to take the desired action?
First, check whether the six elements of simplicity are being addressed to increase his/her ability to take necessary action.
Second, check how we can influence his/her motivation by using the appropriate core motivators (in the diagram above - pleasure/pain, hope/fear, acceptance/rejection) and putting them into force.
And the finally Trigger element. How do we wisely use Google analytics, do contextual brand promotions or re-marketing at the right time (when customer is motivated and also able to perform the behavior) to produce the target behavior.
In conclusion, I can say that this model is great to understand more clearly about human behavior, why we are not able to achieve intended outcomes, how we can channel our energies more effectively and how it can be used for persuading users to make the target behavior.
If interested, more details on the model can be found here
http://www.mebook.se/images/page_file/38/Fogg%20Behavior%20Model.pdf
**Story of Vincent Van Gogh (in brief)
Vincent van Gogh is considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, although he remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life. Vincent Willem van Gogh (March 30, 1853 to July 29, 1890) was a post-impressionist painter whose work, notable for its beauty, emotion, and color, highly influenced 20th-century art. He struggled with mental illness, and remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life. Van Gogh died in France at age 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Though he completed more than 2,100 works, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings and sketches, he sold only one painting in his lifetime. Several of his paintings now rank among the most expensive in the world; "Irises" sold for a record $53.9 million, and his "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" sold for $82.5 million. A few of Van Gogh’s most well-known artworks include: The Starry Night, Sunflowers and Self-portraits. (Source: https://www.biography.com)
And here are my six humble attempts to recreate Van Gogh's master pieces and the reason I wrote the blog on behavior change.
 |
| Terrace and Observation Deck at the Moulin de Blute-Fin, Montmartre, early 1887 |
 |
| The Bedroom, 1889 |
 |
| Houses and Figure (1890) |
 |
| Houses at Auvers, 1890 |
 |
| La Mousme, 1888 |
 |
| Farmhouse in Provence (1888) |
No comments:
Post a Comment