PCOs And The "Attention Economy"

While driving to work one cold, snowy morning this winter I was impressed by the comments of Esther Dyson, a technology expert and newsletter publisher featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.

Dyson, when asked by reporter Susan Stamberg to select a 20th century development she thought would endure into the 21st century, chose the Internet. "The Internet is not simply a technology, it’s also a social medium," she observed. "And what it’s doing is profoundly changing the relationship between individuals and institutions, whether that’s big media ... big government, big business, even big institutions like the church or Red Cross. And what the Internet does is give more power to individuals and erodes the power of these large institutions."

That’s absolutely true, but the Internet, for all its promise and its remarkable ability to empower the individual, is incapable of one thing — human interaction. And by "human interaction" I don't mean communication between two people via e-mail, chat rooms or other electronic means. What I mean is face-to-face contact with another human being, a central ingredient to the success of any service business, including pest control.

Such interaction is in such short supply these days that Dyson says we’re on the threshold of a new economy, the "attention economy." What does she mean by this term? "The attention economy fundamentally means we have enough of everything," Dyson observes. "What we’re short of is human attention."

According to Dyson, thousands of companies — including yours — are vying for the attention of an American consumer who already has enough shirts, enough household goods and enough service businesses to meet virtually all of their needs. In such a competitive business environment the challenge is to get that consumer to purchase your product or service at a premium, which as everyone knows is much easier said than done.

Marketers are clamoring for the public’s attention over the Internet, over television, over whatever advertising medium they choose, but what consumers really want is personal attention. "What actually captures your attention is another human being looking at you, and in the middle of all of the artificial noise and sound and everything else, a real human being paying attention to you is very special," Dyson says. In fact, it’s the foundation of any successful service business.