Psychology Of Facebook Application Adoption (Stanford)

The Psychology of Facebook Application Adoption Ned Augenblick, Robert Ross, Michael Staton Stanford University 05-22-08

Trends Economy Design

Why do you use Facebook? Study by Brett Bumgarner University of Illinois-Champagne Motivations Mean Social Utility 3.91 Directory 3.71 Voyeurism 3.13 Herd Instincts 3.08 Collection & Connection 3.04 Personal expression 2.69 Initiating Relationships 1.98

Application Categories & Metrics
Alerts (1079)
Business (1094)
Chat (1333)
Classified (355)
Dating (1662)
Education (1835)
Events (1098)
Fashion (737) Food & Drink (691) Gaming (2848) Just for Fun (10307) Messaging (1401) Mobile (377) Money (411) Music (1316) Photo (1090) Politics (735) Sports (2138) Travel (627) Utility (1967) Video (1045) Installs, Daily Active Users, Invites, Calls to Action Metrics

Categories that Matter 7 Deadly Sins Facebook Lust Sex Gluttony Indulgence Greed Wealth Sloth Waste Wrath Revenge Envy Jealousy Pride Vanity

Top Applications
FunWall
SuperWall
Top Friends
Bumper Sticker
Owned
Texas HoldEm Poker
Friends for Sale!
Scrabulous
Are YOU Interested?
Movies
(Lil) Green Patch
Mobile
SuperPoke
iLike
Who Has The Biggest Brain?
Likeness
Zoosk
Compare People
Pieces of Flair
MY SEXY FRIENDS

Most Expensive (SF) Most Expensive (World)

How cautious are you of new Facebook applications? Somewhat, I add them but don’t care about privacy Very, I rarely add them & limit their contact Not very, I add applications all the time 10% 67% 23%

Do you believe the large choice in Facebook applications is beneficial to your Facebook experience ? I like a few FB apps & like the large choice I hate all FB apps – please make them stop I like a lot of FB apps & love the large choice 6% 53% 30% I like only a couple of apps & wish there were fewer 11%

What kind of applications would you like to see more of on Facebook? Fun – eg. Friends for Sale Games – eg. Scrabulous Self-Expression – eg. Where I’ve been 27% 12% 22% Utility Apps – eg. Causes 39%

Would you rather have simple & fun Facebook applications or something more substantial? Simple & fun (entertainment apps) More substantial (ie. useful apps that help you) 49% 51%

Economic View of App Adoption
Psych vs. Econ

Non Social Tech adoption
Simple: Costs vs. Benefits
Dope Wars

Social Tech: Positive Network Externalities
Friends’ use => higher benefits

3 General Points:
All or none “equilibria”
Lock-in: Popular tech not necessarily best
Focus persuasion on initial users, getting new users to install

Facebook Apps: Slightly different
Facebook gives applications access to certain features ( newsfeed, profile page)
Applications can capture PNEs by using these features effectively
Super Poke
Might be a bad thing?

App Adoption Design Viral Loop

Get Attention Self-Concept Call to Action

Self-Concept

Calls To Action

CTA Types

Prove Value Social Proof Show Utility

Social Proof

Show Utility

Set Goals Explicit Statements Behavior Modeling

Explicit Statements

Behavior Modeling Scaffolding Normative Behavior

Get Commitment Foot-in-the-door Visual Dissonance Incentives Cue Gaps Progress Bar Next Steps

Foot in the Door

Visual Dissonance

Incentives

Progress Bar

Next Steps

Thank You

Psychology Of Facebook Application Adoption (Stanford)

by Robert Ross

Accessibility

Upload Details

Usage Rights

3 Embeds 7

Statistics