The Internet has changed everyday life. Earlier, people had more time and they could pay attention to anything they could. If they wanted to learn or know something the sources were limited. Most of it came from books and newspapers. It took some time before any information reached the masses. The Internet has made things easier for us. The issue now is no longer about the availability of information. One is right to think there is too much of it(information) available which has led to information overload.
Information overload happens when one finds it difficult to reach a conclusion or decision because there is too much information available. Clearly, we don’t have the equivalent time and brain capacity to process all that information to make a decision.
In a business organization, one has to pay attention to numerous issues. And, not everything that comes our way should be dealt with immediately. We have our priorities. So, we pay attention to the work accordingly.
Furthermore, human attention is limited, it is scarce, and one also has limited time to pay attention to anything. Under that scenario, it is important to identify the areas that require our attention. That way we can have meaningful data or information while we reject the information that doesn’t serve our purpose.
Apart from how efficiently a business utilizes its factors of production, a business organization needs to ensure that its employees pay attention to what is required to improve the business. If the majority of employees focus in the same direction then it would first improve overall employee productivity. Besides, it also increases the probability of the desired outcome.
On the other hand, we also want consumers’ attention as well. We can design our applications in such a way that the user can easily filter out the results and get the desired information in the shortest possible time. But, can we offer the user something extra? And, if that extra information is useful then it would grab a user’s attention in no time. And, it’s a win-win situation for both the business as well the user.
For example, if someone is looking to order a Suit online. We can also suggest to him/her the Suit Accessories. What it does is that the user wouldn’t have searched for the accessories in the first place but just because we tried to grab his attention he/she is at least aware of the products we offer. So, even if not now but the user knows where to look if he/she intends to buy it.
There could be thousands of products available to sell on our platform and it is not possible for a regular user to browse all of the products. So, we offered the user suggestions on what else he/she can buy. The user is now aware of the product we sell. If there is something of interest then, it can convert into a sale.
We can see the attention economy from a different perspective that doesn’t involve business and consumers. For a student, there are millions of books available. It’s not possible for a student to read all of them. What he/she does is pay attention to a specific area to have a better understanding.
A farmer can choose to grow anything he/she desires. But, may not achieve the desired outcome in most cases. So, he/she focuses on a couple of crops that are better suited for a region’s topography.
So, we all are a part of the attention economy wherein there is no dearth of information. All that we require is attention to get the maximum out of it. Once we understand what should be our focus area then, it would lead to a better outcome.
