Until recently we lived in a world that believed that punishment should be an important part of education, educating is restricting, while the person acquires the capacity to self-restrict, this idea has been reassessed and the funny theory clearly shows that, in many cases, there are more effective methods.
It is true that human beings have come into the world with very self-centered patterns of behavior, to learn to live in society we must gradually abandon the idea that we are at the center of everything and that all our desires must be fulfilled. .
- The fun theory suggests that people are more willing to perform actions that can be considered “boring” when it comes to a fun experience.
In other words, a positive stimulus can become a great incentive to meet certain standards or adopt desirable behaviors for society.
“Passion and fun are the most powerful forces when it comes to doing things. -Rafael Santandreu-
The theory of pleasure first appeared in 2009 and did not happen at the academy. Volkswagen sponsored an experiment to prove that this theory worked.
At the same time between marketing and social responsibility, this automotive giant has wanted to demonstrate that social and individual change is possible whenever there is an incentive to achieve it.
Volkswagen has launched its pleasure theory, or pleasure theory, to encourage people to lead a more complete life, obviously consolidating the brand image. This company has proposed a series of social experiments to observe people’s reactions.
All these experiences have posed a dilemma for people, there were two options: one that bet on convenience and custom, and another that required some effort, but at the same time involved a different and fun experience. Let’s see what happens:
The first social experiment was very simple, but also very revealing, conducted in a very busy place: the most popular metro station in Sweden.
There was a escalator and, next to it, a conventional staircase. The question was: how do we get people to use conventional stairs, taking advantage of it to exercise?
They found a funny answer. They invented what was called the “piano ladder. “They painted the conventional staircase as if it were a piano and made sure that when people climbed on each step, it would make a sound, as if people were playing a musical instrument.
The result was surprising. Normally, 95% of people use the escalator to climb, while with the piano ladder, 66% of passers-by choose to make the effort to climb step by step.
Besides, they seemed very happy to ride. This showed, in principle, that the theory of pleasure worked.
The second experiment to test the theory of pleasure was even more successful than the first, there are still many people throwing garbage on the ground and they do so without the slightest shame, for example, a new test has been proposed, too. Stockholm, Sweden.
The idea was to install trash cans with a special sensor. When a person threw garbage in the trash, it looked like a caricature, when something fell off a cliff.
People found it extremely fun and not only threw the trash in the right place, but also picked up the trash that was on the floor and threw it away.
In a single day the amount of waste deposited in landfills was almost doubled and it has been shown, once again, that the theory of pleasure can be useful.
Until now, however, this theory has only been addressed as an element of marketing and in the business environment, while relying on short-term experiences, without guaranteeing that the effects could be maintained over time.
The big question is whether it would work the same way on broader issues and whether it is capable of producing lasting long-term behavioral changes.
There is still no data on it, however, the idea that the game is a factor that has extraordinary persuasive power has been proven, novelty and fun are stimuli strong enough to encourage us to be better people.