Deconstructing Reasons To Buy

A few folks have sent over Cory Doctorow's recent Guardian column on "persuading people to pay" in the digital era when things are free. It sets up a decent framework for looking at different "reasons to buy." You can read the breakdown of each of these at the link, but here's the basic list:

• Buy this or you'll get in trouble
• Buy this because it's the right thing to do
• Buy this because you're supporting something worthwhile
• Buy this because paying money will deliver high quality
• Buy this because it is convenient
• Buy this because your devices won't play the unauthorized version
• Buy this and you'll get more features than you would with the unauthorized version

Obviously, some of these are a lot more effective than others, but he's trying to create a rather complete list of both good and bad "reasons" that people present. Of course, this also leaves out one of the key points that we've made: "buy this because there's no other way to get it," which would apply to things like access and attention. And, to some extent, it's also why I question the use of the term "persuade" in the title. I think what makes really effective business models is not when you have to "persuade" people to buy, but when they're happy to buy, because it's a transaction that is reasonable and makes both parties better off. Still, it's a good list for those thinking about business models in the digital era, recognizing that many on that list have serious pitfalls.

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