Book Review – Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products

Recently, I read the book Hooked: How to Build- Habit Forming Products by Nir Eyal. The book takes on the connection between behavioral psychology and successful online and electronic products. Eyal proposes a four-step model, called The Hook Model, for building products that can become part of daily habits. He uses Twitter, Instagram, Farmville, Pinterest, and other success stories as examples of why we are so obsessed with applications on our phones.

After reading, I was in awe of the psychological explanation behind some of the reasons I pick my phone up constantly throughout the day. The four-step model proposed by Eyal consists of a trigger, action phase, variable reward tactic and investment. At each step we become more enamored by a product. For a better understanding of this model, I will give an example of each part with X Corporation (Twitter). While you read it’s important to remember each part of the model can have many different examples that contribute to the overall success or failure of a product.

Trigger

The triggers, aka calls to action, utilized by X are sources of information that tell the user what to do next. It could be an external source like a friend, an ad, a partnership, or it could be an internal source like certain emotions. For X, these internal triggers are its bread and butter. The feeling one gets from scrolling X triggers a user to continue using the app. Fear of missing out or FOMO is a prime example of an emotional triggers caused by X. A user does not want to miss out on the latest news, meme, sports event, or favorite creator so they boot up the site and start their scroll.

B=MAT

This brings us to the action phase, here Eyal brings us through the Fogg Behavioral Model which posits; Behavior=Motivation*Ability*Trigger. When all 3 variables are present a behavior will occur.  Eyal actually uses X as an example in this section of the book. He states the share button allows users to simply relay information from a tweet in a simple click rather than typing out the context to another user. Minimum cognitive effort combined with social collaboration calls a user to select this feature.

Doom Scrolling

The next piece in the puzzle for the Hook Model is the variable reward. I think this part of the model has been optimized by X in the past few years even since this book was written in 2014. The variable reward described by Eyal is what occurs for a user when they complete an action. In my X example, it’s doom scrolling. X does not feed a user identical information, or the most relevant information, or the most popular information in post after post. Rather the algorithm varies the type of post by a user’s historical interaction. This means that during each scroll, a user’s brain is looking through the ordinary for that dopamine rush of a great post. It could be news of the Titanic sinking, a new album, a sports update, or Russia vs Ukraine footage, but the point is the brain cannot truly predict what it’s going to see next. And it’s addicting. Eyal again uses X in the book as an example, but I think it’s even more relevant today as the “For You” becomes more individualized.

Investment

Finally, the investment phase of the model explains the benefit of the time and effort a user puts into a platform or product. X finds itself in the best possible spot for this part of the model. Consider this, with today’s technology someone can create an interface almost identical to the one X has. However, due to the time and effort user’s put in to create a profile, post content, and create a following, it is not worth it to restart. For example, Meta’s release of Threads is still struggling to catch up to X in monthly users. Personally, I have no need for an identical application and the process of restarting seems trivial for such a product. I think for the future Threads is going to have to offer different core competencies for it to close the gap with X. It’s beginning with Threads integrating in Instagram feeds but even one of the top companies in the world has a lot of brainstorming to do.

Thoughts for Marketers

I think marketers should internalize this: an excellent product creates new marketing environments. Companies are now offered the opportunity to create habits within a habit. Any social media platform presents the opportunity for companies to individually curate content for customers. This approach allows companies to tailor their messaging and offerings to align seamlessly with users’ habits, creating a personalized and engaging experience. Hundreds if not thousands of companies have significantly increased their revenue by creating habitual actions on certain platforms. More people than ever are buying products or sharing services from social media platforms. In essence, a company can use the Hook Model within a product that uses the Hook Model.

* And remember, it doesn’t have to be social media, other apps such as games are just as powerful.

Recommendation

I highly recommend reading this book, no matter what discipline you find yourself in. We all use smartphones and technology daily and at the bare minimum understanding our behavior can help us form healthy habits. After reading this book I was able to internalize the “why” behind my usage iPhone applications and create a new motivator to regulate some of the negative behaviors I exhibit while using these apps. I mean, come on, I should not be checking Instagram the instant I wake up.

Source

Eyal, N. (2014). Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. Penguin Canada.

Google Books link: https://books.google.com/books/about/Hooked.html?id=oHHZBAAAQBAJ