Maxwell’s Demon and the Dwindling Supply of Consumer Attention

The physics concept of Maxwell’s Demon provides an apt metaphor for the increasing demands on consumer attention levied by social media participation; consumers must continually sort relevant and irrelevant content and connections in order to make their participation worthwhile. As more marketers participate at a greater volume in social media, they face the threat of consumer exhaustion; how much of their dwindling supply of attention will consumers devote to brands? The Volunteer’s Dilemma, in which players must set aside their short-term interests for the long-term good, illuminates this question. Marketers’ increasing demand for quantifiable results can create a perverse incentive to maximize short-term gains, at the risk of alienating consumers in a cooperative arena. The use of “counterreinforcers” that hold marketers accountable to acceptable rules of engagement may prevent mutual defection.