How do companies use the principles of slot machine design in other industries?

Question

I understand that slot machines use a specific psychological loop to keep people playing. Are there other industries that use similar principles to engage users or customers?

Answer 1

Yes, many industries and products use principles similar to those found in slot machine design to engage users. This includes social media platforms, where the opportunity is to gain status or likes, and the rewards (likes, comments, shares) are unpredictable and can be immediately checked and rechecked. Sports gambling, dating apps, and gig economy platforms like Uber also use unpredictable rewards to incentivize certain behaviors, such as driving to a specific area or swiping on profiles. These techniques leverage the same 'scarcity loop' to encourage repetitive behavior and engagement.

Comments

The scariest part is companies are using this exact system in video games specifically targeting children.

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Imagine living a world where the phrase “they’re trying to control you!” is looked at as crazy, yet corporations spend every waking moment to do just that.


Edit: ​​⁠Yea yea mind control isn’t real, but here’s the thing…Companies are spending money on research into psychological ways to manipulate the consumer. What everyone fails to see is that they’re playing the long game. You know why you have a piano room in homes today? Ed Bernays convinced builders and realtors to simply name it that, to boost the sales of pianos. We’re ppl forced? No, did sales go up? Of course! Can’t have a piano room without a piano now. See my point? They know the consumer inside and out literally down to the science. They’re not Professor X, but they sure know how to steer you down the maze.

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Unpredictable rewards in social media is truly scary. Tiktok has this, some video will go viral, some barely get any likes, it keeps you trying hoping you can make it go viral again. When this guy pointed it out, I got goosebumps. Wow

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Joe should do an episode on mobile games with in game purchases. Companies are making billions of dollars, often targeted at people under 18 by exploiting these human traits

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I remember online gaming back 15 years ago.  The dopamine rush could keep me up till 7 in the morning.  Thank god I’m married with kids now,  no more time for that shit.

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So basically, when I refresh my YouTube homepage, it’s like taking a pull on a slot machine. Idk what I’m going to get, or if/when I’m going to land on something stimulating to my interests, and I can do it over and over again. This model is everywhere

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I drove for Uber and Door Dash.  They do use this psychology.  However, you will lose money due to gas prices if you do what they say.  They will also take you to some pretty rough neighborhoods where you risk your health and vehicle.  I quit within two weeks.

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That looping system Michael mentioned - a reward, unpredictability, repeatable - is a big part of World of Warcraft nowadays, combined with the sunk cost fallacy and our desires to collect things. In successive expansions they have added more and more collectable items such as mounts, pets, toys etc. Many are easy to acquire but many are also low drop chances that 1 character can do once per day or week. Every weekly reset thousands of players rush to go do all their weekly mount/pet runs and it's really easy to get more characters to max level now too so often players will have armies of alt characters to swap to one after the other. Sunk cost fallacy plays into it in that so many players have put so much time and resources into their accounts/characters that it feels like a waste to stop.

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Big Tech has openly admitted to hiring and resourcing from the casino industry. This is a shock? Scrolling social media ring a visual bell? Like button, dislike, share, etc. all are tokens eventually spent in the dopamine loop. We use human behavior ticks like this during investigations and interrogations. How the room is arranged, where I sit, arm, hand, leg, foot placement and motions, which way you look when asked a question, do your movements match your words, all of these things are controlled and monitored for a purpose.

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Thank you for talking about the gamification of the gig economy.

Lyft driver since 2017.

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I drove for Uber while waiting for the city of Long Beach to approve a fence permit so I could start my business. I figured out from the distance to the next ride (you have to select yes/no) if Uber was going to send me to Compton/South Gate/or, LAX. They started incentivizing me just like they spoke about here. Still a hard pass even if i needed a ride to hit a bonus. Just isnt worth the risks.