This is (loosely) another post about game theory.
My wife and I have recently been working our way through The Sopranos box sets. Last week when a character ‘talked back’ to his mob boss, my normally charming wife turns to me and says: “He’s got to get clipped for that.” I nodded in agreement as I sipped my tea.
When you obsessively watch a show like The Sopranos, each viewing is like holidaying in their world. This particular world, of course, is the underworld. The characters – mostly in the mob – live by very different rules to my wife and I, but when we – as willing escapists – watch, we ‘buy into’ their culture to the point that we start thinking like them. [Only in the context of what's on-screen of course. I've never thought about 'whacking' her for not passing the salt fast enough.]
It reminds me of the broken window theory in environmental psychology: That a broken window sets the tone for a neighbourhood and subsequently (normally) respectful people start behaving disrespectfully towards their surroundings. This isn’t about broken morals though – that just made for a provocative title. This is about how easily people will accept the culture and rules of a new environment – and play along.
This is related to game theory – and experiential marketing – because when you’re designing a new experience for people, you are creating the rules. Like a game, or like a TV show, this new universe will set the tone for how people interact with it. And people love excuses to behave in ways they might not act on usually.
I suppose this is related to pretending. But what I’m more interested in – in this post – is people’s willingness to buy into the culture of a new environment and the possibilities that opens up.
