Product operation: Let users share the deep logic of fission!

A good product will make users want to share, spontaneously engage in fission behavior, and allow more users to use it, thus achieving the effect of self-propagation of the product. So, how do you get users to share?

Only by deeply understanding the underlying logic of user sharing behavior can we better encourage more users to share and achieve the effect of product self-propagation.

Sharing as a behavior, let’s first look at the process of how the behavior is generated.

1. The process of behavior generation

Going back to the biological essence, behavior is actually a stimulus response. Before the behavior occurs, the user will usually receive a stimulus (at a specific time and scenario). This stimulus will cause emotional and mental reactions (demands), produce a subjective expected utility, and prompt the user to take corresponding actions (if conditions permit), that is, to pursue this expected utility (demand satisfaction).

2. Why do users share?

Sharing, as a behavior, also follows the process of behavior. When users have come into contact with a product (anything that can provide user value can be said to be a product) and expect to gain some value (needs satisfaction) by sharing it, they will take the action of sharing.

Therefore, sharing is a voluntary act initiated by users to meet their own needs. Even if sharing is ostensibly for others, it is ultimately for self-satisfaction, which is a survival need of life (all behaviors are for better and sustainable survival of life).

It’s just that most of the time we focus on a series of intermediate motivations based on the process of self-satisfaction. Focusing on the motivations of the intermediate process can guide our behavior more conveniently and efficiently. What are the motivations for sharing?

3. Intrinsic Motivation of Sharing Behavior

The first category is sharing behavior that does not involve others but is only about one’s own sharing motivation.

Positive emotions: After using the product, users will have positive emotions, such as joy, excitement, or love, etc., and will actively help share, which is an act of encouragement and support, especially when the user has a peak experience. For example, when users use a product with excellent functions or enjoy a thoughtful and surprising service, they will be more willing to share.

Self-interest: If users are promised a certain level of reward for sharing, they will be willing to share. There are many examples of this, such as 10 days of reading time for sharing on WeChat Books, and various ways to share to win red envelopes, points, or even free meals. Rewards are a strong incentive for users to share.

The second category involves sharing motivations of others.

Altruism: When what users share is beneficial to others, they are willing to share it. Simply sharing can meet the needs of others, which is a very valuable thing. Take WeChat Reading as an example. By sharing it, others can get a few days of free reading time after receiving it. For example, share learning materials and important information with friends.

Having interpersonal relationships: Sharing can help users connect and strengthen interpersonal relationships, or attract similar people through shared things. When establishing new interpersonal relationships, it can also encourage users to share, such as sharing games with friends to play games together.

Self-expression: In order to have good interpersonal relationships, you must express yourself and let others know what kind of person you are. There are many aspects of self-expression, such as hobbies, sharing your favorite books; stance, sharing some patriotic articles to express your stance; thoughts, sharing some articles with ideas or things with ideas; taste, sharing photos of a high-end cafe you have checked in to your circle of friends, etc. There are two more extreme situations of expression, one is to show off, and the other is to vent. Both of them are motivations for expression, showing off what kind of person you are, and venting emotions to show your preferences.

It is also important to emphasize that users’ sharing is often driven by multiple motivations, such as selfish and altruistic motivations, as well as WeChat book sharing for the purpose of self-expression.

4. How to make users willing to share

Will users be willing to share if they are motivated? Not necessarily. Users always tend to do things with high value, low cost and low risk. Although they are motivated to share, factors such as the value return not being very attractive, the high cost of sharing and the possible risks of sharing may make users want to share but not be willing to share.

1) Value return size

Users will only have a stronger motivation when they feel that sharing brings them enough value (not limited to money). For example, for some online course promotions, users only need to share posters to their friends circle and post screenshots, and they can join a group for free to study and communicate on online courses that cost only a few dozen yuan. For some users, this sharing reward is of high value, so they will share; but if users can only get a few cents in reward for sharing invitation posters, how many people would be willing to share? Not to mention a few cents, even if it's a few dollars, many users will be indifferent. Therefore, when designing sharing, if the budget is met, it is necessary to satisfy users in as many aspects as possible to obtain greater sharing value returns.

2) The cost of sharing

The first thing is the sharing process. The process should not be too complicated. If it is complicated, the user operation will be time-consuming and troublesome, and users who have no patience or are lazy will stop sharing halfway. In particular, avoid the situation where users need to learn and research how to share. Therefore, when designing the sharing process, try to allow users to operate with one click, reducing the user's time and energy costs;

The second thing to note is that the threshold for sharing rewards cannot be too high. Let’s take the new user acquisition activity as an example. If you are required to attract 20 new users and complete the conversion in order to get the reward, many users will be discouraged. Therefore, the threshold cannot be too high. However, considering the need to control some users who maliciously take advantage of you for free, the threshold cannot be set too low. Taking into account the differences among users, multiple levels of thresholds can be set. Different rewards can be set for different thresholds to meet the sharing needs of different users, which can also further motivate users to actively share.

Secondly, considering the value return, users will also care about a return on investment (value return/sharing cost × 100%) when making behavioral decisions. The user's sharing cost can be high, but at the same time, the value return of sharing must keep up.

3) Risk taking

After evaluating the high value and low cost of sharing, many users who do not care about risks or have low risk awareness are actually willing to share, but some users will still consider the subsequent risks of sharing. For example, if you share on your Moments, will it have a negative impact on your image in your Moments? If you share a certain product, will it affect your reputation due to counterfeits? If you share information that requires you to fill in your ID number, mobile phone number, and other private information that may be leaked? Therefore, special attention should be paid to these possible sharing risks when designing sharing.

Considering the value return of sharing, there is also a risk-return ratio (value return/risk × 100%). We should try our best to reduce or eliminate users' concerns about sharing. If the risk cannot be eliminated or reduced, the corresponding value return must also keep up, so that users dare to take certain risks for value returns.

5. How to enable users to complete sharing

The above mainly analyzes the motivation and willingness of users to share. In order to enable users to complete sharing as we hope, we also need to pay attention to the following factors.

1) Time and occasion of sharing

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, behavior always occurs at a specific time, in a specific scenario, and under specific conditions. The design of sharing content, process, and rewards should give users the willingness and conditions to share. We also hope that users can share at the time and scenario we expect, so that sharing can be more effective. Therefore, these two factors need to be considered when designing sharing.

2) Sharing behavior tendency

What we are considering here is more of a question of reverse thinking. While trying to make users more willing to share, we also need to consider the factors that may cause users to refuse to share. Sometimes we think that the time scenario and the user's willingness to share are all OK, but we don't pay attention to the fact that they may refuse to share because some point touches the user's minefield.

Finally, the best way to share is to let users form a habit of sharing. Here are two simple ideas. One is to continuously provide users with different sharing value rewards, and the other is to gradually cultivate users' minds and improve their loyalty.

If this article inspires you, please like or comment to exchange ideas! Let's create and spread deeper, richer and more useful knowledge together! Let's grow together for life!

Author: Qian Xing

Source: Qianxing