When you see an ad, what motivates you to buy the product? Dr. BJ Fogg developed a model to help determine what causes people’s behavior to change. The Fogg Behavior Model has three elements that must take place at the same time for a certain behavior to happen. The three elements are: Motivation, Ability and a Prompt. The model asserts that if a certain behavior you desire does not occur, one of the three is missing. Research and analysis of people’s behavior plays a very big role in persuading people to purchase a particular product or walking into a store.

“First, the FBM shows how behavior is the result of three specific elements coming together at one moment. Next, the FBM explains the subcomponents of each element. In addition, the FBM shows that Motivation and Ability can be traded off (e.g., if motivation is very high, ability can be low). In other words, Motivation and Ability have a compensatory relationship to each other. Finally, the FBM applies most directly to practical issues of designing for behavior change” (Fogg, 2007).

In order to organize a successful marketing strategy, you need to know your target audience. What do they respond to? What motivates them and triggers a response to purchase a product? Ikea, Samsung and Nike have ads below. Let’s take a look at each one.

IKEA has an augmented app that allows you, through 3D technology, to see how their furniture will look in your home. This ad shows the ease with which you can try out different pieces of furniture in your home first, without purchase. Using the model above, we can say that this ad would motivate people because it offers convenience and prevents future frustration leading to a less stressful process of buying furniture. The ability aspect is that the service is affordable. It is si

The Galaxy S9 Commercial is about their new phone that focuses on their “Reimagined” camera that has more capabilities as well as many fun aspects to it. The song is fun and catchy, already putting the consumer in a good mood and the ad focuses on how the camera can be fun (personalized emojis and slow motion) and how they have solved a common problem (not ruining your phone when it gets wet).

The Nike ad is my favorite. Nike Envision perfectly combines the digital and physical landscapes. Through the use of technology, they have created a digital retail experience that focuses on customer convenience and service. From a social media wall to a shoe terminal that allows you to compare, select and pay for your product.

All three adds focus on creating a less stressful, more convenient way of doing something we do every day. Whether it be buying furniture for our homes, the use or purchase of a phone or retail shopping. The motivation is convenience, less stress, having more fun! The ease of using the interactive aspects of each of these as well as time save and cost efficiency is evident and representative of the ability aspect of the Fogg model. The prompt is not a call to action in the traditional sense, however the need try out a new product or experience something new before other people or just in general, is a big trigger for most consumers.

“To borrow another common analogy, if motivation and ability are the oxygen and kindling needed to fuel a fire, the trigger is the spark that transforms the fuel into that fire”(Boynton, 2018).

I think all three ads connect with consumers and spark an interest in further interest.

Boynton, P. (2018). Motivation, Ability, and Trigger: How Using the Fogg Behavior Model Increases Clicks & Sales. Retrieved from: https://instapage.com/blog/bj-fogg-behavior-model

Fogg, BJ. (2007) Retrieved from http://www.behaviormodel.org/index.html