What about also 'the Economics of Pleasure'? In our research exploring what we are calling the 5 Models of Addiction Framework ( biological, psychological, social, moral and the one we added, Economic) it is clear that the how we view pleasures is as you say, not straight forward. So for example, the pleasure I will be getting on my holidays in about two hours from a cold beer after a hot game of tennis is biological, (cold, fizzy, alcoholic), social (now we 'deserve' a beer, a glass of water just isn't part of this particular social vibe), moral (one beer is thirst quenching and an understandable reward, 3-4-5 is an indicator of lack of willpower and self-control. To some people even one smacks of weakness) and economic - how many adverts and promotions have we seen in our lives which picture this exact image as giving exactly the feeling that I ascribe to it - thousands. What other options are available in such a highly visible place at point of sale (coke, Sprite and other harmful sugary drinks!).
How much of my pleasure is conditioning based on the design of the commercial environment and how much of it is actual pleasure, or are they the same thing? As David Robson's excellent book The Expectation Effect shows, expectation can kill you, it can make you think and behave in very different ways and it can direct you to having physical sensations which are not based on the physical properties of the product you have ingested, eg placebo and nocebo.
But as our research is beginning to show, shaping the commercial may be the most effective way to prevent harms, but the barriers to that are hampered by values and expectation effects all of their own!
Thanks Hilary (and sorry for the slow response). Agree the role of advertising feels key here - I'll take a look at David Robson's book and think through your comments more!
What about also 'the Economics of Pleasure'? In our research exploring what we are calling the 5 Models of Addiction Framework ( biological, psychological, social, moral and the one we added, Economic) it is clear that the how we view pleasures is as you say, not straight forward. So for example, the pleasure I will be getting on my holidays in about two hours from a cold beer after a hot game of tennis is biological, (cold, fizzy, alcoholic), social (now we 'deserve' a beer, a glass of water just isn't part of this particular social vibe), moral (one beer is thirst quenching and an understandable reward, 3-4-5 is an indicator of lack of willpower and self-control. To some people even one smacks of weakness) and economic - how many adverts and promotions have we seen in our lives which picture this exact image as giving exactly the feeling that I ascribe to it - thousands. What other options are available in such a highly visible place at point of sale (coke, Sprite and other harmful sugary drinks!).
How much of my pleasure is conditioning based on the design of the commercial environment and how much of it is actual pleasure, or are they the same thing? As David Robson's excellent book The Expectation Effect shows, expectation can kill you, it can make you think and behave in very different ways and it can direct you to having physical sensations which are not based on the physical properties of the product you have ingested, eg placebo and nocebo.
But as our research is beginning to show, shaping the commercial may be the most effective way to prevent harms, but the barriers to that are hampered by values and expectation effects all of their own!
Thanks Hilary (and sorry for the slow response). Agree the role of advertising feels key here - I'll take a look at David Robson's book and think through your comments more!
In case of interest here is our article on the 5 Drivers of the Addiction Economy, in which predatory advertising is one.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/655f62e10f7abd1c10be021d/t/6659b153bc87543d980369c7/1717154131930/The+5+Economic+Drivers+of+Addiction+Final+Report.pdf