Hooked

The Hook Model

The core framework of the book is the Hook Model, comprising four phases ^{[u7t9r7] [as4h7m]} [3]:

1. Trigger:
   • Triggers start the habit loop.
   • They can be external (e.g., notifications) or internal (e.g., boredom, loneliness). ^{[u7t9r7] [as4h7m]}
2. Action:
   • The user takes a simple action in anticipation of a reward (e.g., scrolling a feed, searching a term). ^{[u7t9r7] [m2i396]}
   • Making the action easy and frictionless is crucial (removing steps, minimizing effort). ^[m2i396]
3. Variable Reward:
   • Rewards are unpredictable and vary each time, increasing engagement (examples: new posts, likes, messages). ^{[as4h7m] [colkz3] [m2i396]}
   • Eyal identifies three types of variable rewards:
     • The Tribe: Social rewards (connection, likes)
     • The Hunt: Material rewards (points, deals)
     • The Self: Personal satisfaction (completing a task). ^[m2i396]
4. Investment:
   • Users invest effort, data, or time, making them more likely to repeat the cycle (posting content, customizing profiles). ^{[u7t9r7] [as4h7m]}
   • This increases perceived value and commitment.

An example is Instagram:

• Trigger: Notification on your phone
• Action: Opening the app and scrolling
• Variable Reward: New posts, likes, stories
• Investment: Liking posts, leaving comments, uploading a photo

Why Habits Matter for Products

• Habit-forming products ensure unprompted use, reducing marketing costs and increasing lifetime customer value. ^{[u7t9r7] [as4h7m]}
• Businesses benefit from faster growth, more pricing flexibility, and a competitive edge when their products become habitual. ^{[u7t9r7] [as4h7m]}
• This means users return automatically, such as checking Facebook when bored or searching via Google out of habit.

Visuals might show a feedback loop or a graph plotting frequency (how often users engage) against perceived utility (how useful users find the product). Products in the "Habit Zone" have both high frequency and high utility. ^{[u7t9r7] [as4h7m]}

Ethical Considerations

• Eyal acknowledges the line between creating helpful habits and exploiting users by fostering dependency or addiction. ^[i9h53u]
• He advises companies to focus on positive behavior change that serves users' interests, not just corporate gains. ^[i9h53u]

Summary Table: Four Steps of the Hook Model

Citations