The Intriguing Influence of Sports on the Human Mind

This week, fans filled the stadiums in Germany for the Euro Cup 2024 wearing their country's colors like warriors getting ready for a big fight. They cheered and shouted joyfully when their team scored, but they also felt sad when they lost. Some fans spent a lot of money to travel from far away just to be at the game.

Have you ever wondered why people get so obsessed with sports? It's crazy how watching a game can make us forget about everything else going on in our lives. But if sports can make us so dedicated, can companies learn how to make us just as loyal and passionate about their products?

Did you know that the way sports fans act all crazy for their team can be used to make people really into using certain products? Smart companies are making people use their stuff all the time by knowing how our brains work. Check out these cool examples of how sports psychology is being used by companies to get people hooked:

The Year of Great Potential

Check out the die-hard fans of the Chicago Cubs for a great example of customer loyalty. The Cubs haven't won a World Series in over 100 years, which is the longest drought in North American sports history. But even with all those losses, Forbes magazine still ranked them as having the 4th most loyal fans in baseball.

Have you ever wondered why Cubs fans never give up, even when their team keeps losing? It's not just because they think this could finally be their year. The real reason lies in two sneaky tricks our brains play on us - hope and the chance of winning big. These tricks make us keep coming back for more, even when it seems like we should give up.

Remember that cool poster of Barack Obama with the word "Hope" on it? Well, it turns out that hope is a really powerful thing when it comes to selling stuff. A guy named BJ Fogg from Stanford University says that hope is a big reason why people do the things they do. Like, it makes them want to buy things or support certain causes. So, next time you see an ad that makes you feel hopeful, remember that it's all part of the plan to get you to do something.

Every sports fan loves to hope for their team to win, but not many know how addicting it can be to get rewards randomly. It's like when you play a video game and you never know when you'll get a cool prize - it makes your brain super excited! We keep wanting more and more, always searching for that feeling of winning, even though we never quite get there.

Meet Sean Markey, a cool teacher in Salt Lake City who loves using Quora, a fun app where you can ask and answer questions. Sean can't get enough of Quora and checks it out at least twelve times a day. He loves how interesting and exciting it is to scroll through all the questions and answers. Even though Sean knows he spends a lot of time on Quora, he just can't resist the thrill of getting different rewards every time he uses it.

Sean is like a die-hard Cubs fan who just can't stop hoping for that big win. He's always scrolling through his Quora feed, looking for interesting questions that might make him see things in a whole new way. He never knows what he'll find, but he can't resist checking multiple times a day. It's like a mystery he just can't solve until he reads every question that pops up.

The Investment in the Game directly impacts its overall Quality

Dani is a huge fan of the New York Knicks! No matter what happens, he's sticking with his team. He's 26 years old and last year he spent a lot of money on tickets to games and gear to support his favorite team.

Shera has been dating Dani for more than 3 years, but she's not a fan of the Knicks like he is. She thinks they're just a waste of money. Shera doesn't care about assists or rebounds at all. She might go to a game now and then, but only to hang out with Dani, not because she's interested in what's happening on the court. It's interesting how people can have such different opinions about sports, isn't it?

Two more things can help us understand why some people get into fandoms while others don't. The first thing is called an "escalation of commitment bias." This means that the more time and energy someone puts into something, the more likely they are to keep doing it or believing in it. So, if you spend a lot of time on a fandom, you're more likely to keep being a part of it.

When you're a kid, you start playing sports for fun in your backyard. But as you get older, you might start looking up to famous athletes and wanting to be like them. You practice a lot to get better at the game you love. Even though most kids don't end up playing sports professionally, they still remember the fun they had playing when they were young. As you grow up, you might not play as much, but you still enjoy watching games and supporting your favorite team. Some people even spend money on tickets and merchandise to show their love for the game. It seems like the more fans invest in their team, the more they care about them.

Have you ever wondered why you feel more excited about something when you put in a lot of effort? Well, Cognitive Dissonance Theory might have the answer! If you feel like you're spending more money on something than you're getting enjoyment out of it, your brain gets all confused. The only way to make sense of it is to love whatever it is you're spending money on. So, next time you're feeling super pumped about something, just remember it's all in your head!

Transitioning from Performance to Presence

Have you ever wondered why we become so obsessed with sports? Well, one reason is because of something called "escalation of commitment." This means that once we start investing time and energy into something, like following a sports team, we feel the need to keep going even if it's not going well. But there's another reason why we become die-hard fans - sports help shape who we are. Studies have shown that how we see ourselves has a big impact on our actions. For example, when people were asked to think of themselves as "voters" instead of just "voting," they were more likely to go out and vote. Just by changing a word, we can change how we act. Cool, right?

When you start thinking of yourself as a true fan, you start acting like one too. You wear your team's colors proudly, you never miss a game, and you stick with your team no matter what. Being a real fan is all about showing your support in everything you do.

Everyone has their idea of what it means to be a fan, which is why not everyone goes to work dressed in their favorite team's gear. But how we see ourselves affects what we do, like what sports we follow and what stuff we buy. Some companies use the idea that once you start liking something, you'll keep liking it more and more, and they use that to get you to buy more stuff.

Apple knows how to make people love their products. They started with the "Think Different" campaign and then those funny "Get a Mac" commercials. They made Apple seem cool and new while making PCs seem old and boring. They even made the products into characters - "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC." It was easy to see the difference. Apple also started small with the iPod and now they want to be on every screen you own, from your phone to your TV. They're always trying to get you to love Apple even more.

Check out StackExchange, a cool company that knows how to turn regular users into super users! Originally just a place for tech questions, now it's run by its members and has forums on tons of topics. People ask over 5,000 questions a day on there! How do they keep things organized? By making users do the heavy lifting.

When you ask a question, answer someone else's question, or give a thumbs up to a good answer on StackExchange, you become more involved in the website. What might start as a simple click can turn into a big responsibility. Most websites would pay people to do this kind of work, but on StackExchange, the top users spend hours every day managing content and making sure everyone plays nice, all for free.

Jeff Atwood, who helped create StackExchange, says that the people who use the site a lot don't just think of themselves as regular users. They see themselves as owners of the site. Atwood believes that when users feel like they are in charge of making the site better, they use it more often. This change in mindset is what makes StackExchange different. These users who now feel like owners, take on a special responsibility for the site, similar to how sports fans feel like their support is important to their team. Being a part of StackExchange becomes a big part of who they are, not just something they do.

Sports are Weird

Have you ever wondered why people act so differently when they're watching sports? It's interesting to think about why we get so into games and competitions. Watching sports can make us do things we wouldn't normally do. It's like a whole other side of us comes out when we're cheering on our favorite team.

Okay, so think about this: it might seem a little strange when we get all dressed up in team colors and spend a bunch of money to watch strangers play a game. But there's some cool stuff we can learn from why we act this way. It can teach us how to make better things and maybe even improve our own lives.