The Labor Illusion

Blogger Phil Agnew wrote a great post about Steve Jobs’s ability to persuade. He writes of Jobs: “His ability to convince billions of people to buy his products at premium prices was no coincidence.”

One of the techniques Jobs used so effectively was “The Labor Illusion.” The labor illusion suggests that when people witness the effort and labor put into a task, they tend to value the end product more. They’ll wait longer for it, they’ll pay more for it, and they’ll tell more people about it.

Steve Jobs often talked about how hard the staff at Apple worked. The years of working days, nights, and weekends to make Apple products functional and beautiful was a theme of his product launch presentations. And it worked. People lined up outside Apple stores to become some of the first to own the new model.

This is why companies and individual creators should always invest in their social media platforms. Some of the best content you can show your customers is the work behind the scenes. They’re hungry to see how products are created, how the finished look was accomplished, or how many ingredients the chef employed and how long the cooking process was. Show us Pedro Pascal rehearsing with a pillow standing in for Baby Yoda.

A 2022 study found that when consumers got to tour a brewery and see the process in action, they were 32% more likely to buy that beer. Wineries created tours and tastings for the same reason. We’re all hungry (pun intended) for stories that connect us to the creative process that produces something interesting and delicious.

Watching the staff work can enhance the dining experience; that’s the premise behind a steak house’s open cook line and the pit boss’s place in the center of a barbeque joint. I distinctly remember dining at a breakfast café that brought out our order in less than five minutes. No matter how good it tasted, we felt like it couldn’t be great quality – they obviously hadn’t had enough time to create a great dish made to order for us.

My only quibble with the Labor Illusion is its name. Labor is no illusion. In most cases, it takes many long hours of labor to come up with a perfect design, a great recipe, or a post, article, or book worth reading. And many more hours developing the skill to produce something of value (10,000, according to Malcolm Gladwell.) I think it’s critical for writers, artisans, and other creators to take the time to explain their process, show their work somewhere (if not in the book or on the product, then in writing about the book or product.)

Marketing is designed to take on this task. “Every bouquet is hand-crafted by artisans with over 100 hours of training. The flowers are grown in the South of France…” You get the idea.

That’s something bots and AI will never be able to replicate. They will never provide consumers with the Illusion of Labor, in part because they’re designed to give instant responses that are, on the whole, pretty good. Not always great, but pretty good. And fast. And for now, free. And at the moment, everyone’s entranced with that.

But eventually, after the novelty wears off, the instant response will devalue the work, commoditizing every kind of creative activity. When people realize they miss hand-crafted, thoughtful work, they’ll turn back to organic creators (aka people) who will take the time to listen to what they want and need and take the time to create something special. The Labor Illusion will bring us back to person-to-person interactions.

I, and thousands of other creators like me, will be here when you’re ready.