Fun

How fun affects behaviour

Humour and fun reduce people’s resistance to action.

Fun provides the kind of instant gratification people can’t refuse. Any activity or task (especially if tedious or unimportant) can benefit from adding some fun, humor, or entertainment value.

Using fun triggers

Fun Triggers are best to tackle Experiential and Promotion jobs. But they also work in conjunction with other triggers to improve pretty much any idea. With the brief at hand, try asking yourself the following questions:

(click on them for details and examples)

A bit more on fun

In 2009 Volkswagen launched a global initiative to prove that ‘something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better’. They called it The Fun Theory and you can check many great examples on the VW Fun Theory microsite, The Staircase Piano (below) being the most famous one.

Great ideas using fun

The Interactive Form | BETC Paris for Canal+

Jump Pump | Geometry Mumbai for Lifebuoy

Most recent ideas using fun

(check Activation Ideas for even more case studies using Fun)

If you want to learn more about fun

Despite the Volkswagen example, there’s not a great deal of theory around fun, but conversely it’s quite an easy concept to grasp. If you’re interested, here are two great pieces to start.

The seminal work done by VW has a lot of inspirational mini-case studies that illustrate the power of this behavioural trigger

An easy to read book that goes beyond Game Design and touches on the philosophy or Fun behind design in general

Other triggers

There’s much more than Fun to influence people’s behaviour. Check out all the other Behavioural Triggers to learn more.