Digital Consumer
Innovation
Marketing
July 05, 2024
Brands and the attention economy era: the new currency of the digital world
It is interesting that the user spends more and more time connected so that they receive more assertive advertisements.
Attention has become a precious and contested commodity. How many times have you picked up your phone to check a specific piece of information and found yourself, minutes later, browsing an endless stream of content on social media? This increasingly common experience reveals the power of the attention economy in the digital world.
According to the DataReportal 2024 report, Brazilians spend an average of 9 hours and 13 minutes connected to the internet, of which 3 hours and 37 minutes are spent browsing social media. These numbers prove the impact of the digital age on our behavior and the need to understand how the attention economy shapes our actions and choices, especially those related to consumer decisions.
The experience of spending a lot of time on the internet, often without realizing it, is an example of how attention is contested in the digital world, becoming a scarce commodity (Martinuzzo, 2014). However, the attention economy is not a new concept. Lanham already pointed out in 2006 a historical shift from an economy of things and objects to an economy of attention.
Social networks
With the consolidation of the internet and social networks, there was a reconfiguration and intensification of this concept, providing a scenario where attention is recognized as a great value, also disputed by brands, which seek to capture consumer interest to stand out in an increasingly saturated market.

The attention economy is a strategy for dealing with the large volume of information circulating on the internet, recognizing that human attention is a valuable and limited resource. The concept was introduced in the 70s by economist Herbert Alexander Simon. He proposed that attention can be seen as a scarce good, being directed and monetized, similarly to other resources. Davenport and Beck (2001) state that attention can be understood as a currency traded in a financial market.
In the current context, retaining attention is part of the business model of social networks and large technology companies, the so-called big techs. Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, for example, are not just networks that connect people, they are advertising platforms. Thus, it is interesting for the user to spend more and more time connected so that they receive more assertive advertisements.
In this sense, considering the dynamic and competitive scenario of the attention economy, brands face the constant challenge of capturing the public’s attention, redefining their relationship with consumers and going beyond traditional communication. Common advertising focused on the product or service, by itself, no longer makes much sense. The creation of useful and relevant content, where information and entertainment unite, will be fundamental in this economy.

Therefore, brands that wish to thrive in the digital world will have to go further and, to stand out, they will need to create useful and engaging content, build genuine relationships with their consumers, and become a meaningful part of people’s lives. Some strategies that can be used to achieve this goal include:
- create personalized and targeted content: map interests and create tailor-made content that meets the specific needs of the audience in appropriate language and format;
- working storytelling engaging: through captivating narratives, tell stories that capture the audience’s attention, authentically convey brand values, and create an emotional connection;
- diversify formats: use different formats to tell stories, such as videos, podcasts, articles, ebooks, and infographics, adapting to audience preferences and communication objectives;
- promote immersive experiences: use content to allow active audience participation;
- encourage user-generated content: promote interaction and the creation of online communities;
- create honest and transparent communication, in addition to original and authentic content: the content should reflect a reality close to the audience and generate their identification with the brand.
The attention economy is a fundamental theme for businesses as well. Marketers and brands that understand this concept and know how to create strategic alternatives to capture and engage the public’s attention will be the ones that stand out in the competitive digital world market.
| To access the references of this text click here |








