Temptation Bundling — the research, and how to use it at events

The research, plainly

Katherine Milkman's study gave people page-turner audiobooks they could only access at the gym — workout attendance jumped. Bundling a temptation with a virtue solved both problems: the guilt of the indulgence and the dread of the chore.

The receipt: Milkman et al., 2014

What it means for events

Attendees 'should' absorb training, strategy, and enablement — and want food, entertainment, and each other. Stop separating the two. The content wrapped inside the experience people would choose anyway gets consumed without the dread tax.

Where to run it

Learning formats

The workshop inside the wine tasting, the strategy session on the boat — the indulgence is the delivery vehicle.

Internal enablement

Put the required training where the culture moment already is. Compliance rides on celebration.

Customer education

Certification tracks bundled with the party everyone attends anyway — the badge and the band, one ticket.

Seen in the wild

Milkman's gym-audiobook study spawned a small industry of bundled-behavior design, and events have quietly always been the ultimate temptation bundle: nobody flies to Vegas for the breakout sessions — and yet the breakout sessions get attended.

Related concepts

FlowPeople are happiest fully absorbed in a challenge that exactly matches their skill.The Experiential AdvantageExperiences make people happier than things — and the happiness lasts longer.Fresh Start EffectNew year, new quarter, the day after a big event — the urge to change spikes at clean-slate moments.

All 115 concepts in the Library →

Now use it

Score your own event against principles like this one — or make the whole vocabulary official.

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