New research project
About our Addiction Economy Research
Through our research and stakeholder engagement for this project we hope to understand more about the influences which allow addictive products to flourish and how they can change to prevent un-addiction.
We will explore cross-cutting issues and stories from the ‘mainstream’ addictions – cigarettes, alcohol and gambling which have depressing recurring themes and failures across these categories, and the flourishing of the latest addictive products being marketing around the world – vapes, social media, computer games and AI, which show no lessons are being learned!
We would like to understand:
How political decision-making shape addiction
How the influence of neoliberal capitalism and industry shapes addiction
How product design is optimised to addict - from ramping up addictive chemical formulations to the use of behavioural science and neuromarketing to design and promote products, not just persuade us to use them, but to make us dependent, even addicted.
How belief systems shape politics, how governments regulate, or not, and their approach to preventing addiction and and helping those dependent or addicted. ‘It’s people’s own fault they are addicted’, ‘everyone has the choice to use these products or not’, ‘market forces are the best way to deal with addictive products’, ‘addiction is a medical thing, a disease’, ‘I have an addictive personality’, ‘addiction is for life’, ‘it’s so hard to break someone as weak as me will never succeed’.
What really influences people to become dependent, even addicted. For example, how much is from the influences above, or our upbringing, current mental health, social ‘tribes’ and influences, values, perhaps body chemistry, genetics, neurology and more.
How all these factors work to prevent un-addiction and what to do about it.
Our initial scoping has revealed fascinating insights both historic and current. We explore how government interventions and commercial incentives led directly to widespread addiction to gin and beer in the in 1740’s and 50’s, which inspired Hogarth’s famous Gin Lane and Beer Street drawings; and how the belief that the poor people brought it on themselves influenced responses across the ages.
We hope that this research will help with un-addiction by shedding light on the systemic aspects of policy and business which affect product development and and also observing where the best approaches to addiction prevention and un-addiction can be found.
It’s ridiculously ambitious, probably crazy, but what the heck. This type of many-tentacled work is what Hilary has spent the last 30 years doing. Why not give it a go!
Please contact us on Hilary@societyinside.com if you want to collaborate or help fund this project.