Fan Surplus Thinking
Let’s coin the term fan surplus. If consumer surplus is the difference between consumers’ willingness-to-pay and the market price, then fan surplus is fans’ excess willingness to engage more deeply, more frequently, and across more dimensions with the objects of their fandom.The media industry’s biggest necessity and opportunity is to capture fan surplus.
Media derives revenue by monetizing consumer attention and engagement. The bad news is that attention is finite and no longer growing. As GenAI advances, increasing time spent becomes a zero-sum game that traditional media companies can’t win. The good news is that engagement is unbounded — especially from the most ardent fans.
Consumer surplus is value the buyer walks away with.
Fan surplus is value nobody collects.
I asked in amusements in the age of attention what turns attention into engagement. This is the rough shape of an answer.
Though capture is the wrong verb.
Fans turn up ready to do more and get handed a buy button.
The surplus is not waiting to be captured.
It is waiting for something to do.