Uber
Hello, GeekTimes. I want to continue the topic of interest about Uber after yesterday’s post and share a free translation of the New York Times investigation about the methodology for increasing LTV drivers and ways of maneuvering with a balance inside the Ubera ecosystem.
According to experts, the absence of labor contracts with drivers reduces the direct costs of the company by 25%.
While drivers want to spend a minimum amount of time waiting for a new order, Uber wants to provide transportation for customers as quickly as possible. The first is advantageous when their colleagues are less on the line, the second when there are more.
At the same time, there is another problem. When the number of drivers on the line drops, Uber introduces incentive ratios that increase the cost of the trip, however it repels passengers and contradicts Uber’s long-term strategy to become an industry leader.
Also, the company’s stable growth is threatened by high turnover, which can lead to a crisis, not to mention competition with Lyft. To increase working hours and motivate taxi drivers to work in less profitable areas, the company hired hundreds of specialists in social sciences and data analysis. Next, we will talk about ingenious, literally hypnotic techniques in the igerification system in Uber.
Analysts of the company found that after the 25th order the outflow of drivers is rapidly declining. Therefore Uber introduced badges for the service, for conversations with passengers, for the number of kilometers and so on. Also, drivers are always available statistics on orders, which they completed this week, how much money they earned and what average rating they received from passengers. All these metrics stimulate rivalry and an obsessive desire to remain in the game.
In the field of behavioral economics, there is a phenomenon called “targeting of earnings” that occurs when an employee has an opportunity to independently determine the schedule of work. The phenomenon is that a person finishes a working day at the time of achieving a specific goal (minimum earnings). Uber is trying to overestimate this amount. Each time after clicking on the “Exit application” button, the system sends a notification from the “You have only $ 10 to $ 330. Do you really want to leave?”. Such messages exploit a common behavioral feature of people who like to set goals, encouraging them to spend more time driving.
YouTube and Netflix automatically launch the following videos trying to keep their viewer as long as possible. By analogy with video hosting Uber intentionally sends a new order to drivers until the completion of the previous one. The “fear” of downtime motivates people not to accept the most profitable order. In behavioral economics, there is the following fact: people prefer to avoid loss more than to gain benefits.
In order to combat “sagging”, the appendix indicates in which part of the city they arise and where they can arise in the near future. The most surprising thing is that Uber managers subscribe to women’s names and send messages like
“Hi, soon this place will end the concert. Will you come there? “. Here, even thought that the satisfaction of the female request at the subconscious level is laid down for men, of whom the majority among the drivers Uber.
Thank you very much for your attention.
