👟 [Analysis] Three stories to contextualize collecting – Tony Sheng

There are three, interrelated drivers of collecting behavior: financial, psychological, and sociological (Belk, 1995b):

• Financial collectors hope for financial gains. In a 1983 survey of 154 antiques and memorabilia collectors, 35% cited investment as their primary motive (Pearman et al., 1983)
• Psychological collectors pursue closure/completion/perfection. Danet and Katriel (1989) outline five strategies to attain this goal: (1) completing a series, (2) filling a physical space, (3) creating a harmonious display, (4) manipulating the scale of objects, and (5) aspiring to perfect objects
• Sociological collectors pursue membership or status in groups of similarly-minded people (Olmsted, 1993)

A collector that has strong motivations across the board perceives the highest values in a given collectible. The most valuable collectibles today are strong triggers of all three: e.g. art, fashion, cars. Crypto collectibles bulls argue that collecting is an evolutionarily programmed behavior and blockchain finally makes digital assets “sound” enough to store value in. Bears argue that the total addressable market is small, early efforts have low install bases and engagement, and blockchains (at least a proof-of-work chain like Ethereum) are terrible technologies for games. Financial speculation is the beachhead–an early indicator that crypto collectibles may succeed–but insufficient to reach the mass market or drive sustainable engagement. On the blockchain, financial speculation comes built in. If we want to reach the masses, we need to focus our efforts on deeper motivations.