Monthly Columns
Stanford’s Solution for the BenGil Main Street
Dr. BJ Fogg is a persuasive genius. He’s spent his entire academic life studying it. He founded Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab, as well as authored several books on the topic. He’s even created his own behavioral change model called the “The Fogg Behavioral Model.” Big name companies pay him thousands of dollars to help them make their products more persuasive. When he talks about persuasion, we should listen.
Most importantly though, he may just hold the answer to our “main street” problem. According to his Fogg Behavioral Model, 3 elements must converge at the same time for a behavior to happen (in our case, it’s shopping locally): motivation, ability, and a trigger. If all 3 of those elements happen at the very same time, our odds at changing a behavior improve exponentially.
Thus, our goal as economic architects is to motivate community members to shop, while at the same time giving them the ability to shop and triggering the “shopping switch.” So are we currently doing that?
Motivation
Everyone loves to shop. It triggers one of our most addictive emotions: pleasure. Even in this economy, the malls are filled with seas of shoppers on the weekends. And it’s just not the 1% that’s doing the purchasing. The rest of us are doing our fair share of shopping. We’re definitely motivated to shop.
Triggers
Our triggers could be improved, but they’re not the weakest link. Right now, our best trigger is our brick and mortar stores along main street. Customers drive down main street, see an open sign or something in the window that perks their interest, they pull the car over, and before you know it, they’re making a purchase. That’s an ideal immediate trigger-behavioral scenario.
Our other triggers are somewhat weaker. Ads in the newspaper do an excellent job at perking someone’s interest. However, customers can’t make an immediate purchase. They may be reading the paper at night after the stores are closed, and won’t be able to make a purchase until the next morning. Worse yet, they may be reading the paper on the weekend, and not be able to make a purchase for 2-3 days. Facebook fan pages and stand alone websites face the same flaw. Inertia and procrastination are deadly when it comes to making a sale.
Ability
Bingo! This may not be the sole cause of our problems, but it’s definitely the weakest link. Not only is our sales process inconvenient for our customers, but it’s also complex. According to Dr. Fogg’s research, simplicity is the key to ability. The easier a behavior is, the more likely it will happen. Let’s see how easy it is to purchase an item from a brick and mortar store on the BenGil main street.
When are most of our stores open? 9am -5pm Monday – Friday. When do most of our customers work? 9am-5pm Monday-Friday. Who has the most disposable income? Those customers who have a job. When can they shop? After 5pm throughout the week and on the weekends. When are we closed? After 5pm throughout the week and on the weekends. See the problem?
We’re committing a huge error. Our 3 elements to behavioral change aren’t converging at the same, critical point. There’s too big of a delay, and it’s costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. If you think I’m exaggerating, stop and think about how many cars, washers, dryers, toys, and computers are being purchased by community member from outside of our community. Just a little math will make your jaw drop. The internet, Wal-Mart, and other big box retailers who offer our customers better convenience are stealing them right out from under us.
We can’t continue to blame the customer. Do you honestly think people don’t want to shop local? No. If given the opportunity, I’d be willing to be 95% of our community members would shop locally (provided the price is reasonable). The problem lies in the complexity and inconvenience shopping locally requires.
So how do we fix it, and make sure all 3 elements converge at the same point? There are probably a hundred different solutions. We’re only limited by our imagination. Carlinville has done an excellent job at converging all three elements at the same point with their “3rd Thursday of the month” initiative.
- Motivation: Like I said above, it doesn’t take much motivation to make people want to shop. Their marketing does more than enough to motivate customers to shop locally.
- Triggers: They do an excellent job at triggering, in this case reminding, customers it’s the 3rd Thursday of the month. Most of the participating businesses post on their facebook pages starting the night before and continue the day of about the 3rd Thursday. The local newspaper does an excellent job promoting it in that week’s paper. I would also assume they have signs posted throughout the square reminding people about the initiative.
- Ability: This is the element they’ve really excelled at. Instead of focusing on shopping locally, which is too generic and overwhelming, they’ve selected a SIMPLE behavior: shopping locally on 1 day out of the month. And better yet, they’ve also made it more convenient for customers. Local businesses stay open later that night so they can reach the “working moms and dads”, which just happens to be the demographic that should care the most about shopping locally because they’re raising a family in that community.
It may not have been a hit right from the beginning, but as the initiative moves forward, the 3rd Thursday of the month and shopping locally will become synonymous with community residents. Hopefully, it will eventually become a habit.
I don’t know the exact figures, but I’d be willing to bet that the majority of participating businesses have one of their most profitable days on the 3rd Thursday of the month.
So how can we use Dr. Fogg’s work to our advantage in BenGil?
Comments
When I decided to write this article, my original intent was to find out when they removed the rails down the middle of Macoupin Street, but I thought I might research when the railroads came and went in Gillespie. So here is a brief history!
In the 1850’s, railroads were becoming more important to the US for both transportation of people and goods. Chicago was the hub of railroad traffic in the west and cities throughout Illinois were vying to have railroads come through their section of the state. Having a railroad meant prosperity and growth. Towns would grow with increased population. The key question was where are the railroads going to go? Influence by key political people throughout the state was important.
Prominent people in the US and central Illinois like Judge Joseph Gillespie, William Mattoon, Electus B Litchfield and Robert Rantoul (Massachusetts senator) and others help bring the railroad south.
The move south was brought about by the chartering of the Terre-Haute & Alton Railroad in January 1851 out of Mattoon, Illinois. It was to extend south to Alton because legislators wanted Alton to compete with St. Louis in the growth of the area. The work was started in 1852 to originally go 172 miles. It was completed in March 1856. Extensions were created from Alton to Belleville and eventually to St. Louis. By 1857 the route was completed and a railroad went through Gillespie. The St. Louis connection was helped by the building of the Eads Bridge in 1874.
In June 1867, the Terre-Haute Alton Railroad was leased to the Indianapolis & St Louis Railroad but went into foreclosure in 1882 and sold to the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (known as the Big Four). This railroad came under control of Vanderbilt and the NY Central Railroad system.
The Terre-Haute Alton Railroad/Big Four Railroad came to Gillespie on an east west route. It passed through Gillespie today in the land next to the Civic Center, crossing Macoupin Street next to Subway. The Big Four Terminal was just off Macoupin Street where the Civic Center is located. There were additional terminals in Hornsby and Dorchester.
A 2nd railroad will add additional prosperity to Gillespie. The Illinois Traction System was a brainchild of William B. McKinley (not the president). He had a vision to create an electric railroad empire that covered at its peak 550 miles of rail.
The Traction system started in connecting Danville and Champaign in 1901-02, then to Decatur to Springfield in 1904. He also completed the route from Springfield to Granite City going through Gillespie and Benld in 1904. This Interurban as most people called it was a passenger service. It would eventually connect to Peoria by 1907 and St Louis by 1910. It was also possible to go to Chicago by connecting with other railroads. The Illinois Traction Terminal was on the corner of Macoupin and Spruce Streets where United Community Bank is located and at one time did have a small spur to the east.
Everyone associates the growth of Gillespie-Benld and the surrounding area to the coal mines, but the railroad also played a key part in the growth of the area.
You might wonder why main street is so wide compared to other towns’ business districts? Gillespie was unique by having the Interurban rail down the center of Macoupin Street but also the Big Four crisscrossed near Walnut Street. The town has to be one of the few towns in Illinois to have that unique situation.
In the early days, the crisscross intersection was controlled by only railroad signs. The “Stop, Look and Listen” slogan did not stop accidents at the crossing. Eventually, a crossing watchman was hired to control the car and pedestrian traffic at the intersection of the two railroad lines. It was also not unusual for a parked car to back into the Interurban in the business district.
These two railroads went north-south and east-west throughout town until the Interurban ceased to operate. The last Interurban use was on March 3, 1956. The rail line was eventually taken over by other railroads and would only be used for freight transportation, especially by Norfolk Western and other railroad lines. The rail line did have a brief arrangement to transport coal from Monterrey Coal Junction to Edwardsville in 1970, but the last use of the old Interurban Line for freight use occurred on August 20, 1970.
The eventual decline of the railroads in Gillespie coincides with the decline of the coal mines. Railroads were being transformed from coal to diesel and coal use immediately declined.
The Big Four stopped operating on December 17, 1964. Slowly they started to remove the tracks between Litchfield and Bethalto. Illinois maps show Big Four railroad tracks in 1965, but they are gone by 1967.
Now to the original premise of the article, when were the railroad tracks removed down the middle of Macoupin Street? My sources throughout town were varying, I got all kinds of guesses. I narrowed it down by my own memory. It was there in 1972 when I started teaching but then all of a sudden it was gone. I searched newspapers in the fall of 1972, then 1973 and I found it in 1974.
In January of 1974, the city decided to do something about the water lines in the business district. There was a conversation in late February to remove the tracks, but when will they do it? At the same time there was discussion about the sewer lines where the tracks are located. So, the city decided to it all at the same time, remove the tracks, and do water and sewer lines. By early April 1974, the tracks are gone and by early May, the downtown was a mess because of the water main project. After the downtown removal of tracks, the city eventually moved further north and south on Macoupin to remove the remaining tracks.
So, what proved to be a simple search gave you, the readers, a history of the railroads in Gillespie. Stop by the library and see the assorted railroad pictures and if you have anything railroad-related or an interesting picture involving the railroad such as an accident involving the railroads. I would like to see them.
Comments
Dear Editor:
This is not about Donald Trump. It’s not even about the sad souls seduced by him. The insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power were primarily guilty of being gullible. They fell for the fraud. They did not do the defrauding. Many have been held accountable for their actions. Most of the ones who fooled them have not. Yet.
I refer to Republican Party leaders who cashed in their moral courage to ride a demagogue’s coattails to power. They learned from their adored leader how to spew out coded calls to mob mentalities eager to vent their resentments. I used to believe people had to be taught to hate. Donald taught us you only have to invite people to hate. Let them know it’s OK. Normal. Join the gang. Have some fun.
Who would you like to hate? It doesn’t have to be a race, religion, or immigration status. People really want to hate “Elites.” Who are elites? Anyone who knows more than they do. People want to feel like they know more science than scientists; feel more righteous than the devout. What better leader could they have than one who tells them what they want to hear. Someone who claims to “know more about the military than all the generals.” That injecting bleach might cure Covid. Forget evidence. Forget knowledge. Too time consuming. Too boring. All you have to do is what Donald does. Just “feel” you’re right. Personally, I’d rather lose with honesty than win with lies.
They call themselves something they are not: “Conservatives.” True Conservatives value character, civility, and intelligence. Trump-pets reward arrogance, anger, and self-delusion.
“Alternative facts” is an oxymoron. Except in minds that can’t face an uncomfortable truth. They’re just opinions masquerading as facts. Using partial truths is not just a way to fool others. It’s how we fool ourselves. If you embrace Donald, you embrace his lies and self-delusions. You become what he is: a fraud. In the end, you will be a mere follower of a pathetic, narcissistic bully. I would rather be dead than that.
If you are one of those silent conservatives who still respect the Constitution, Democracy, and the rule of law, but allow yourself to be intimidated by Trump Trolls, the death of our democracy will be on you.
James Tweed; 1512 Wesley Ave. Ocean City, NJ 08226; (609)398-3124
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President Donald Trump will formally accept the Republican Party nomination for President at the Republican National Convention next week.
America is a country divided and by virtue of accepting the Republican Party’s nomination for president, half the country will embrace him while the other half will want nothing to do with him.
The divide between Democrats and Republicans is nothing new, but what is new is the use of lawfare to target political rivals. Here in Illinois, the moment President Trump and his delegates filed their paperwork to be on the ballot in the Land of Lincoln, a group of far-left radicals immediately filed an objection to the filing. The objection was an outlandish legal charge that President Trump was the instigator of the events on January 6th, 2021, and was therefore not eligible to be on the ballot.
In the end these bogus accusations went nowhere. Even legal experts who were no fans of the 45th President thought the objection was ridiculous. But this is the state of affairs in politics today. Instead of putting ideas on the ballot and campaigning on the merits of those ideas, the far-left radicals are weaponizing our courts and targeting people solely on the basis of political ideology.
Donald Trump is without a doubt the most famous person in the world and like all famous people, he has his fans as well as his detractors. He is not “literally Hitler” as the extremists on the left claim. He is not the enemy of Democracy. He is a candidate for office like any other candidate. His ideas of a strong border, a strong military, low taxes, reduced business regulations, trade deals that protect American interests and a desire to protect America’s interests abroad have been a part of the public discourse for a long time. The notion that these ideas are an “assault on our Democracy” is just nonsense.
President Trump was leading in the majority of the battleground states long before the country saw Joe Biden’s decline in real time during the recent Presidential debate. And the reason he was leading in the polls is because Americans in growing numbers have rejected Joe Biden’s failed policies. The fact that Joe Biden has demonstrated his complete inability to serve has only served to give President Trump even more momentum than he already had ahead of the Republican National Convention.
It is time for our party to rally around our nominee. We cannot afford to continue Biden’s open border policies that are crippling our cities. We need a President who is strong on crime and who will work with state and local governments to keep our communities safe. We need a leader who will put an end to the inflation hurting so many families. I hear all of the time from constituents who are overwhelmed by the price of food and other household necessities. The current Administration won’t fix a problem and in fact they won’t even acknowledge the problem exists.
I call on everyone who may have voted for someone other than Donald Trump to watch the Convention and rally around our nominee. So-called “Republicans” like Adam Kinzinger who have done the unthinkable and endorsed Joe Biden are not only embarrassing themselves, but they are contributing to our nation’s decline.
We cannot afford another four years of the Green New Scam, the open border policies and the weaponization of the justice department to target political opponents. Joe Biden ran to heal our country and all he has done is fracture us even more. It is time to put America first and Donald Trump will do just that. It is time for Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, and moderate Democrats to rally around President Trump and Make America Great Again!
State Representative Adam Niemerg
