> Sometimes because they understand the domain well enough to understand the impact on function and benefit from the “artifact” and don't need someone else spin

> Sometimes because they understand the domain well enough to understand the impact on function and benefit from the “artifact” and don't need someone else spinning a narrative about benefit for them, sometimes because the “artifact” itself is a status/aspirational item for them. That doesn't contradict, but actually supports the fact that people don't care about artifacts in themselves. Either they understand the function/benefit and that's what they're looking for, or they want them for status/aspiration (which is just a special case of the former, since status and aspiration are other functions among many). > The actual lesson of “sell the benefits, not the features” is not “people care about results not artifacts”, but that motivating action in others who aren't inherently motivated to that action without effort on your part requires understanding their individual interests Yes, and their interests are the function and the results people get from the artifact. >It is not a lesson about what people care about, but about what you need to do to get what you want once you understand what they care about. Erm, yes. "Sell benefits, not features" is a piece of marketing advice telling you what to do to get results (like any piece of advice). That's missing the point. The question is why does it work. And the reason it works is for the aforementioned reasons: people care about results and functions, not artifacts.