Perhaps it is not so much an attention economy (where generating attention is the new currency), but rather an attention-starved economy.

Attention-starved as in: "I want someone to pay me attention and I am prepared to pay for it!"

A service business is not really about the quality of service, but rather the quality of the attention paid to customers. Customer services is more than just serving customers, it is paying quality attention to customers.

I reckon the demand for quality attention giving services will increase - therapists, counsellors, escorts, personal assistants... People will pay to be listened to, to feel important, to be validated.

Are we swinging away from impersonal service such as overseas call centres? Or telephone voice recognition systems? Or cheap goods and services that don't provide the all-important attention component?