Consumers: Reality is Over-rated Part ii
Judging from the replies yesterday, some of you are certainly familiar with the concept that customer perceptions may not tally with reality.
Indeed, it’s fair to say that there are even a few cliches on the subject. And I’m the sort of person who dislikes cliches and enjoys challenging them whenever possible; they can be an excuse for not bothering to think about something.
For example, take the old chestnut of which came first the chicken or the egg? It seems pretty clear to me that it was the egg, so using this as a phrase to convey the point that the sequencing of events is unclear to you, simply suggests to me that you haven’t thought about it enough! [Where something evolved to a point where whomever decides such things was willing to say, "Yes, what you have there is what I would call a chicken" it must have been a thing that had hatched from an egg, but wasn't totally present in either parent.]
Similarly, when someone’s reply to a question is, “Ah yes, well, how long’s a piece of string, eh?” my answer is , “Around 8.5 inches.” That’s a reasonable average for a piece of string; reflecting the fact that it’s something that was left over from a whole ball of string and was deemed useful enough to keep around the place for possible future use.
However, when it comes to understanding consumers it is true to say that “perception is all”.
To give you an example: a friend of mine is a real fan of Apple stuff. Since he bought his first iPod he’s become a complete Apple bore; forever pointing out how good the techology and service is, and how superior the products are to their competitors. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Apple stuff isn’t very good, but that’s not my point.
You see, he’ll repeat this Apple mantra at any reasonable opportunity: the other day when someone was asking around what laptop he should buy everyone who knows him smiled ruefully when they asked my friend; sure enough out came the Apple speech with which we were all familiar.
But later that same day my friend’s Apple iPhone stopped working. He passed it to me and asked if I could reset it for him. It transpired that this wasn’t the first time it had happened. In fact, it had happened quite a lot. And yet, because this experience didn’t fit with his perception of Apple products he divorced it from that part of his brain that retains Apple things.
In psychological terms this is a classic example of confirmation bias. In consumer behaviour terms it’s a classic case of what I would call brand blindness; where an event that doesn’t tally with a consumer’s perception of a brand they are effectively blind to it. I’ve seen it a lot, from manufacturing brands like Apple, car brands like BMW and Mercedes, and even some retailers benefit from this golden halo effect: they can provide lousy service but still be thought of in rosy terms by the people they let down.
Next time I’ll explain why you can’t rely on what consumers tell you about their attitudes to brands.
Philip Graves
After many years of Driving Ford trucks for my business, i made the switch to Toyota. I love the look and feel of the fords, but they were always in the repair shop. i have had my toyota for a year and a half with almost 50k miles and only a couple repairs, yet i still would rather have the ford? can’t explain.
Don Shepherd
Central Oregon Expert
I love your Apple story about confirmation bias when it comes to brand/product perception. Companies spend bunches of money on consumer research to determine how they can use bias to their benefit.
-Pat
Business Owners Fast Track to Internet Profits
Your concept of brand blindness makes complete sense.
In life in general, when we experience an event that doesn’t tally with our view of the world, we seem to unconsciously blank it out. It takes a lot of self-awareness to realise and accept it.
Very interesting post.
All the best,
Yann
Apple people are more interested in looking cool than anything having to do with the product..
Seize the Day,
Rob
Sales Eagles Soar Above the Competition!
Personal Asset Protection For Small Business Owners
I try very hard to be brand blind. My favorite however is Underarmour clothing. It has me hook line and sinker and is expensive.
MUST RESIST
Bob Kaufer
Z Health For Life
I had a friend a few years ago with a Jag that was fequently in the shop. He told me that research had shown that with outstanding branding, a company could get away with poor quality for almost five years.
True or no, I thought it was one of the saddest things I’d ever heard.
Just a thought.
Thanks
JC JC
My beautiful shiny show-off iMac crashes all the time!
I still love it though cause it looks cool…
Great post Phil. I always learn a lot when I come here.
JJ Jalopy.
Life Coaching and Home Business Advice with JJ Jalopy
Phillip,
I am so looking forward to what you have to post tomorrow. I swear I’ll print that post out and post it for all my sales staff to see.
Mitch
BlackBerry Mobile Education
So moral is cool ad campaign trumps quality? hmm
SunnyMarie
http://www.sunnymarie.com
http://www.sunnymarie.wordpress.com
Confirmation bias is also a great reason many so-called reviews are garbage as well. As usual, it’s always up to us to do our own thinking.
Christian Haller
The Art of Good Eating
Easy Italian Recipes
A person’s perception is his/her reality in every area of his/her life. I find this fairly fascinating and love to read about it in books and in your blog. Great entry today (as usual). Looking forward to your future posts.
Health, Fitness — Darryl Pace
Fitness Product Review
Absolutley spot on!!!
Expert in Medical Hypnosis, Success Thinking and Practical Parenting
David Power’s Hour
Most of us are creature of habit. I guess that’s why those who market products desparately try and rope in the young for brand loyalty.
Pam
Great Minds, Great Wealth: How to Raise your Return, Reduce your Risk, Cut your Cost
He drank the Kool Aid as we would say in the United States across The Pond.
In fact, my roommate is an Apple Devotee, or shall I say, Evangelist?
Today, as a matter of fact, I uttered the phrase, “I am ambidextrous.”
I AM PC brained and trained. HOWEVER, I CAN still speak and DO…. Apple.
Best regards,
April Braswell
Dating Expert and Online Dating Coach
I had brand blindness with Dell. I had Dell computers for about 15 years. That changed after about 4 or 5 negative incidents in a 1 year period. Brand blindness goes away real quick when a company consistently fails to deliver. Mark
Marketingscoops
Oh I know many people like that….believing that the product they prefer is superior. I don’t even try to argue
Lisa McLellan, Babysitting Classes – Babysitters, Nannies, and Au-pairs
Hi Phil,
Great post on what we as consumers think about and how we go about confirming the reasons why we mad e certain decisions!
I have a mac and like Jj love it because its just cool but it does have a few issues with other computers that im none to happy about!
Duane
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Everyone of us has his/her own bias and hence blind spots.
Our personalities dictates where our blind spots are. So if we understand one’s personality, whether it’s our very own or someone else, then we have a better chance to influence & persuade.
John Ho
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personalities for Better Influence & Persuasion (WordPress Blog)
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personalities for Better Influence & Persuasion (Money Page)
You have spoken the truth… I have a Dell laptop which is like being hell… When I still had the warranty I used to talk about how great customer service was..because they ALWAYS fixed the problem.
3 Motherboards and 3 CPU’s later, oh and a new CD-DVD-Rom, new screen, speakers…not sure if I covered it all, I realized that I knew how good they were because the product stunk!
Jen B
The Harwood Center – Tinnitus, Chronic Illness, Fers, Phobias, and Anxiety
That’s what many of us often do. We delete, distort or generalize incoming information to sustain our beliefs even when it doesn’t. We’d rather be right than happy!
Regards,
Anthony
http://www.anthonylemme.com