May11
Cognitive Dissonance, Barbie, and Power Rangers
I have a son and a daughter who were born 15 months apart from each other. This meant—when they were young—that they played together a lot. I once walked into their room to a horrifying freak show.
There on the floor for all to see were Power Rangers dressed in Barbie clothes and Barbies holding Power Ranger weapons. I could hardly imagine what twist of fate created these oddities. And I left the room before I could find out.
Sociologists call this cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance occurs when you expect one thing and experience another. That incongruity clashes in our head and frustrates us.
Cognitive dissonance occurs in business when the expectations we set through our marketing efforts in no way resemble the actual experience others have with our company. It’s like, as Seth Godin maintains in his book by the same name, All Marketers Are Liars
Perhaps that’s a bit harsh.
I’ve never met a small business owner who purposely lied to the public. It just feels like it when you’re ignored by a receptionist, or treated rudely on the phone (curiously called the Customer Service line), or have a repairman come back again and again and again to solve a problem that should’ve been fixed the first time.
Here’s how to keep a Power Ranger from looking like Barbie, or Barbie like a Power Ranger: back up every marketing promise with real, authentic service. Then you will be trusted and with that trust be able to build a business with a committed, loyal following not frustrated fans.
