Ads or no ads: Consumer behaviour and Cognitive Dissonance

What the hell I am doing here in this Holden if I could be in a mint green Rolls?

Today my assignment was to explain one of the most powerful non mutable laws (for those that emailed me telling that is immutable, I would like to say that I do not care about Al Laughing and Jack “Trucha” book and my laws are “non mutable”)

This is the law of perception. But I will write about it another day.

Today I would really like to share with you one of the most amazing behaviours that I have discovered in humans: Cognitive Dissonance (Disonancia Cognoscitiva in Spanish).

I noticed it for the first time when I bought my first Aston Martin. Prior to make my decision of buying this car I had a decision set (a bunch of cars to choose from) that included a 911. Of course the 911 has not the class and old British heritage (don’t forget I am from HK) but sure the engineering and technology was much better.

I noticed than many Porsche users want a sport car like the 911 but are concerned about the utility of a tiny, two seats, expensive, uncomfortable, too aggressive and attractive. Further when male humans grew up tends to accumulate fat reserves around his floating area that severely impair them to enter inside the cockpit and getting out of the car habitacle.

Porsche made a superb movement when they decided to built the Cayenne jointly with VW. A genuine Porsche with everything a 911 could offer but minimizing the “Have I taken the right decision?” effect.

Many Sport cars buyers and luxury goods buyers suffer from dissonance. This is a term used to describe a mental state of discomfort that one suffers when he or she thinks that evidences that a decision or behaviour is wrong.

There are several ways to cope with. The Miffa’s way: “Vertu or Nokia? No problem. I take both of them, so the dissonance disappears.”

Professor bunnies from all over the world study this phenomena since late fifties since dissonance is a sever obstacle to making right decisions in business.

Please little rabbits do take this matter seriously, Dissonance happens!!.