Imagine this: you have to choose between spending 30 minutes in a cage with a either Killer whale or a Stonefish.
Which one will you choose? And to make it more difficult, you can’t cheat. So don’t try to open new tab or ask ChatGPT.
For any rational being, Stonefish seems to be the most obvious answer. And on the surface, it does seem the right option. But that’s not the case.
Do you know, your chances of survival with a killer whale are much higher than with stonefish?
Killer whales, also known as Orca, are not that aggressive toward humans, unlike Stonefish, which are way more dangerous with its 13 venomous spines.
Yikes, not just one, but 13. Chances are you will hardly be in this situation (unless you’re secretly an Aquaman); nevertheless, now you know if you have to decide between a killer whale or a stonefish, you will pick Killer whale’s cuddle over stonefish venomous spines.
But the question arises: Why most of us will choose Stonefish over Killer Whale in the first place?
Perception Bias
The reason for choosing to go with Stonefish is simply our perception. How can anyone with their right senses wants to be close to a species with “Killer” in their name?
None. At least not anyone that I know of. But as you know, the reality is different.
We humans are always forming perceptions, using available information or experiences. And slowly that perception brew biases.
And as a species, though we have landed on moon, but we are not at all rational being. Interestingly negative information (data, insights, etc.) has far more impact than positive ones. Any bad or negative touchpoint, enables the fear & flight response from us.
We like to make quick decisions, like in the above example, Killer whale because it had killer in its name will not get picked, and Stonefish will easily get picked.
Now you have one more reason to associate your brand with positive attributes.
Forming Perception Is a Human Tendency
Until we all get Nirvana, we can’t escape this; we have to live with it. But what we can do is to; learn how to manage it and use it for our advantage. And it’s not that we create Perceptions in certain situations, we are always forming them.
We easily stereotype and make assumptions about specific groups (Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc.) of people. Though we think we do, but hardly we judge individuals as they are.
Further it is not limited towards humans; we make perceptions towards ideas, decisions, other’s judgments, etc. Perception is different for each individual, like we can learn from this below image.
Moreover, perception of each individual changes as context changes.
Like for example in India, for national pledge it’s required to raise hand. Which is a sign of respecting the nation, but in Germany, this becomes the Nazi sign, and it’s frowned upon.
Perceptions clouds our thinking and makes it difficult for us to make right decisions – and accepting it is the first step to make it start working for you.
Perception in Finance
In 1999.com bubble investors were only investing in companies with “.com” in their name.
Back then, the focus was less on financials and more on “.com” in the name. Today, many organizations in VR/AR, AI, or the Metaverse are getting massive funding because these industries are in trend.
Though they still need to prove their worth to the customer (the end-user).
Or the 2022 Crypto crash & FTX collapse, where many VC firms invested in it because Sequoia or Softbank (big VC guns) also infused funding.
One possible reason could also be the charm of nerdy and quirky Sam Bankman-Fried on many investors😆. Here with Bankman case, he build the perception, that he is not like other bankers. Many people loosing the money after trusting that.
If you can see it closely, the crash of FTX and .com bubble are actually the best example of perception of investors blinding them to see actual worth.
Perception In Marketing & Sales
Marketing is all about building & influencing perceptions.
It doesn’t matter what you think about your business. What matters is what your customers think about it. Similarly, it doesn’t matter what value you are offering, what matters is what is the perceived value.
Remember rise of NFTs 😆?
Take the example of Nike; it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. What matters is that while wearing it, you know you have the winner’s shoes.
This is nothing but positive Perception favoring the brand done right.
So next time when you are starting to plan a marketing, sales or a brand strategy, start first by figuring out what is the perception that you want to build in the mind of the customer. This will make your next steps easier.
Another example with Nike; though their products don’t guarantee that you will win the game, but people still buy Air Jordan shoes because — it has the name of Michael Jordan. One of the best basketball ever lived.
Which spectrum are you in, Creating Perception vs Living in Perception?
Start utilizing perceptions, if you want to influence your audience’s decision, or build a brand image, or start a next FTX etc.
Also, try to leverage it in your personal life. And last but not least be cautious and not get trapped yourself in Perception bias.
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