The Cost of Cognitive Dissonance
Posted on Thursday 07 June 2007 at 06:12 am by Matthew Newnham
There are many companies who say, "Our Customer is King" or variations on this theme. But is this really true? Even if we narrow our focus by saying "Our ideal Customer is King", do really mean it? [insert 'Pretend you mean it' story] Whenever someone thinks or says one thing, then does another, this creates a conflict in the mind, known formally as Cognitive Dissonance.
These effects have even greater impact when thoughts, words and actions all clash with each other. The mind recognises, but struggles with this conflict, and for the vast majority of people, this can lead to a variety of problems, ranging from a perceived lack of authenticity by others, to stress and depression.
Although many employees try to cope with this dissonance by 'switching off' the messages that they don't agree with, ultimately, mixed intentions and mismatched execution show up in how we deal with customers. Of course, no company can be all things to all customers, nor should it try to be so. The problem, however, arises when mismatched expectations are set, between what is said to customers, and what is said and reinforced inside the company.
This post has been filed under: Customer Relations
Entry tagged as: thinking, customers
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My passion has for some time been the Customer Experience, stemming from the Harvard Business Review article, ‘Welcome to the Experience Economy’ (Jul-Aug, 1998), and fuelled further by sources such as Robert Jones’ ‘The Big Idea’, Paddy Lund’s ‘Building the Happiness Centred Business’ and Colin Shaw (founder of http://www.BeyondPhilosophy.com and noted author of three books on the Customer Experience and how emotional engagement can drive significant financial value for businesses).
I draw on examples of excellence such as Orange (as was), Prestonfield House Hotel (a labour of love by James Thomson, one of Scotland’s outstanding ambassadors for excellence, his restaurants and hotel attract world celebrities and clientele from far and wide, with everyone being equally welcome), Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market (it’s not about the fish!) and Singapore Airlines (beyond wow...).
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