Why Do People Value Cheap Stuff? Are You Offering Better Value?

(NOTE: Jim Collins's Hedgehog Concept was developed for businesses. I'm applying it to personal needs & desires. Customer integration includes integrating your 3 Circles into customers' 3 Circles. Make your offers so advantageous, customers' preparations won't be complete without your help. Since we're sensitive to potential human stereotypes, let's add anthropomorphized hedgehogs as we continue using Marshall Goldsmith's bear-salmon Success Delusion analogy.)

It's vital to differentiate threats & effects of personal attributes.

Analogy: Hedgehogs have one main protection technique that works well against foxes which are furry & have teeth. Hedgehogs offered low-priced self-defense lessons to salmon that could be attacked by furry, toothy bears. When hedgehogs curl up into spiky balls, foxes stop attacking. What could go wrong?!

When you specialize in protection options &/or opportunity maximization, you can outperform competitors. Advantage offers differentiate your store from others by overcoming consumers' value misconceptions.

What are niche members' misconceptions about personal circumstances & abilities to prevent or remedy problems? What do niche members misbelieve/disbelieve about products? Misbelieving can start with misinformation arising from experience misattributions (misplaced blame); observation &/or statement misinterpretations.

Without clarifications, suspicions might grow into biases. Disbelievers reject whatever doesn't fit biases (formed independently or accepted from perceived authorities). Biases can be preferences for disinformation (lies to unjustly sway people). Liars accuse opponents of lying.

Disinformation might feel too comfortable to lose because biases seem to prevent vulnerabilities. Biases bar mental doors by blocking contrary ideas that could replace previous beliefs, causing mental/emotional dissonance.

False beliefs might bring social criticism. Salmon could ridicule each other for accepting or rejecting hedgehog self-defense lessons. But only bear-attack survivors would have the last laugh.

Nudge Customers To Bypass Critics Who Judge.

Misplaced trust can bring failure & future hesitations. People can hope their beliefs are accurate, but functional hope helps people trust themselves to control results.

Seeking & confirming truth might seem cognitively laborious & risky because persuasion & false hopes bring vulnerabilities.

After observing local case studies, people might reject truth until they experience facts & compare benefits with familiar results. Considering prices & risks, what's the smallest offer people can test in their circumstances?

Analogy: Needing fresh asparagus nutrients, people keep buying & planting seeds. Instead of learning about optimal planting, soil tending & harvesting, people pull asparagus instead of cutting. Some asparagus regenerates weakly, so people try other locations. Gardeners can compare results of pulling & cutting. Retailers should offer optimal cutting tools with instructions for full benefits.

Present facts with confirmatory criteria since you can only persuade consumers who believe needs, desires & fulfillment methods are legitimate.

Example: (Fact) emerged in (case-study) when Bob used (product/practice combination) to create (benefit). When you detect (symptoms), test for (cause). It could indicate (effect) is probable. (Diagnostic Kit) includes checklists to guide our consultations for customizing your (repair/prevention kit). Your confidence will help you concentrate on maximizing each step. (Cause) reveals __ is insufficient. Damage percentages determine if you need touch-ups or repairs.

People Want Justifications For Emotional Decisions.

How do you describe effectiveness & efficiency? How do you describe effects of & feelings from fulfillment & nonfulfillment? If you & competitors offer similar products, whose offers include more compelling justifications?

Businesses should position themselves in consumers' minds & lives with statements, actions & branding labels. If your store is positioned in high-prioritized, at-risk life aspects, customer integration is urgent & important as Stephen Covey labeled Quadrant 1. People will be motivated to check your offers for updates & possible last chances for opportunities or remedies.

Many compelling offers are important (Quadrant 2) with moderate urgency to prepare for opportunities or threats.

Retailers often compete by imposing urgency via limited-time offers so consumers load up on products & ignore competitors. Typical advertising urges people to buy NOW.

Explain importance & urgency from niche members' perspectives to avoid perceived exaggeration. Describe reasons for prioritizing actions. Example: 'If you notice nascent symptoms like __, you can prevent (problem) with (kit). Delayed actions could allow (preliminary damage). If you don't prevent severe trouble, you'll need expense repairs.'

If you only compete on prices, you might sell now but people will regret buying when competitors offer lower prices. That regret would be linked to your store. Position your store with advantages customers are grateful for, so relief is linked to you, not competitors.

Businesses can reposition competitors by defining & redefining words & concepts to affect how consumers perceive competitors & compare offers to personal circumstances.

Example: 'According to Source, Manufacturer -A cuts quality & Manufacturer -B uses carcinogenic materials to fulfill Discounter-Z's cheap product requirements. Do these businesses show concern for your well-being or just profits?'

If you don't have certified information, consider what you learn via research & consultations.

Are people often dissatisfied by relying on manufacturers' product specifications & instructions? Do manufacturers & discounters match product versions & instructions to mass-markets or regional consumers' circumstances? Or do discounters & suppliers figure consumers are lucky & should think cheapness is the ultimate value?

Do manufacturers experiment to expand offers or produce only what conveniently fits their Hedgehog Concepts despite consumers' preferences?

Jim Collins's Hedgehog Concept is based on understanding 3 intersecting circles: "what you can be the best in the world at, what you're deeply passionate about, & what best drives your economic or resource engine."

Though consumers don't think about those 3-circles, explain what they represent.

Example: ' While you pursue personal & professional productivity, life role expectations can interfere with each other. (Store) advantage offers include guidance to use top-quality products, so you're assured your (benefit) brings long-term satisfaction. While you focus on other issues, your dedication to your (family/clients) will be demonstrated with lasting value. Since problems can happen while you focus on other issues, you deserve assurance of high-quality products with applicable insightful knowledge.'

While developing products, do manufacturers consider what fits consumers' professional or personal Hedgehog Concepts? When ordering inventory, how much do discounters care about consumers' skills, commitments &/or self-support?

What are consumers dedicated to improving? How well do their abilities & knowledge fit their desired lifestyles?

If high-quality product names are put onto discount versions, do consumers hope for the same convenience, durability & reliability?

Retail specialists should monitor product quality changes because consumers are mostly dedicated to establishing abilities to create benefits. Specialists should interpret product specifications for guiding consumers in shaping personal abilities with insights to maximize product benefits.

Project planning requires Cognitive Labor. If you've been mentally fatigued, you'll recognize why customers need specialists to guide them.

Explain the importance of consistent high-quality to avoid declining benefits. Consumers' extra efforts might delay cheap product failure but leave fewer resources to secure other priorities. Like struggling uphill & coasting down, then being exhausted at the bottom, people might do too much for some responsibilities & have nothing for other efforts.

If unfinished projects seem destined for success, people might coast by finishing with cheap products & expend less effort after finishing the tough, most important tasks.

It could be like salmon rushing upstream to spawn & neglecting eating enough.

Do salmon forget to eat & ignore their declining health? Did they neglect studying river-based food or are those options unappetizing?

Do salmon delude themselves about their strength & endurance? Do they think since they survived half-way without major meals & adequate rest, success is guaranteed? Do they intend to return to oceans after spawning?

If piranhas offer security, salmon might figure they just need to swim as they've done for years. Piranhas should clarify expectations of offers & encourage salmon that observe dangers & are tempted to quit.

Even with piranha escorts, salmon shouldn't neglect responsibilities including preparations.

Piranhas should clarify expectations & responsibilities: 'You should optimize your health, so you can swim quickly away from predators & around obstacles. If we bite bears once, they'll be mad & can still attack. When we start biting, we need to subdue each bear before attacking others. We 3 can only distract 3 bears until they retreat or succumb. If you encounter bears we can't attack, you must be strong enough to resist.'

What are salmons' assumptions? If salmon do what seems natural, do they think their parents did the same? Since they'll probably never meet their parents, does that indicate natural tendencies bring doom?

Some bears would think they'll defeat any fish because they've defeated many. Delusional bears might figure shredded bears were unprepared wimps. How much preparation is necessary for safe fishing? After escaping from piranhas, bears might figure they'll be always successful & berry-eating bears are wimps.

In Marshall Goldsmith's analogy, a bear caught an air-borne fish. If bears' visual-acuity is sufficient, they could differentiate species of leaping or swimming fish. Would bears' cognitive processes differentiate soon enough to reject piranha & catch salmon without wasting eating opportunities?

Lighting changes, moving prey, water-light refraction, excitement, frustration, hunger pains & low energy can disrupt judgment & skills.

Full preparations would acknowledge potential disruptors, even if bears would use nets. If multiple fish are in nets, bears couldn't afford risking piranha encounters. Bears should consider piranhas rely on their teeth to attack & counterattack. What could entice piranha reveal themselves by biting sticks instead of bear paws or snouts?

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