Stay Interesting

Researchers at Stanford and Harvard Universities asked college undergraduate NBA fans to play a version of fantasy sports. Given high ranking performance statistics on a small set of basketball players, the undergraduates were assigned to state the salary they’d be willing to pay each player during the player’s sixth season with the team.
     For some of the undergraduates, the statistics were said to have come from the player’s first five years with the NBA. For the other undergraduates, the statistics were said to be projections of performance for the first five years with the NBA.
     Compared to the players with a proven record of excellence, those for whom only potential was stated averaged higher salary figures, $5.25 million versus $4.26 million. It appeared that potential was valued over achievement.
     There are a few possible explanations for this finding. It might be that performance excellence is expected to fade over the years, so while the young rookie would be expected to get better, the older veteran would not. Or the undergraduates may have assumed that player salaries would continue to go higher each year, and the bid for the veteran was for the upcoming year, while the bid for the rookie was for six years beyond now.
     However, the main explanation identified by the researchers was instead that potential is more interesting, and therefore more valued, than achievement. This was seen in further studies done by these researchers regarding job candidates and in separate studies by University of Wisconsin researchers about brands. Brands labeled by consumers as interesting sold better and generated more word-of-mouth.
     What makes a brand interesting?, asked the second set of researchers. The answer is mastery of novelty. Interesting brands intrigue consumers because they break routine, yet those item and store brands are felt to be interesting only if consumers believe they can comfortably cope with the differences.
     Importantly, a brand experience doesn’t have to be thoroughly pleasant in order to be interesting. In a Cardiff Business School and Kedge Business School study, repeat customers for Tough Mudder found the program highly interesting even though it included wallowing in a ditch of cold mud, running among four-foot-high flames, and crawling through high-voltage electric wires. Mastery provided the payoff.
     Few people might choose to navigate those hazards while purchasing their weekly groceries. But regularly introducing novelty, as long as you equip shoppers to handle it, maintains interest and, consequently, sales.

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