The Customer's Inability to Perceive Difference

A product difference, no matter how technically significant, is meaningless if the customer cannot perceive it. In high-tech, the sheer complexity of products makes it incredibly difficult and time-consuming for a customer to appreciate the subtle distinctions that make one device perform better than another.

If a difference does not exist in the customer's mind, it does not exist in the marketplace.

The Challenge of Complexity:

• Information Overload: Customers are deluged with technical specifications and documentation, making a truly rational, feature-by-feature comparison almost impossible.
• High Cost of Evaluation: It can take hours or weeks of use to discover the real strengths and weaknesses of a complex product like a word processor. Most customers cannot afford this investment for every competing product.
• Reliance on Heuristics: Faced with this complexity, customers fall back on mental shortcuts. They rely on the recommendation of a trusted salesperson, the brand reputation of the supplier, or the opinions of friends.

This reality underscores the failure of a strategy based on minor technical advantages. Marketing's job is not just to create a better device, but to create a perceivably better product by focusing on differentiators the customer can easily understand, such as service, brand, or the sales relationship.