Based on the foundation of yesterday’s article, I’d like to take the narrative even further. There’s the phenomenon called the Stockholm Syndrome. As part of this condition, hostages develop an attachment (some call it alliance) towards their captors as their go-to strategy of survival.
In other words, it’s a game of “I know you’ve got me so I’ll play nice in order to stay alive”. The underlying thought is that the person will do so until she or he is rescued — might as well be alive in order to be rescued.
The consequences go as far as the victims not testifying against the captors. This is why I’m against the word “alliance” as it makes it sound as if those who are captured do it only strategically. No, it’s something against rationality — some say it’s pathological.
What I want to continue talking about today is not psychology and mental health
Today’s article is inspired by a conversation with a reader. Addressing this quote from yesterday:
he said:
The given example was at the extreme end of the interval. Truly no one wants to get there because the law will end it eventually. However, as I mentioned, sometimes I see the hostage mentality — this attitude of “we need to get them” (i.e. customers) as in “we need to lock them in harder”.
By that I mean the usual “let’s hide the unsubscribe button 10 clicks away from the homepage”.
What the reader talked about is something that’s very good for himself (congrats on that!) and I’ve talked about it in a previous post here.
The punchline that would apply to him is
Addressing what the said position, it’s a good situation to be in as a business owner. Yes, you can be a dick and you know it — they don’t have a choice.
However, this kind of hostage holding is different. If you’re nice to them (which most probably you want to be, I get that feeling), it’ll turn into a Stockholm Syndrome.
You know they don’t have a choice but you might as well make it even better for them. Somehow this post is a cross-breeding between yesterday’s article and the one linked above, the monopoly one.
Sure, there might be indirect competition but while “don’t hold your customers hostage” may lead to “okay, let’s be normal”, I advocate towards the total opposite in this case of a blue ocean. Make them feel like kids at Disneyland.
Captured people develop a lot of positive feelings sometimes towards their captures. That’s weird and again, psychology is not my field.
But hey, within rationality is the following: you can make people develop a lot of positive feelings around your product/company — even more so if it’s the go-to solution.
And you should very well do that.
__
Originally posted here
In other words, it’s a game of “I know you’ve got me so I’ll play nice in order to stay alive”. The underlying thought is that the person will do so until she or he is rescued — might as well be alive in order to be rescued.
The consequences go as far as the victims not testifying against the captors. This is why I’m against the word “alliance” as it makes it sound as if those who are captured do it only strategically. No, it’s something against rationality — some say it’s pathological.
What I want to continue talking about today is not psychology and mental health
Today’s article is inspired by a conversation with a reader. Addressing this quote from yesterday:
he said:
The given example was at the extreme end of the interval. Truly no one wants to get there because the law will end it eventually. However, as I mentioned, sometimes I see the hostage mentality — this attitude of “we need to get them” (i.e. customers) as in “we need to lock them in harder”.
By that I mean the usual “let’s hide the unsubscribe button 10 clicks away from the homepage”.
What the reader talked about is something that’s very good for himself (congrats on that!) and I’ve talked about it in a previous post here.
The punchline that would apply to him is
Addressing what the said position, it’s a good situation to be in as a business owner. Yes, you can be a dick and you know it — they don’t have a choice.
However, this kind of hostage holding is different. If you’re nice to them (which most probably you want to be, I get that feeling), it’ll turn into a Stockholm Syndrome.
You know they don’t have a choice but you might as well make it even better for them. Somehow this post is a cross-breeding between yesterday’s article and the one linked above, the monopoly one.
Sure, there might be indirect competition but while “don’t hold your customers hostage” may lead to “okay, let’s be normal”, I advocate towards the total opposite in this case of a blue ocean. Make them feel like kids at Disneyland.
The reason for that?
Captured people develop a lot of positive feelings sometimes towards their captures. That’s weird and again, psychology is not my field.
But hey, within rationality is the following: you can make people develop a lot of positive feelings around your product/company — even more so if it’s the go-to solution.
And you should very well do that.
__
Originally posted here