Comments on: Faith, hope, love, and marketing http://blog.johndcook.com/2008/02/04/faith-hope-love-and-marketing/ The blog of John D. Cook Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:22:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Mark Stevens http://blog.johndcook.com/2008/02/04/faith-hope-love-and-marketing/#comment-85 Mark Stevens Mon, 18 Feb 2008 03:02:17 +0000 http://blog.johndcook.com/2008/02/04/faith-hope-love-and-marketing/#comment-85 While I agree with the intent of the article, I still think(unfortunately) that the fear of loss is a greater driver in consumer behaviour (and I suspect behaviour in general) than faith or hope. From my experience in sales it seems, however, that a very compelling driver to "buy" is when the focus on what is hoped for is "threatened" with a subtle fear of the loss if the "product" is not "bought". The stronger the hope, the more effective fear is as a driver. It seems to me that our natural human inclinations are too often less noble than we aspire too. Being "faith, hope, and love" motivated would be ideal, but I all too often find that even knowing that I should be motivated by posivites it is the negative that acutally does the trick. While I agree with the intent of the article, I still think(unfortunately) that the fear of loss is a greater driver in consumer behaviour (and I suspect behaviour in general) than faith or hope. From my experience in sales it seems, however, that a very compelling driver to “buy” is when the focus on what is hoped for is “threatened” with a subtle fear of the loss if the “product” is not “bought”. The stronger the hope, the more effective fear is as a driver.

It seems to me that our natural human inclinations are too often less noble than we aspire too. Being “faith, hope, and love” motivated would be ideal, but I all too often find that even knowing that I should be motivated by posivites it is the negative that acutally does the trick.

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