Changed perceptions are the result of changed behaviour.
Image via: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tbruce/
I think you’ll probably agree that a lot of our current marketing theory is based upon the almost invisible assumption that thought precedes action. This made sense in an era when marketing was limited to generating thoughts, but when we can build digital and physical experiences, thought is often a barrier to action. Things are often more complicated to explain than they are to do, and thinking about something too much is often paralysing.
In life, it’s far more common that action precedes thought. We learn by doing, and doing changes how we think about something. This implies that changed perceptions are often a result of changed behaviour not the other way around.
So as marketers, if we are trying to change perceptions then we should probably be thinking about the behaviour change required to do this. And if we are simply trying to change behaviour we shouldn’t put the need to change perceptions in the way as a barrier.
Happy new year!