I've realized lately that my happiness with a product, movie or book is in direct proportion to my expectations. It's a sliding scale; the lower the expectation, the more I will enjoy it, the higher the expectation, the greater the chance that I'll be totally non-plussed.
Case study #1: Hair product that promises to perform a "miracle" on my not-so-shiny mane. Now, I wouldn't normally put a ton of faith into hair products, but it's actually in the name, for pete's sake! I'm not unjustly holding them to a higher standard here. After the said three minutes, my hair didn't look or feel any different than when I use my normal shampoo and conditioner, let alone having the promised halo appearing around my head.
Here's my thought: maybe instead of vamping up the promises that a product/book/movie makes - maybe they should lower our expectations so that when it just cleans my hair/makes me think/makes me cry, I won't be so disappointed. Take the soap rolls, for instance, I've never implied that it does anything more than wash your hands, last longer than a regular bar of soap, or look cute next to your bathroom sink. It's not going to help you pass that exam, improve your familial relations or get the girl in the end. It just won't. But saying your product is a "miracle" just sets us up for disappointment.
This is weird for me to go against a review of a product, because I'm a huge proponent of "word-of-mouth". I rightfully deem it the best form of advertising out there, and I personally like to "spread the word" about products I like and purchase things I've heard about from friends.
So where does belief in the "No expectations, no disappointments" theory and the reliance on "word of mouth" intersect? Can they co-exist? What are your thoughts?
Sidebar: In honor of Mrs. Seigel, my 9th grade English teacher who forced me to read "Great Expectations", I have to quote her here in saying, "Love her, love her, love her." After 17 years, and much therapy, I can not get the audio clip of her repeating that line from the book, over and over and over.
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4 comments:
I'm not sure what the answer is there. As a society we are going backwards in areas of product satisfaction and customer service. I would be much happier too if I had lower expectations of everything!!
As far as shampoo goes, John Frieda has a pretty good Brillant Brunette line for shine and moisture.
Shouldn't you preface that with, "Don't expect much, but..." ;-) Thanks for the recommendation
Did I tell you I saw Mrs. Seigel at High Holiday services (at Temple Judea) and she looks fabulous? Totally had work done, but not offensive. I really hope she isn't reading this. She looks better than I've ever seen her - retirement (she must be retired by now) probably didn't hurt either!
NO! How could you hold hold that information from me? Oh, by the way, Everyone - this is my most favoritest high school friend, Kara. Kara - Everyone.
Anyway - glad to hear ol' Mrs. Seigel is looking good. I'm only mildly ashamed to admit that I probably added a couple of those lines she had work done on.
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