“Anyone who has followed consumer electronics and online services knows that once a product reaches dominance, it becomes very hard for it to be dethroned (hello, iPod, Google, and Windows). Economists have argued for years regarding the costs involved in finding and adopting alternatives, but the psychologists will point out that familiarity and comfort play major roles in keeping consumers loyal to an incumbent. Research that appears in the Journal of Consumer Research delves into how these factors, collectively termed ‘Cognitive Lock-in,’ develop and play out,” John Timmer reports for Ars Technica.
“The authors of the study point out that previous research has shown that cognitive lock-in is not just an abstract concern, but one comes with real-world costs: ‘the costs associated with thinking about and using a particular product decrease as a function of the amount of experience a consumer has with it. Thus, repeated consumption or use of an incumbent product results in a (cognitive) switching cost that increases the probability that a consumer will continue to choose the incumbent over competing alternatives.’ This suggests that, even if a product isn’t especially easy to use, familiarity with it may overcome that drawback as, ultimately, its users don’t have to think about their actions in order to get things done anymore,” Timmer reports.
“The authors suggest that a user’s ability to detect a product’s actual ease-of-use is quite limited, and familiarity is ultimately in control of cognitive lock-in,” Timmer reports.
Timmer reports, “Overall, the results suggest that all the years of arguments over the relative merits of things like the Mac and Windows user interfaces were a waste of time: we’re generally convinced that whatever we’re familiar with is the best. That said, future choices go on against a backdrop of economic considerations and heavy marketing. Given the prominent role these researchers assign error, maybe Apple is on the right track when they try to remind people of every annoyance they might have experienced on a PC.”
More in the full article here.
Related article:Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
It’s keeping MS rich.
This is new? Jeez. I could make a buck describing the effects of gravity on a falling object just by couching it in psych-speak and constructing a list of footnotes while tossing in the occaisonal ibid.
What a crock.
It’s keeping the Vatican rich, too.
unfortunately it is very true. There is a very very old saying that goes somewhat like this: ‘Never leave the old path for the new one. You know what you’ll miss but you don’t know what you’ll be getting’.
Most people reason this way, wary of changes, even if current situation is crap they will move only if lots of their acquaintances have done the shift already.
Most of IT ignoramus have this attitude and will move only after a certain critical mass have made the change.
Most are pure followers that will stick to the old till they realize there is nothing but new stuff around them.
Most of IT ignoramus
Most of IT so-called proficient too.
That would explain why Bush got re-elected. And I was blaming ignorance …
Hmm… another iPhone wannabe:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6722629.stm
ChrissyOne,
nice!
That was your most insightful comment yet.
Chrissyone, you got that right. Talk about customer lock-in and the ultimate in “vapor-ware” promises for the future!
“It’s keeping the Vatican rich, too.”
True. But do we really want the masses thinking for themselves?
It could real scary, real fast.
Sort of like a digital Stockholm syndrome!
I think this is absolutely correct and is one of the reasons that Apple will find it almost impossible to displace Windows, no matter how miserable the Windows experience is, relatively. It is also an argument for Apple going to any lengths, including selling computers at cost or below cost, to get Macs (and OS X) into classrooms and colleges, where they will create the “cognitive lock-in” needed later to resist the MS hegemony. Considering that computers have to be replaced every 3-5 years, it is conceivable that Apple could even make money in the long run by giving away computers to kids in high school and college just to build brand loyalty.
While this is true in general, it doesn’t mean that familiarity is the sole variable. This is demonstrated by how many Windows users come over to Mac once they get a chance to use it for enough time to experience its superiority. The familiarity issue here is relevant only so far as to open up the possibility of accepting an alternative to Windows…once that door is open, it’s simply a matter of time.
And I think that door is opening more and more often…
… But do we really want the masses thinking for themselves?
Yeah, better to think for oneself than let some thin king scoundrel do the thinking for you.
@ MacFreak
The alternative is for the masses to crash more planes into skyscrapers.
I’ll take ‘thinking’, thanks.
MacFreak,
No, I’d rather they had someone who tells them that nuclear war and the “rapture” was something to look forward to, or that it’s OK to fly planes into skyscrapers is OK because you and your family will go to Paradise, in charge and telling them what to think. All based on 1000+ year old books written by sheep-herders.
@ wittsend
lolz =)
Psycho babble for the centuries old saying “Better the Hell I know, than the Hell I don’t know.”
Turn on your sarcasm meter please.
“I would have made a good Pope.”
– Richard Nixon
Chrissy One: Was that you I spotted jumping on the Popemobile today?
————————
Ignorance reigns supreme!
i never had this problem when i switched, i soon found the mac os interface much better than windows
Part of Apple’s familarity strategy is iTunes on Windows, which introduces the herd to the Macintosh way of doing things. See http://www.apple.com/getamac/software.html
I wonder if the default Safari page on the iPhone is set to:
http://www.apple.com/startpage/ ?
I hope so.
“Overall, the results suggest that all the years of arguments over the relative merits of things like the Mac and Windows user interfaces were a waste of time: we’re generally convinced that whatever we’re familiar with is the best.”
I don’t quite accept that last part. I can accept that people believe that the familiar is “good enough”, that sticking with what’s familiar and what everyone else is using is “less risky” than trying something else, but “the best”? I’d like to think folks aren’t so shallow as to make value judgements about what they don’t know. But I’ve been wrong before.
MW: ill – as in “Supporting Windows makes me ***, but does pay the b***s.”
“Cognitive Lock-in”. A buzz phrase no doubt, but true nevertheless. I watched an important Power Point presentation totally crap out out yesterday because the visiting speaker was running Vista on his laptop, and our network couldn’t handle it. But when I joked that we should be using Macs, I got lathered with the usual derision. Jeez.
Monday, January 29, 2007
NBC’s Today Show ”Remember that Windows is where the investment is. It’s where the partners are. That’s why it’s the best.”
That should have read:
Monday, January 29, 2007 — NBC’s Today Show
Bill Gates on Mac vs. Windows innovation: ”Remember that Windows is where the investment is. It’s where the partners are. That’s why it’s the best.”
So the next question.. what are the moderating factors that can mitigate cognitive lock-in?
1) Intellectual curiosity – interest in generally trying new things and seeking new experiences. This is a personality trait and hard to give to someone who doesn’t have it.
2) Subject matter interest/knowledge – someone who thinks computers are neat and fascinating is more likely to invest energy in trying a different kind of computer, for example, than someone who could care less about a computer except as a machine for checking their email. This can be developed, but most people won’t change their interests readily.
3) Experience with alternatives – that’s why, much as I dislike Windows, I think it’s good that I use it at work. Gives me perspective and a frame of reference to more objectively evaluate the Mac experience. This is what Apple Stores are for.
4) Meltdown/untenability of current situation – this is the main driver for most of the current switcher wave. People’s Windows machines blew up on them thanks to spyware/viruses and they simply said “I can’t do this anymore.” Very effective and practical, but it requires going through a lot of pain
iProtest
Go tell Ford, Chrysler of GM that after losing market share to Toyota and Honda bitch!
God Bless you athiests!
You’ll need it one day.
Does it burn when I say that?
Cognitive “Lock-in” seems to be stronger, the farther a product is away from commodity status. The less commodified a product, the more closely tied it is to a customer’s personal identity and self-worth. “Am I a ____kind of person? How do I think others would perceive me as the owner/user of this…and how would I see myself? That may be a bigger change inside than just learning new menus. Especially when it means leaving the home team and becoming “one of them.” People can voluntarily make big changes — they do it all the time with marital, parental and occupational status. But there has to be a dream, a “grass is greener” on the other side. This is where Apple shines. “Come on over, have more fun, walk in beauty!”