33. Consumers Conform; Companies Differentiate

Consumers often avoid the cost and social risk of standing apart, so adoption accelerates when peers make a product feel normal. Companies face the opposite incentive: they earn profit by gaining an edge competitors lack and may try an unproven product precisely because it offers differentiation.

Change the pitch with the buyer. Show consumers that people like them already choose the product; show companies how the product helps them become unlike their rivals. Do not use one generic proof point for audiences responding to opposite motivations.

Original sketch and model by Paras Chopra. Read the source chapter.