Skip to main content

Blind Spot - Auto/Taxi fellows are cheaters

It was a pleasant surprise experience after moving to Mumbai when on a couple of occassions public transport (regular black/yellow or silver/blue taxi and auto rickshaws) returned me the precise amounts due to the nearest rupee.

I had tweeted about the same experience and the overwhelming response to me was that it was an odd experience and I must have been extremely lucky to have met such people. I was warned that I should not get carried away with this experience. Bottomline - lack of trust between commuters and public transport.

Now in the last 3 months or so, I have used public transport almost about 100 times and nearly 95+ times I have been returned the change nearest to the rupee.

The repeated experience that I have in the last 3 months is completely contrary to what others have told me. The sample size is not small enough for me to classify this as a coincidence.

I think this is a case of either a blind spot or a fixated mind.

Going through this, I recall many instances where we develop a frame of mind as consumers towards goods/services that are completely devoid of the real experiences. For a marketer it is important to be aware of such pre-conceived notions and biases and build into the plan in addressing the consumers.

Nothing works better than demonstration under such circumstances, or so I believe. Welcome your thoughts!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tough times - different actions

After a trip to the financial capital of India, Mumbai, I landed in the flashy city of Delhi. Of many people that I met and talked to in Mumbai, the discussion hovered around the difficulty faced by people in stock market, economic issues, tough times, tightening the belt, lay offs (declared and not declared), sectoral impact etc etc. In a nutshell "get into the shell for safety". Then I met Rajan S, a dear friend. I knew that he has lost a good more than 50% of his investments in stock market and was expecting a similar response that I witnessed in Mumbai. I was all set to ensure that I remain as balanced as possible. "Hi, welcome to my newly decorated home" he exclaimed. "I went and bought two easy chairs, 5 decorative pieces, 5 pairs of trousers for myself along with 5 shirts, kids wardrobe has been replenished, wifey has bought some sarees and suits and not to talk of new curtains; all in the last fortnight" he went non stop "there are such great

Should professional duty or personal preference prevail? Moral dilemma!

I had a very fruitful meeting for a possible new client. The project was interesting and there was keen interest by the potential client to use the services on offer. Sounds good, said my colleague. We should send a proposal for the engagement. I wasn't so sure. Project is interesting, fee may be decent as well but do I feel comfortable working with the client? A categorical NO emerged from within me. The interaction with client was emotionally challenging. I would have had to deal with am emotional conflict on the assignment with the client. I found it difficult to accept his style of operation. This was not a knee jerk reaction but thought through analysis. Professionally, it is the task that I commit to and should do the same. Personally I do not want to work with the individual. What do I do? I have declined the assignment but the question still remains. Is it fair? Is it just? Would a doctor take a decision to cure a patient based on liking? Should an advocate dec

How reality loses to momentum?

Truth prevails is an old adage that seems to be losing its relevance in the current sentiments. Still I am confident that "Truth shall prevail". Hopefully, sooner than later. The case in point is the investor confidence in the stock market. Indian markets are aping the performance of the stock markets of developed world. In fact, the possible loss in indices is reasonably predictable in the last few weeks based on what happened on the previous day in Europe and US. Are the situations similar? Are Indian businesses facing the same situation as companies in western world? Are Indian corporate giants going bust like crackers in Diwali? Have companies of great repute and history in India have filed for bankruptcy? Has any company in India reported loss of sales (top line) in double digits and evaporation of profits? Slowdown yes. How bad is India? Is it comparable to West? It has baffled me as to how convenient has it been to be infected with "western sentiments" virus