Customers want to feel what they buy is authentic, but “Mass Customization” author Joseph Pine says selling authenticity is tough because, well, there’s no such thing. He talks about a few experiences that may be artificial but make millions anyway.
It is true that those of us who care seek out and value authentic companies that provide authentic experiences. However, the reason why many goods and services have become commodities is because consumers regard everything as a commodity that should be provided to them at the lowest price.
People state frequently that they want authentic experiences, responsive customer service and quality products. The majority also say that they value the natural environment and want it preserved. However, when the time comes for purchase, consumers based their decisions primarily on price. Price continues to trump authenticity and value – except in the rarified consumer arenas of the socially conscious wealthy.
In addition, marketers have trained consumers to be ready to accept the flimsiest of claims of authenticity – so that the pesky thing called conscience will not interfere with purchases.
This is not to say that companies should foresake the pursuit of authentic authenticity. It does add value in the workplace. It can lead to enhancements in productivity, commitment and output of quality products and services.
One cannot look at authenticity within the isolation of the commercial marketplace. For the concept to have meaning and impact, it must relate to the pervading culture. Within narrow segments of our society, authenticity is becoming a significant goal. For the majority of our society, the ability to continue to our current levels of consumption is the driving force. You can see it even in the discussions on sustainability. Let’s buy our way to sustainability – where are the green products. We shouldn’t need to change our lifestyles – just change our product lines.
Authenticity – once you can fake that, you’ve got it made. That may sound cynical, but until consumers stop behaving like consumers, it will dominate marketing philosophy.
In partial response, recognize that authenticity is personally determined (as Joseph Waisman asserts). You get to decide what is authentic to you, and so if Paolo thinks Starbucks is fake, it’s fake to him. Most of the millions of people who regularly go there, however, think it’s very authentic. What’s clear, though — as L. Smith alludes to — is that its continued success has nothing to do with its availability, cost, or quality; it depends on its perceived authenticity.
Therefore, as Dan Wood points out, it is a matter of perception. We do in fact live our lives “almost entirely in manufactured space”. (The Grand Canyon, to Gardner Clute’s point, may be a natural space, but virtually everyone’s experience of it is mediated through manufactured economic offerings. The Grand Canyon may be authentic, but the Skywalk most certainly is not!)
That’s why the key task for companies now that authenticity has become the new consumer sensibility is one of rendering authenticity — managing everything so that people perceive our offerings and, by extension, the places in which they are offered, and our companies themselves as authentic. In response to Sjors Provoost, authenticity is the value that people seek in today’s Experience Economy.
In summary, if my “logic skips and tumbles” it is due to my inability to convey everything about the subject in 15 minutes. If you find the topic intriguing — even if still wrong! — please do wrestle with the ideas in full in the book I wrote with Jim Gilmore, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, which you can learn about at www.AuthenticityBook.com.
