Last week I was planning a trip from Atlanta to another southeastern city and encountered an airfare that seemed extraordinarily high. I compared the rate to a previous trip to that same city and to some other cities in the same state and much to my chagrin; the new rate was about triple the price I expected to pay. My immediate reaction: "It’s not fair!"
As it turns out, my reaction is actually based in science. At about the same time of my airfare crisis, I came across an insightful and amusing video from a TED Talk by Dr. Frans de Waal on the Moral Behavior in Animals. It seems that this sense of inequity I was feeling is perhaps wired deep within me, not only as a human, but as a primate. So while I can logically puzzle out the intricacies of online airline pricing (e.g., it’s hub to hub, there’s no discount airline in the market), I’m stuck with these feelings of being treated unfairly.
This is meaningful insight to us who ponder the neuroscience that drives consumer/brand relationships. What companies can learn from this is that customers react to their offerings in ways that are primitively emotional, as well as in ways that are intellectual and logical. Surface-level, visible and articulated thoughts, ideas, behaviors, attitudes and feelings are not enough. Marketers must consider that the primal, unarticulated, latent bases are covered too when developing products, setting prices and marketing messages. Especially messages that counter the "That's not fair!" reaction!