In marketing, there is a saying:
Only dissatisfaction makes it possible to obtain a change in behaviour (of a population targeted by a company that offers a new solution).
There is no market (for a novelty), if there is no prior dissatisfaction.
In fact, this adage is not entirely accurate.
Dissatisfaction may be a necessary condition, but it is far from sufficient.
You might argue that if the dissatisfaction (alone) does not allow the adoption of a new solution, then it shows that the dissatisfaction was not real.
Even though it may sound counter-intuitive, Human beings can endure a high level of dissatisfaction before a body of corroborating forces triggers a click in their mind and push them to act and solve their problem.
There is even a form of enjoyment in moping around in dissatisfaction. Why the hell? Because, to feel alive, Human being desperately needs to feel emotions.
Being alive (for animals) = Feeling emotions = Feeling alive.
Emotions are the fuel of our existence. Dissatisfaction induces one of the most powerful emotions: angriness. Feeling angry makes you damn alive in your fucking post-industrial sedentary urban boring life!
Therefore, a trick inspired by good Customer Support is to bring the angry client to rationality but not directly. The technique is to slip the emotional state of your target little by little from angriness to joyfulness, and then only, bring him your rationality on the table.
The other reason why people prefer to endure dissatisfaction is that a chronic bad situation has known (therefore predictable) negative effects. The bad situation and its negative effects become a habit, a routine.
In contrast, a good but new solution has (therefore unpredictable) unknown outcomes.
Humans are terrified by the uncertainty of the unknown.
The Catalyst - How to Change Anyone’s Mind -
Jonah Berger
Note de lecture en français
Dr. Ari Massoudi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arimassoudi/