Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value — and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life.
I love his example about the post office in the UK spending lots of money trying to improve their next day delivery statistic (98%) rather than first finding out that the public’s perception of their next day delivery (50-60%). “If your perception is much worse than your reality, what on earth are you doing trying to change the reality?”
