Our modern society is going through profound changes. It is my belief that those changes are affecting the way we perceive Value.

Firstly: With the internet allowing everyone instant access to information, size no longer matters in the same way. What matters is how “findable” you are. The boom of SEO practices and the attempts by everyone to get their content “aggregated” is certainly a proof of that trend (on aggregating content see our previous post “aggregate or get lost”). A visual representation of aggregation would be an internet crossroads where, by strategic placement, you would maximize the chances to get traffic to your site.

Secondly: The Digital revolution has created a cheap way to replicate content and distribute it quickly without borders.

Shop till you drop...

In this context, we have the right to ask ourselves: what drives ‘value’ ? And more particularly ‘perceived value’. If we agree that ‘perceived value’ is the key to profit, and leads to a higher brand equity, then what are the new rules of such value? What makes perceived value higher?

Time to revisit good old Economics principles. ‘Value’ is best materialized by the price consumers are willing to pay for the product or service. That ‘price’ is a direct result of the interaction between offer and demand.

This is a nice theory, and it possibly works great in a stock exchange situation where information flows quickly. Everywhere else, there are a number of “variables” that interfere and delay market adjustments. The two greatest interferences are “knowledge” and “time” and both are closely intertwined.

I take an example :

You are buying a product or a service. The more time you spend understanding the market (knowledge) and other competitive offers; the clearer will be your perception of value. You will know if what you are buying is good value or not (the idea of “good value” being the trade off you are actually willing to make). You will also learn more about the product or service and its customers.

Possibly you will read reviews and recommendations and you will decide if they sound true or not.

Based on all this and from recommendations from your network you will decide what you think of this particular brand or product and of its value.

So where does this leave us?

What parameters influence perceived value? Here is what I submit:

1. Time: how much time you are willing to spend on the subject to build your knowledge of the field

2. People: recommendations and comments from your network and words from people you trusted to be of some authority.

These are the new parameters of Value. Time and people. There is no real question about information availability, more and more we have to assume that it is readily available providing one has the time.

People can make or break the reputation of a Brand, product or service. They are at the core of everything – I just wish we never forget that.

Photo credits robholland