Information Asymmetry

Definition: At it’s simplest for sake of this exercise; information asymmetry is an imbalance in the amount of knowledge held between two or more parties prior to a purchase or negotiation.

Example: A lot of things sold on Ebay. Sure, the picture may have a nice photo of a raincoat from one angle, but upon purchase the buyer learns that there is obviously more than meets the eye; there are several holes in the non-photographed lining of the coat.

What Can Marketers Do? The problem with this issue of asymmetry in a marketplace is that this behavior (once it becomes commonplace) bleeds into other forms of consumerism.  Soon, a jaded consumer may have a difficult time rationalizing the online purchase of goods.

It may sound simple, but creating early paradigm shifts by addressing unspoken obstacles may have significant effects on winning mindshare.  Exposition of assumed objections before they come to fruition can address Information Asymmetry.

Idea: If it can be speculated that a company may have resistance to a service industry because they aren’t truly sure what level of customer service/attention they will recieve, perhaps unannounced in every subsequent presentation this is addressed front and center.   Remove the ability for the target audience to take guesses to the answers they truly care about. There aren’t many mind readers in business these days so the job of uncovering objections pre-introduction may seem like a daunting task for the layman.  Conversational tracking and monitoring tools have become so robust these days that industry intelligence can be a simple report pull away.  Learn all of the things people communicate in casual settings to help develop your copy.  Taking the Donald Draper out of Marketing leaves data and true understanding that can come from extensive listening.