Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

Business Ethics Classes for this term ended with a documentary " The inconvenient Truth" by the noble laureate, Mr Al Gore. He is a wonderful orator and the things which he said had all of us moved. During, the fag end of the video, he demonstrated us an example. Suppose, a frog is put in boiling water, it would jump out of the jar immediately. On the other hand, if you put it in lukewarm water, and then gradually increase the temperature, the frog will not notice the change in temperature, and hence keep sitting on jar, and ultimately will lose its life.

After the lecture, i tried to extend this idea into the other realms of life. Somehow, i have the feeling that this concept affects the human behaviour and particularly the consumer behaviour to a large extent. I searched for some literature in the library, and then I came across the term “Just Noticeable Difference ( JND) coined by Weber in early 20th century. To put in simple terms, suppose you are watching 2 light beams of same intensity ( Say 100 W) and then intensity of one is varied,then after how much variation of the intensity, will you observe the difference in the intensity of 2 light beams. This variance, is sometimes also called the differential threshold of JND.

Many of us know that it exists, but still we never give much of a thought to it. This is one of the concept which are used by companies to manipulate ( or sometimes say fool customers). Here, I would like to quote the example of FMCG companies, because the products in this category are generally the low involvement products with the price being the key determining factor in the decision making process of a consumer. Companies, by the way of packaging, by promotion mixes create a clutter of products with JND often less than the threshold level. So, when a consumer goes out to buy toothpaste, he is often subjected to the choice of 80g of pepsodent for Rs 25 and 100g of Colgate at Rs 30. Now, by packaging them cleverly, Pepsodent reduces the JND between these 2 products. So, consumer tends to behave that both the products are almost the same. Now, the key determining factor for them is the price, and here they will go for the one which is quoting lesser price (Pepsodent in this case). Even though, by buying Pepsodent they are paying more Rs/g than Colgate.

JND concept is also leveraged by the companies, which over a time try to evolve as per the business environment. Particularly, for the strongly positioned brands, a sudden transition could be Hara-kiri... so they change over a period of time, in which every time the gradual change is less that the differential hold of JND.If you get a chance to see the logo of Pepsi, in last 10 years, you will definitely notice the difference. But as everything has another face, this concept is also utilized , particularly in rural India, by the companies which copy and fake the well known products. By closely resembling names, packaging, and promotion mix, they hold the change below the JND level, and thus fooling the consumers.

Apart from business, JND is part and parcel of human life. When you meet some one after a year or two generally the reaction is "tu to bahut lamba ho gaya yaar". While his family members would not be noticing the gradual change. I use to visit mussorie very frequently, and one of my favourite place is kempty falls. Every year or so, i go there and enjoy the scenic beauty. Last year, i went after a gap of 3 years, and i was shocked to see the condition of kempty fall. When i enquired about the reason, it was due to a reservoir which had been building there for last 10 years, gosh!! i hardly noticed that.

This can also be leveraged in relationships, when things start getting wrong, initially we do not notice the gradual damage to the relation, unless it reaches to JND Level. After that, it is very difficult to resurrect a relation. Thus in relationships, we should be conscious in keeping our JND threshold level low, so that we could read the distress signals, in their primitive stages. For the time being, yours truly signing off, wishing you a wonderful time.. muaaah !!!!..

Avatar and it's after effects

Damn! Here comes the destroyer of a beautiful planet. The fliers in their helicopters and electronic gadgets, robots beatified with bullets and explosives. Out here to destroy the tribal dwelling, established under a giant tree. Ecology is perfectly in equilibrium with the cool balance of birth and death of organisms. But, selfish motives must be sufficed. Humans are at it to seize the place, which could be beneficial to them.

This is the background of Avatar, the film. Well, the freshness is the love between the human mind and the indigenous lady. The result was satisfying, the nature taking on the artificial power. I can foresee the same happening out here. Slowly and acceleratingly, we are heading towards hard times. The times of shortages, scarcities, extinction to hound us. Till we reach dangerously close to the unexpected, we will keep holding our stand. Similar to the military in the film.

These days, the Save Tiger campaign has gain foothold. From 50,000 and prided as National animal of India, they are reduced to a paltry 1411 this date. People will keep killing them and selling their skins for hefty amount. Why should they worry ? The other person must! I am fan of this attitude here.

Right from the childhood, we study some useful lessons regarding the moral behavior, duties of a citizen and try to apply that in our lives. Then we see someone we respect and look forward to, lacking in this sense of conduct and wonder who’s right. We consult our elders and friends. Based on our understanding, this is the time when we may switch our stand and learn to live by the ‘practical world’.

It depends on the life at one’s place and surroundings, surely. Nobody wants to wait in a queue for long hours and miss important tasks. Thus, some may deviate and they feel they are justified in their actions. Similarly, in all the environmentally hazardous activities, we feel we are doing what we are ought to do. The purpose is to enjoy a cool life with our family and whatever way we can suffice our needs, is welcome.

The big picture is blurred. We never care to adjust it’s focus. If we wait and think, the competitive world will run over us and we’ll be left behind. That’s the case with India, a highly dense country. So what happens, everybody’s conscience is active, but most advocate it for their dear ones. No accusations, I am the culprit too.

Social networks help us realize our ‘Positive’ side. There is nothing like social expectancy pressure, the force to engage in causes which are socially desirable. As we are vast in numbers and variety, we discuss and collaborate on some meaningful work, beside fun filled activities. The twitters and facebooks’ popularity have instigated in youth’s memory, the basic do’s and don’ts to give back their bit to the society. This is what I believe, and those who don’t actually don’t realize that they also believe it. J

Beauty or the Beast

In the times of integrated market communication ( a jargon for peeping in your life 24*7).. you would have inevitably see the number '1411' at some place or other. Numbers are fascinating ( or at least you have to fake it as a finance student), but i found this number very mundane in the first go. There are magical numbers, squares, cubes, fibbonaci series and i also did a quick calculation to check whether it is a prime number. But surprisilngly, it is none, but yet it is fascinating as due to claims from the authority, it is the number of tigers left in India. Alarming !! isn't it... but from when we started tracking the number of tigers in our country. We never knew when the number went 3000 and when it touched 2000. So, it needed a well drafted marketing campaign to drive home the point that yes they are in danger, because every one of us want to look benovolent, provided we are informed about the problems prevailing..

Coming to tigers.. i think they are one of the biggest brand of 'incredible india'. Once i read it somewhere, that a succesful brand should have majesty and exclusivity. Well, no body can challenge the majesty of tiger in the eco-system of jungle, '1411' also provides them exclusivity. Thus, its one of the most favourite brand of india. Take any travel magazine remotely wirting about india and you will definitely find the pic of tiger in that. In fact tiger is the darling baby of our corporate world, when you feel the need to do CSR.. start a campaigning for saving tigers, because everybody knows they are in danger. ( No need to educate consumers !!!)....

Aircel, after Idea, is the company in the telecom demain, which came up with this CSR activity. Well, in case of idea, it seems to solve issues by leveraging the features of mobile, i am still not convinced that how can a mobile used to save tigers , and i want to be proved wrong if i say that there are hardly any cellular netowrks in tiger habitats. So, the exercise is more about increasing the brand visibility than something else. But again, i really fear about brand cannibalization in this case. When you think of kingfisher, you think of beer and aeroplane, when you think of camel, you think of paints, but when you think of tiger, you think of majesty and exclusivity, and i seriously doubt whether aircel is either majestic or exclusive.

Ohh my god.. i am getting obsessed with tiger..or i think this is the year of tiger, lest you forget Tiger woods...during his hey-days, his shots have an air of majesty, and most of the women think he is exclusive ( now they must be sulking)... and thats why he is the star endorserer , from a game, which is popular(or notorious) for its mundane pace . Then , he lost his exclusivity, almost a dozen times, and now even accenture is having different ads on air featuring dolphins , whales, and other animals ( off course , except tiger)..Grapevine is that he may be back sometime in this year, and then i could check another jargon " Wounded-Tiger"..

At the fag end , i just wanna mention some of events happened with me in recent times. After almost a decade, i attended a marriage of my home, albeit i have to go to Bikaner. If you are from delhi, where in a metro 4 people are touching 4 different parts of your body, you will feel that your personal space hs increased out there. Vast areas with sparse population, sometimes you long to see a vehicle on road. Back in college, another mutiny is brewing up... against some draconian( Most of the people say so..) ruling of college administration. Some times, we need to revise our history a bit... you can view a thing both as opportunity and threat... and there is always a tradeoff between choice and competetion. In india, we typically hate competetion (may be our socialistic heritage..), but we are here, after facing so much of comptetion. The bottom line is that if you are good , you will get good things, and once for a change, this is a universal truth and not a relative phenomenon. With this, yours truly signing off.. take care.. and save tiger.. oops.. not tiger woods... cya ... muuaaaaah..

To the spirit of love

THE VOICE OF THE PROLETARIAT

In a country like India where each and every individual has a prerogative of voicing his concerns and attracting attention of the incumbent politicians, we often find their voices lost in the maelstrom created by their own representatives presenting a myopic picture of their people to the government. They hardly make an attempt to see through the real and deeper picture of what is it that the commom man really and desperately needs. Just fulfilling the basic requirements of their people isn't enough to make a regime or domain happier and stronger, if we consider these things from a holistic point of view.
We all know what happened in the areas of Saurashtra and Bundelkhand. Needless to say,until and unless apposite endeavours are not made to recuperate the present state of affairs of the proleriat or the working class, the situation is going to aggravate to a greater and irreversible level and in turn leading to more apalling results. It's about time that we start to learn what are those necessary steps that we as responsible citizens need to take and expect to be executed judiciously and effectively because devoid of a backbone how can a body remain stable and nimble.