What is Technophobia?
6 fears potential technology buyers have.
- Size of expenditure.
Scares ’em every time. The bigger the price tag the greater the perceived risk. - Relative newness.
The high-tech sale becomes difficult if something is perceive as too new. Is it supported by the industry? No service. No support. - Fear of obsolescence.
What if they buy it and there’s no service or support because it’s too old? Is a better gizmo coming out tomorrow? - Complexity.
Everybody wants things simple. No one wants overtime to figure out your
techwhizmo. - Differentiation.
Is it an appliance or a toy? Where does it fit among all the other solutions? - Professional embarrassment.
Nobody wants to look foolish buying the wrong thing; especially an expensive wrong thing (see # 1).
Most people are intimidated, when approaching a new technology, by the sheer number of new ideas we must learn. Research shows we only need a limited number of concepts to communicate effectively.
Communications can be divided into two categories:
1 function words
(activities)
2 content words
(vocabulary)
Focusing on function words, the essential core of language, enable us to more readily put new knowledge to use. Few content words are used every day.
Linguists discover core vocabulary.
In the past century, linguists and second language teachers discovered a core vocabulary of fewer than a thousand words can provide semantic coverage for nearly every idea expressible in a human language. (Basic Core English = 800 words.)
Typically, the top 100 to 200 words account for 80 percent of the total words communicated. The most powerful or novel words when converted to graphics/illustration enable the viewer to fill in the blanks; a short cut to understanding.
BEATING TECHNOPHOBIA
- Show the product as new but its function as traditional.
- Show continuity with the past, not a break from it.
- Show how everything in the past led inevitably to your new product.
- Show new growth as the users growth.
