I found a couple more posts to share. These intersect somehow:
What makes an idea viral? by Seth Godin
Seth says that ideas are only shared if they are understood:
“No one “gets” an idea unless:
a. the first impression demands further investigation
b. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
c. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time”
Myths and facts from Reveries
Tim at Reveries quotes Dr. Skurnik:
“Unless people have some countervailing context or information to grab hold of, they tend to regard information that seems familiar as true.”
“It’s not enough to ensure that people get good information from credible sources … You also have to make sure that they’ll be able to recall whether it’s true or false later on.”
All of which explains why I must have got the AOL/Intel merger/Bill Gates is going to send you money chain email today. Seriously though, the lesson I am getting is that a marketing message has to fit the knowledge, preconceived notions, or prejudices that the prospect has, or they aren’t going to get anything out of it.
To what Seth said, until the message fits client in the way he described, he’s not going to ready to go to his boss and tell him why your product is better. And Dr. Skurnik may predict that his boss may cling to familiar facts that he regards as true and reject the proposal anyway. Ouch!