perception v ?

[Pottree@domain.elided]

In a message dated 08/31/2001 6:14:57 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:


> Some companies, like Ford, don't do a lot to raise my confidence.  I look at
> all the finger pointing between Ford and Firestone and all I see are two
> companies trying to avoid liability, not make things any safer.
> 
> 
OK, so maybe Ford (et al) make terrifically fine products.  But they way they 
handle things (recall the Pinto, the Explorer, need I go on) results in the 
perception that they don't give a rat's ass about their customers once the 
check clears the bank.  Hard to believe they could be that stupid in reality, 
but that's the feeling they cause by their public behavior.

In the USA, pretty much any Italian auto product, ex the superpremium 
products such as Ferrari, are considered junk. prone to breaking down, 
finicky, and plain not worth buying.  Alas, ALFA sits right in there, too.  
This we know is not true, but the perception is there nonetheless.

And, people act upon their perceptions, not necessarily reality.  They bought 
the stoopit Explorer in the first place because they believed it to be 
"safer" than the alternative they'd consider (which would be what?  an 
Aerostar? a pickup truck?  an American or Japanese sedan?).  Whether or not 
that's the case is beside the point... and comes now the epidemic and high 
visibility of flipoveritis and there is a big disjunction of perception > 
large law suits and general hysteria.

In the USA people think anything from Germany is engineered to the nines by 
Max Planck and crafted by honest artisans in leidrehosen and is the finest 
money can buy, like a Swiss watch -- though we know that is not truly the 
case.  And the flip side is the perception of cars form Italy (haphazardly 
thrown together by drunken laborers when they're not out lounging about the 
piazzas and whistling at the laborers of the opposite gender, sucking down 
espressos and figuring out the latest way to beat the system out of an honest 
day's work) which is possibly even MORE untrue.

But people act on what they believe, so it is time to start changing 
misperceptions, and that is harder than...


... flying by wire.

Charlie
LA, CA, USA

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