This is part III of the series, What is the relationship between religions and market share?
You can catch up on Part I - an introduction - here and Part II – converting competition users - here.
Here is a recap on how market share could be grown for religions.
- By converting competition users
- By converting non-users
- By adding new users who did not exist earlier
- By making the users consume more of their product in a single usage
- By making the users consume more of their product by finding different occasions
Today, we will cover point no. 2
By converting non-users
Non-users of religion are a small percentage. In India that number is roughly 1%. 1% of the 1.31 billion people who choose to not follow a religion. This 13 million people can be divided in two ways:
Atheists:
Atheists believe that there is no god. Of course, there are the good and bad in atheists too. The good ones keep their beliefs to themselves and would just wish that a believer finds the truth as soon as possible. They do not smirk, deride, or judge anyone for their beliefs. You may one day find life evolving on planet Venus, but to find a good atheist is near impossible.
Bad atheists on the other hand are high-handed, condescending people who judge you the second you utter a Jai Sri Ram. (And for want of secularity – an In Sha Allah or Hallelujah!) Then they go about with their own gospel of how we humans exist by chance and god has no role whatsoever. They will hand you a telescope and ask you to show them heaven and hell. They are no different from the other proselytizers. Given a chance, they would attack you with rational arguments to convert you to atheism.
A good atheist is a myth. Or god may be the one true good atheist. But a bad atheist would defend the belief that there is no good atheist (and thus probably god).
Agnostics:
Agnostics are those that are unsure about the existence of a god. They are not active worshippers, but they do not dissuade against god either. They are lost in their own inquiry and are curious to find answers. According to their theories, their common sense does not allow them to believe in a god. Yet, they are open to changing their preconceived notions if indeed there exists evidence against their two-pronged belief system. Our scientific prowess has not reached its fullest potential to explain a lot of inexplicable things that happen around us. Until that happens, an agnostic remains in the purgatory!
So, how do you convince these non-users to use your product? They do make a good number after all. There are two ways to handle this situation.
Incentives or rewards: Incentivize the non-believers with the riches of heaven. That there will be a day when everyone seeks religion and thus god (or vice versa) to be their salvation. Reward them with what they are lacking currently. And show them the path of how religion can lead them to their rewards. It is a tough job, but anything for market share.
Disincentives or punishment: Show them a sneak-peak of hell. Brainwash them on how certain rituals are indeed more scientific in nature (since they are believers of science) and we just do not understand the science behind it right now. Slowly lead them on to the path of making them doubt themselves to be those who won’t be saved even by god plainly because they are above science that is yet to be even discovered. And that is just because they do not believe in god.
Apart from forming a cartel of all religions and deriding these non-believers together, there is no better way to control the growth of non-believers. With education, awareness and critical thinking gaining prominence, non-believers are soon going to be more than that 1%. Instead of focussing on how to convert them, the cartel of religions may do themselves some good if they focus on how to sustain them at 1% and not allow them to grow.
And how do we know it? Because we just got to believe that god has all the answers!
On that note, let us dive into this week’s mind!
A. Political
Nothing interesting here!
B. Technology
The high privacy cost of a “Free” website, Aaron Sankin & Surya Mattu, The Markup
What happens when your closely held beliefs are shattered? This tool Blacklight does precisely that very thing. It opens us to the behind-the-scenes operations of almost all websites. Did you know that some websites record our clicks, our mouse movements and even keystrokes? It shows us what all trackers these have embedded in the websites, how Facebook and Google keeps track of every activity of yours and hunts you down, how there really is no reprieve from all the chasing and stalking. Blacklight shows you in many ways how you are the product and how it is done in the name of personalizing ads ‘for you’! A riveting read and a tool.
If you are interested in exploring a rabbit hole, this article is even better. Aaron Sankin lays things threadbare on what are the things that are possibly going wrong. And he rates Tor as the best browser in terms of safety and non-tracking. And the most unsafe one? You guessed it right - Google Chrome!
C. Marketing
Has working remotely led to a dearth of good IPL ads this year?, Karuna Sharma, Business Insider
Pretty bad ads this IPL, is a common phrase every household discusses. But we got to give it to the organizations and the agencies for making a valiant attempt to create an ad under these trying circumstances. An ad creation process starts with the understanding of what the consumer believes in, right or wrong. It can be a need, want or a pure indulgence. But it is always about what the consumer believes it to be. When the current reality is all about chaos, there is little incentive for the marketeers in meeting consumers and understanding what their pain point is. Neither would a consumer be able to meet strangers to ask strange questions. We all know what the bigger problem is – COVID. Do we have a solution to it? Of course, not! The ads were expected to be pathetic this year. But, on a relativity scale, Dream11 ads are a tad bit still better than the iPhone ads.
One thing I do not understand is how I am to study more/better from using UpGrad, Unacademy (Great Learning and all that jazz from what I can recall) when a good part of my next two months is going to be engrossed in watching IPL? (Especially when my conversion to these platforms were from watching IPL in the first place). Whom are they advertising for? If I were the consumer to whom they were advertising, I would feel frustratingly guilty to watch these ads on IPL; guilt arising from the fact that I unable to utilise that Great Learning course which I have paid for, for which I am running an EMI too. I am unable to utilise since my time is spent watching IPL non-stop with these ads interspersed. Will conversion for these ads mean taking us all on a free guilt-trip?
D. Economics
Nothing interesting here either!
E. Sports
What an IPL this is turning out to be! Indian youngsters are upping the ante. Is it the lack of the hooraying or boohooing crowds that’s helping them hold their nerves, thus showcasing a superlative performance? By the end of two weeks of a high-scoring IPL, the unexpected has happened - RCB in the top half of the table and CSK in the bottom half. RCB has found the right balance, but they need to be consistent hereon. Consistency is one that they have always floundered in (except that brilliant 2016 season).
And what is going on in CSK? Without Raina, they seem to have lost their marbles. There is not one decent replacement for Kedar Jadhav who has all of one 30+ score since the 2018 IPL. To be fair to him, he was injured for the entire 2018 season then after hitting those winning runs against MI. The lone 30+ score also came against MI in 2019 where CSK lost miserably by 37 runs. Kedar scored 58 runs @ 107 SR in that knock. So, Kedar’s contribution has mainly been fielding for the team and, no surprises here, he is 35 years old. CSK, known for its astute signings, have lost their way. They need to learn a thing or two from the analytics backed recruitment of MI. If not, CSK is following the infamous footsteps of whom they have always been compared to – Manchester United.
F. eCommerce
Nothing interesting here!
G. Behaviour
A room full of women, Jithin Emmanuel Jacob, Medium
Men have got to learn a thing or two about gender equality. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it helps us to be self-aware. In my opinion, being self-aware is just one final step away from evolution. And what is better than doing the right thing? Doing the right thing knowing why you are doing it. This article was shared by Akash Basak and written by Jithin Emmaneul Jacob. Jithin has captured his experience at IIM Kozhikode and how it helped him view a male-dominated boardroom – crassly confident and lacking grace. Quite an interesting read!
H. Books & Cinema
I completed the beautiful book Rhododendrons in the Mist by Ruskin Bond. Was floored by its simplicity. I am more of a beach person than a hill person. But this book compels one to take off to some hill station to have some quietness in life. Oh, to be lost in thoughts while on the hills!
I have just about completed Irresistible by Adam Alter. I have been meaning to read this book for quite some time because of the premise – the rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked. The book neatly layers down the different motivations for any addiction. Given the depth of behavioural addiction as a subject, Adam Alter has done a phenomenal job of dumbing it down for the reader. Despite the topic being a heavily researched academic subject, the book is a breezy read. It is a peek into our own selves to look for our triggers, behaviours and motivations.
To top up Irresistible, I caught up with The Social Dilemma on Netflix. It feels like a condensed version of Irresistible. If you have watched The Social Dilemma and liked it, I urge you to pick up Irresistible. One grouse I have against The Social Dilemma is how they have not covered anything on Amazon. Seems like a big miss there!
With that, we wrap up this week's musing.
Do share your list of interesting articles that you came across.
And that's word no. 1851!
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