Have you ever wondered why companies exhibit despite a negative return on investment? 🤔

Cause, according to a study by Display Wizard, 54% of exhibitors have difficulties in measuring their trade show ROI.

More than 1 out of 2, goodbye Pareto law. 👋

Are they crazy?

Do they HAVE TO spend their budget?

Is the owner of the budget, the marketing department for example, afraid of losing it if it’s not spent?

Or do they gaslight themselves talking about “brand awareness” and other marketing lingo no one cares to challenge anymore? 🤨

Could be all of them.

It could also be a simple, yet difficult to control, cognitive bias called irrational escalation.

What is irrational escalation

What it does? It “pushes” you to continue what you were doing despite negative outcomes because it is in line with past decisions and actions. 🔄

Seen this somewhere? Economists and behavioral scientists use a related term, sunk-cost fallacy, in sociology, irrational escalation of commitment or commitment bias describe similar behaviors.

When you’ve put one more coin in the slot machine to “win back your losses”? 💸

Same phenomenon.

It is widespread and is not only linked to casino addicts. From the Vietnam war to SoftBank Group’s spending billions in an investment rescue package for WeWork during 2019 (now officially bankrupt) or the construction of Berlin Brandenburg Airport, described as “too expensive to fail”…

And it can, you’ve guessed it, affect your choices of continuing to exhibit despite negative returns or absence of positive ones. Wannamaker said it “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Do you know if the money you spend on the trade show is not wasted either? 🤷‍♂️

And if on top of that the decision is collective, group think, a phenomenon made to keep the group intact will come into play and push the group into keeping with the original decision.

How to avoid falling for the craze?

The solution? Here are 2. ✌️

Have non-cohesive members in your teams, also called assholes.

The group’s potential for a decreased escalation is higher with them, paradoxical, right? Or face the facts, but for that, you might need a proper “fact check” or reality check. A synonym for that is KPIs.

This is what a professional trade show expert can bring you, challenging a status quo that is not satisfying. In other terms, bring someone in to tell you that “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”

Now, that being said, do you know what is the number one reason companies explicitly say why they exhibit? Shoot a comment with the question or a DM if you’re shy, you might be surprised at the answer… 🤔💡