What's keeping you there?

  I came across an article that was talking about why consumers stay with the same bank, even though

they are unhappy with it. They said it was inertia, and define it as "the dead-weight pull that dampens decisiveness, and masquerades, to anyone foolish enough to interpret it this way, as customer loyalty."

The book describes it as the lack of motivation to consider alternatives. I feel like the bank is similar to many services or products people buy. They will complain about it, say they won't buy it again or wouldn't recommend it, yet they still continue to use the same product or service. Consumers will buy the products out of habit because they have low involvement with the products.

So is it a marketers responsibility to help consumers overcome this inertia and switch products? Tom Markiewicz illustrates how marketers need to give consumers a reason to switch. He uses the example of cable, he says his company is doing just enough to keep him as a customer. Yet, the satellite companies have not made a good enough case for him to go through the hassle of switching.

He also advises that companies answer the following questions when determining their marketing plan: "What aspects of switching to your service does the customer most worry about? Are we really providing value here to the customer? Are we making a good case for our product to overcome this customer inertia?"

I am guilty of staying with a sub-par product because I do not want to look for an alternative. Consumer inertia is an interesting topic and can be hard to overcome for both consumers and marketers.