Taking a break from Wicked Wednesday today to discuss something else...
Long long ago in another life, I was a psychology major in college. (Yeah, yeah... let the jokes commence - later.) And something struck me the other day.
Ever heard of classical conditioning? You know, Pavlov and his whole drooling dog shtick? That. Anyway, part of it has to do with intermittent reward or punishment and, if I remember correctly, how when the reward or punishment isn't consistent it can actually increase the behavior. (After a certain time of being consistent, that is.) Think of it as a child wants a candy bar at the store, and you say no, so he screams and you give it to him. The next time maybe you say no three times but still give in and give him the candy bar. The next time he will scream his fool head off until you give in. If you stay strong through, you can decrease the behavior until it becomes intermittent. But the one time you give in, that behavior comes back stronger than before.
That's a simplification, but you get the gist. And I have a point. Here it is...
When I first launched Dying Embers for sale, I checked my sales data constantly and I was rewarded consistently. Soon, the rewards (sales) became inconsistent, but I still checked the data constantly. Over this last week, the rewards dropped off entirely and thus, my checking the data dropped off to once a day. (Cuz really who needs that depressing data staring at you throughout the day?) Then I checked my data yesterday morning, and I had a sale! And the constant checking behavior swooped right back. :eyeroll:
Like Pavlov's dog, there I was drooling away, waiting for my next reward.
Does any of this ring a bell? :smirk:
Seriously, though, ever experience this? What's ringing your bell?
Thank you for that laugh this morning. Its dull and overcast outside and I'm at work (0843), but I needed that laugh. Seriously though, I'm miffed with Amazon UK. I told you I ordered DE in print, well they sent me an email on Friday 13th to say it was shipped and on Monday 16th they sent another email to say that they'd cancelled the order because they were unable to deliver. Huh? I use my work address for deliveries because there's always someone here during the week and I know I was in on the 16th so how were they not able to deliver, and why didn't they try again on Tuesday? Anyway, I've had to wait for payday, but will now order again and see what they do. Not that this has anything to do with Pavlov!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I could give you a chuckle this morning, Fran, but I'm so sorry that happened. I sent an email through to Createspace support to see if they have any idea what the problem is. I may contact you through email if they need more information about your order. And always, feel free to email me with stuff like this. :hugs:
DeleteI don't have a tab for Amazon Reports open in my browser. No siree, not me... *eyeroll* I tell myself that it's for determining viability of various marketing strategies...even if I'm not actively marketing...
ReplyDeleteLOL, nooo, not you. And yes, it's for marketing purposes. Certainly. ;o)
DeleteROFL! I'm the same way. I'm trying to stay out of my Createspace stats (95% of my sales come through CS), but every time I get a sale, I'm back to checking several times a day.
ReplyDeleteWishing you many, many new orders!
Ah, so you are Pavlov's Writer, too, Deb. May your bells ring daily.
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