When I was in training to become a flight instructor we had to learn some applied psychology. Two elements of this realm seemed to form opposite ends of the same cigar, so I\u2019m going to slouch in my beach chair today and ponder this stuff. <\/p>\n
At one end was the \u201claw of primacy.\u201d This referred to the deep impression created by the first exposure to something. That\u2019s no surprise. The power of first impressions is so well-known that it\u2019s clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n
At the other end was the \u201claw of recency.\u201d This, as the name suggests, meant that something learned more recently was more apt to be recalled. I don\u2019t know if there are any clich\u00e9s linked to this, but we all know that fresh information comes to mind better than the stale stuff does. Life is, among other things, a long struggle of constantly reviewing things, at least if you\u2019re in a challenging profession. <\/p>\n
In summary, both first impressions and last impressions play powerful roles in our learning. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been trying to conjure up a single case that satisfies both of these factors. I think my college days can be mined for an example.<\/p>\n
When I was in college some energetic marketeer gave us samples of various products, including, notably, a dishwashing detergent. I was living in the dorms at the time and didn\u2019t even have a kitchen. Paradoxically enough, this redounded to the advantage of the dish detergent. Since I had no kitchen, and since I therefore had never bought dish detergent before, the sample was the first time I had actually owned any of the stuff. Looking for primacy? There it was. I\u2019d wash my coffee cup in the dorm\u2019s bathroom sink. <\/p>\n
Anyway, out of habit and a sense of gratitude, I bought that brand of dish detergent for well over a decade, at least on the rare occasions where I\u2019d actually go to a store to buy anything more than coffee and Skoal. <\/p>\n
Score one for the law of primacy. <\/p>\n
Alas, the law of recency began to overtake it. The halcyon days of having a bachelor\u2019s kitchen are as dim as the glow of the Big Bang, and only the residual radiation, ever fading, remains. My influence in the kitchen, or anything else of domestic or financial significance, is only nominal. What brand of dish detergent do we use? We use a brand that\u2019s different from my college brand (I feel like a traitor; but it wasn\u2019t my choice). The \u201cnew\u201d brand now has a tenure that\u2019s measured in decades. <\/p>\n
As for the old brand, it used to be the first name that came to mind if I heard a reference to dish detergent. The label, in fact, would flash in my mind\u2019s eye whenever I\u2019d consider the topic. Now, however, it has lost that status. The new brand is there now, even though I have no particular affinity for it, and even though I\u2019ve never put it in a shopping cart. It\u2019s at the top of the mental roster simply because it\u2019s what I\u2019ve seen in recent years. <\/p>\n
So score one for recency. Well, I guess. I don\u2019t really know if this is a good example or not, but it\u2019s the best I could do when trying to balance something against the primacy gig.<\/p>\n
With this in mind, I called one of my old dorm mates, someone who was given the same array of samples that I was. He doesn\u2019t remember the dish detergent at all. He does, however, remember a shampoo sample. Shampoo? I don\u2019t remember that, but I do remember the brand I took up to school with me. Apparently, then, the sample brand of shampoo never got a chance to dig its hooks of primacy into me like the dish detergent did.<\/p>\n
Where does all of this lead? I have no idea. <\/p>\n
But it does reinforce an old notion in tourism, where you want to ensure that your customers have a good first impression and a good final impression of their visit. If there\u2019s going to be a hiccup in things, it will hopefully occur somewhere in the middle, where it can be washed out by more favorable experiences at the primary and at the recent ends of the time line. <\/p>\n
Speaking of washed out, I have to go now. I\u2019m being told to stir myself from my chair so I can do the dishes. Primacy, recency, whatever: Some things never change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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