Four seconds - that's all you get

According to psychologist Reidan Nadler, and printed in this week’s Globe and Mail, a first impression is created after just four seconds of interaction, with another four minutes needed to change that initial impression.

One, two, three, four. That's all it takes to decide if you trust a doctor, believe a PR flack, or want to purchase from a salesman.

Granted we don't know if this applies to products and companies as well as individuals, but for arguments sake let's say it does. This means that a company like Nike only has four seconds in its first interaction with a potential client, be that through a sponsored athlete, a store visit, a television ad, or a magazine article, to showcase why it deserves the purchaser’s money.

If the first four seconds goes well then the next four minutes can hopefully be spent reinforcing that initial thought and communicating the next message, or a call to action. If not, a lot of hard work needs to be done to repair such a quick judgement.

In a first impression, you can't rely on word of mouth or past interactions, this means packaging, appearance, and communication, the hallmarks of merchandising as well as human interaction, become all the more important.