Loyalty is one of the most powerful forces in human nature.
But it can be broken, as anyone whose spouse has cheated on them knows.
Abandoning loyalty is painful. We avoid it even after it’s proven worth less. We defend it even when it’s proven worthless. Usually, we abandon it privately. Whoever or whatever abused our loyalty is often the last to know.
Getting and keeping loyalty is a big topic in business schools. So is getting it back. Not enough study is devoted to losing it. We just know it when it’s happened, when sales at Kmart, or Blackberry, fall off a cliff. When that happens, we usually look at Walmart, or Apple. We don’t study the loss of loyalty. In retrospect, it’s obvious.
While it’s happening, however, it’s not obvious. Loyalty dissipates slowly, then all at once.
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