Assignment 5-2, part one.

QUESTION: In many popular T.V. shows, a person is "voted off" or rejected in some way each week (The Apprentice, Survivor, American Idol, The Batchelor, etc). To what extent can you argue that this tendency is a symptom of society's adoption of a "quick fix" to solve a problem?

ANSWER: As a society, we have moved more and more towards “instant gratification”. The implementation of VRU (voice recognition unit) answering services, instant messaging services, and e-mail communication for our service providers has dramatically changed the landscape of business. It seems that the “quick fix” portrayed by reality shows is actually a true way of life for American society.

There are positives and negatives to this phenomenon. The positive aspect is the heightened expectations of the consumer, and in turn the faster pace of customer service. If a customer expects “right now” service and doesn’t receive it, than the slighted customer will tell several people (or more, through the advent of websites such as MySpace and Blogger).

Conversely, there are potential negatives to the situation as well. Since customers are conditioned to immediate service, there can be anger expressed when a problem’s resolution can take longer than expected. For instance, I am an officer with a mortgage servicing corporation. If a customer needs an answer to a dispute with their mortgage payment, it can take 45 days (or more) to get the correct answer. The reason for this is that most (if not all) of our dispute resolutions revolve around having a signed copy of their mortgage note in front of us when answering questions … and this may have to be retrieved from a local courthouse. Not to mention the fact that once the documents have been received, that’s when the research really begins. As a manager, I teach my analysts to always give the right answer – rather than the quick one – and sometimes this takes a little longer than customers expect.

Reality shows have definitely shaped society’s view on problem resolution … after all, most issues can’t be resolved within a half-hour time block (with commercials, of course).