In the ultra-running world, where endurance plays second fiddle only to nutrition, recent revelations about the accuracy of sports nutrition labels have sent shockwaves through the community. Shockwaves, I am telling you. I’ve written about running shoes and office hours, but the part of running I enjoy the most is nutrition and hydration. I enjoy the amount of science that goes into it and how closely you need to follow it (and, of course, discuss it until my interlocutor’s ears bleed).
Interesting stuff! Given the short feedback loop, it makes sense that long distance runners are very data driven. I would guess that Liability varies a lot across verticals where customers may 1/ place greater trust in their chosen brand than in the relevant regulator (probably due to preconceived notions), 2/ be less obsessive about fraud related discoveries and would simply remain biased towards the latest marketing content they were exposed to. An extreme case of this is of course politics where you can say whatever you want. But I would imagine other verticals would be similar.
When learning the truth requires too much work and nuance, customers may just give up and trust their gut.
Thanks for this great article. Eye opening, especially for an ultra runner like you as well.
So, if brand was indeed genuine and able to stand by a statement like “I will give $20,000 to whoever can prove that my label is wrong” > could this force for more transparency? And get others to “clean up” their labels and at least stop this fraud (that’s behind deception!)?
Interesting stuff! Given the short feedback loop, it makes sense that long distance runners are very data driven. I would guess that Liability varies a lot across verticals where customers may 1/ place greater trust in their chosen brand than in the relevant regulator (probably due to preconceived notions), 2/ be less obsessive about fraud related discoveries and would simply remain biased towards the latest marketing content they were exposed to. An extreme case of this is of course politics where you can say whatever you want. But I would imagine other verticals would be similar.
When learning the truth requires too much work and nuance, customers may just give up and trust their gut.
Excellent point. I think there are many brands that have more trust than government, at least in the US (not sure in europe).
Thanks for this great article. Eye opening, especially for an ultra runner like you as well.
So, if brand was indeed genuine and able to stand by a statement like “I will give $20,000 to whoever can prove that my label is wrong” > could this force for more transparency? And get others to “clean up” their labels and at least stop this fraud (that’s behind deception!)?
I love this idea. The question is whether they trust their own quality control.