The Gap That's Killing Your Conversion Rates (And How to Close It)
The Problem:
You launched with confidence. Great creative, solid budget, all the right channels. Three weeks later, the numbers are...fine. Not great. Just fine. What happened?
You optimized for behavior without understanding what drives it. You asked people to click, buy, sign up, and comply. But you didn't find out what they actually care about, and what drives them. That would have been a better place to start.
The gap between what you're offering and what people actually value is killing your numbers. A comprehensive study in the Journal of Business Ethics titled "Sharing Vocabularies: Towards Horizontal Alignment of Values-Driven Business Functions" examined exactly this disconnect. When organizations align their initiatives with what people truly value, the study found measurable improvements in conversion, adoption, retention, and team performance. The data is clear: close the values gap, and the numbers move.
The Hack:
Run a "values match audit" on anything that matters. Pick your top three current initiatives, and for each one, write down:
What do you think your audience cares about most
What your messaging and features actually point to
The gap between those two things
Where the gap is wide, you're asking people to care about something that doesn't matter to them. That's why conversions are soft, adoption is slow, and retention drops off. Close the gap, and four things happen fast:
Conversion rises. People say yes because the offer feels like it was built for them. Not for a demographic stereotype. For them.
Adoption accelerates. New tools and changes land smoothly because they align with what people already value.
Retention improves. Customers and employees stick around when the relationship goes deeper than perks and price points.
Internal friction drops. Teams stop arguing about tactics when they see what matters most.
Want to measure the gap before you fix it? That's exactly what we do at The Valuegraphics Research Company. We'll show you the precise values that match those that predict whether people will say yes or walk away. No guessing required.
Values are the answer. Let’s put them to work.