The fly in the ointment

Did you know that our brains remember bad news much better than joyful events? This effect is known as negativity bias. If you think back to evolution, it's quite understandable – because if you don't quickly learn that a hungry saber-toothed tiger is not good news, you'll hardly have another chance to philosophize about the beauty of life. So far, so comprehensible.*

Unfortunately, this means that bad news sells better - and therefore, the focus of all reporting is on negative news. This makes it so that you can only watch the Tagesschau (German news program) if you are emotionally stable – and that out of a list of one hundred good points, you only remember the three bad ones.

That's sad. And for us entrepreneurs, sometimes super frustrating. Let's take, for example, the last review we received on Google on the occasion of the Weyherer Wein Panorama. The only review, by the way, out of over 2,000 visitors.

Here it is in full:

3 Stars

"The Panorama Wine Festival/Wine Hike is really beautiful and a true culinary delight! Both the wine and the food were excellent! But unfortunately, everything good here had a very bad end! The specially provided shuttle service (line 500) simply drove past the "Altes Rathaus" (Old Town Hall) stop, even though we had been there 5 minutes earlier and had been waiting. Too bad, the additional hour of waiting significantly spoiled our beautiful day! That's why unfortunately only three stars, otherwise it would have been five!"

Seriously now? Six winemakers celebrated the festival together, the bus was centrally organized, everyone put an incredible amount of time, effort, and money into the event to make it a success... and then an hour of waiting (which could have been charmingly bridged) results in three stars being slammed on the page of a single winery.

Perhaps you're smiling and thinking that we should relax a little. After all, it's just one review out of over 200. But actually, such reviews hit us right in the heart. Because not only do other people quickly look at the overall result, but artificial intelligence also evaluates the stars. In an age where visibility and sustainable reviews are crucial, you can really bite into the table edge out of frustration.

Perhaps it's also the fear of too much praise? A customer once told us to our face: "No, I won't write you a good review. Then you won't be an insider tip anymore and will just become incredibly expensive. I'll keep that information to myself." We were speechless for a moment.

Because the fairy tale of the rich entrepreneur with his relaxed life in the vineyard is exactly that – a fairy tale. We work hard, around the clock. We constantly educate ourselves, challenge ourselves, jump between the cellar, vineyard, wine tavern, and computer, invest with passion, struggle with bureaucracy and volatile markets (not to mention politics)... and we are as happy as a clam when we receive a good review. Because they are so much more important than you might think.

That's why, on this occasion, we want to tell you today: Give yourselves compliments! Say positive things to yourselves! Surprise your partners, friends, children, and colleagues... because we all know how uplifting unexpected praise can be. And if you also want to say a few positive words about us and our wines, don't hold back! It doesn't always have to be Google – an email, a letter, a review of our wines directly on our website also pleases us... the main thing is feedback! It might sound dramatic, but it's true: We crave direct exchange.

Photo: Senior Boss Otmar in a great mood at the Weyherer Wein Panorama, Photo credit Richard Zinken

And to put our good advice into practice immediately (anyone can preach, after all): At this point, we would like to compliment you: Without direct contact with you, our lives would only be half as beautiful. And for every two or three negative ones, there are truly hundreds who give us positive feedback, encourage us, smile at us, and give us courage. Which brings us back to negativity bias. ;-)

So let's focus together on the good and beautiful. There's so much of it!

Your deliberately positive-minded Counts

* Here is the scientific source: Our brain is evolutionarily programmed to give more weight to negative experiences than positive ones – a phenomenon known as negativity bias, which is genetically and neurobiologically embedded (e.g., Rozin & Royzman, 2001; Review of General Psychology).