If nothing bad has happened yet, people tend to assume it won’t. Here’s how to get around that.

I’ve written about status quo biases before, but there’s a cousin that may be even more dangerous for product makers:

Normalcy bias.

It’s the instinct to believe that because things are fine today, they will stay fine tomorrow.

Hmmm, no flood last year.

No break-ins on OUR street.

No ransomware on our network. So why invest?

Until something happens.

After a cyberattack, companies care deeply about backups.

After a neighborhood break-in, doorbell cameras show up on every house.

The real event hitting home totally blows up perception of risk, even if nothing changed on a larger scale.

This is human.

In 2024 and 2025, ransomware attacks continued climbing, with law enforcement agencies warning about the growth of “ransomware-as-a-service” groups selling attack kits to help cybercrime newbies become affiliates.

At the same time, consumer demand for home security devices like Ring video doorbells and smart cameras has expanded in waves, as crime stories circulate locally.

Risk feels abstract, until it hits close to home.

If you sell a security device, don’t rely on generalized or latent fear.

Do like Ring with its Neighbours app, and show recent incidents in the buyer’s own area. If you sell cloud backup, quantify the rise in ransomware and explain how easily small businesses become targets.

Show the danger as clear and present, to borrow from the Harrison Ford movie (that borrowed from a US legal test).

The job is not to brew panic or fear-monger. But if you’re trying to help people stay out of trouble, it’s your responsibility to interrupt their natural human complacency.

Nobody’s gonna buy protection because they love it. They’ll buy it when the cost of inaction becomes really vivid, and they open their eyes (and put aside their natural biases) to grasp the danger they’re in.

Normalcy bias delays that moment.

Your marketing has to bring it forward: ethically, concretely, and with proof that your solution works when a normal day suddenly isn’t.

What normalcy biases of your own are you affected by?

Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as product marketing consultants at Graphos Product, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.