Expectations change how the same experience feels.
More quotesThe royalty statement puts £150 beside £0.005. One line is a radio play heard by millions; the other is one person’s stream.
The comparison changes once both figures use the same unit. One distributes a fixed event to millions; the other records one person’s action. Businesses abuse mismatched units constantly. A shop compares one service priced monthly with another priced annually. A supplier quotes per user against a competitor quoting per transaction. A campaign celebrates cheap impressions beside another channel’s completed sales. Every figure may be accurate. The comparison remains crap.
Choose the unit attached to the decision: per listener, successful delivery, resolved case or year of use. Show scale and total value as well, because unit economics can conceal a small overall market or unequal distribution. Then state what the unit leaves out. The excerpt settles neither every artist’s earnings nor how revenue should be divided. It demonstrates something narrower and useful: a dramatic difference can shrink or reverse when the denominator changes.
The royalty statement still contains £150 and £0.005. Beside each, somebody adds the audience count.
Do the same with a support contract: one figure per customer, another per resolved case. The apparently cheaper provider changes depending on which unit matches the work. Keep both totals visible; choose only after the denominator is explicit.