The "Diderot effect", associated with French philosopher, critic, and writer from the 18th century, Denis Diderot, is a social psychological phenomenon in which, related to consumption, customers will seek synchronization for the products they buy or receive as gifts, leading to excessive spending. From a certain perspective, for football in particular and Vietnamese sports in general to develop economically, exploiting this effect is also a suggestion.
For example, when a club operates more professionally, has a more neat stadium, owns a more quality squad... they not only create results on the field but inadvertently ask the rest about the standing position and whether they accept being behind or "out of sync"?
Vietnamese football has touched such moments, but those bright spots stand alone, not enough to create an effect. Therefore, the problem is not yet turning bright spots into standards. The Diderot effect, if applied to sports, does not have to do everything at once.
It can start by choosing the right point to raise the standard to a sufficiently high level. The tournament operates with higher quality, the club operates transparently and professionally, and the youth training center follows the appropriate and modern thinking orientation. When that point is good enough, pressure will spread on its own. Sponsors and audiences will compare. Players will also choose a better place to develop. And the rest, if they do not want to fall behind, will be forced to change.
Or going into more detail into a team, a club can "put" in the minds of fans with a quality gift, so that from there they will find ways to synchronize with other products related to the team.
Of course, the downside always exists. If upgrading deviates, for example, only investing in stars and neglecting the foundation, then that difference will reveal gaps. Then, the new shirt does not pull the system up, but clarifies the oldness of the rest.
Vietnamese sports are at a familiar crossroads. There is enough experience, enough lessons, but there is not a clear enough standard to stick to. In that context, the Diderot effect is not a consumer story, but a development suggestion.
