New Books in Economics Maxim Sytch, "The Influence Economy: Decoding Supplier-Induced Demand" (Oxford UP, 2025)
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Nov 2, 2025 Maxim Sytch, an organizational scholar and author of The Influence Economy, delves into how consulting, marketing, and legal firms generate unnecessary demand. He explains supplier-induced demand and its detrimental effects on organizations, such as wasted resources and demotivated teams. The discussion touches on the impact of AI, the role of social influence in professional services, and the difficulty in detecting SID. Sytch also offers practical advice for clients to mitigate these risks, emphasizing the importance of in-house expertise.
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Experts Can Create Demand
- Supplier-induced demand (SID) occurs when experts shape buyers' needs rather than just respond to them.
- SID shifts the ownership of demand from buyers to sellers in complex, uncertain markets.
Uncertainty Widens The Expertise Gap
- High uncertainty makes buyers more receptive to expert influence and guidance.
- Complexity creates problem, action, and outcome uncertainty that professionals can exploit.
Commercial Logic Fuels Motion Over Outcomes
- Professional services shifted from a professional to a commercial logic focused on growth and billings.
- That cultural shift links visible action to perceived value and fuels SID.
