Is buying software an emotional experience?

I've spent time in software development as well as implementing software for a variety of business functions. One of the things that I always found strange was that most technical people that I worked with, had their favourite software product. Trying to implement new software was always a struggle. One person wanted to use his favourite product, and another wanted a different product. It had nothing to do with requirements, it had to do with experience. People wanted to use what they were comfortable with.

I've seen this many times, and I also understand it. When I believe that I can get the job done using one software product, I have no interest in trying another. As a past software developer and as a business person who has repurposed many software products, I also know that most software today is flexible enugh to do many jobs, if you can define what you want, you can probably do it.

When there is no current software product, and something new must be purchased, I have a logical approach that I take. First define the goal. The define the process that will reach that goal. Then identify whether a software product will help the process to meet that goal. I know this works and have used it many times.

Recently, I have seen business owners look for solutions by assessing website information on various software products (not a problem, it is one of the steps). Then they get comfortable with a software product, without having defined their goal or understood whether the software will help them. Since I am someone who likes a structured approach, I understand why they feel more comfortable (they have spent some time learning about it).

What confuses me is that the level of comfort becomes a decision point. They think the only way to learn more and get results is to buy it. And often nothing can change their minds.

The opposite side is also true. When someone has a bad experience with a software product, there is often nothing that you can do to show them how they can get all or most of what they need from their current software. The decision has been made, even though the costs of installing new software may be 5-10 times of keeping the one that they already have.

Maybe, I'm wrong. Maybe buying software is an emotional experience.