---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: can only express a likelihood of purchase…"
description: "\"“can only express a likelihood of purchase in probabilistic terms. Thus”\" — Harvard Business School Press"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/harvard-business-school-press_quote_can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchas_1474994.jpg"
---

#  can only express a likelihood of purchase in probabilistic…

![“can only express a likelihood of purchase in probabilistic terms. Thus” quote by Harvard Business School Press](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/harvard-business-school-press_quote_can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchas_1474994.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/harvard-business-school-press_quote_can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchas_1474994.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/harvard-business-school-press_quote_can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchas_1474994.jpg)

> ““can only express a likelihood of purchase in probabilistic terms. Thus””

Harvard Business School Press

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Purchase intent is best expressed using probability, not certainty.

**In simple terms:** Use probabilities for buying likelihood.

Key Takeaway

Quantify purchase likelihood.

Themes

marketing probability decision‑making

Mood

analytical pragmatic

Type

technical educational

When to use this quote

- sales forecasts
- ad campaign planning
- inventory management

Key Concepts

statistical modeling consumer behavior

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you improve probability estimates?
- What risks arise from over‑confidence?

A Different Perspective

Probabilities can be misinterpreted.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [“considering that alternative outcomes could have taken place, that the world could have been different, is the core of probabilistic thinking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/considering-that-alternative-outcomes-could-have-taken-place-that-the/)

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/)

> [ “Baseball is a soap opera that lends itself to probabilistic thinking. \[Dick Cramer\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/baseball-is-a-soap-opera-that-lends-itself-to-probabilistic-thinking/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“That story had at its core a discussion of my fundamental view that nothing in life is certain and that, consequently, all decisions are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-rubin/that-story-had-at-its-core-a-discussion-of-my-fundamental-view-that/)

Robert E. Rubin

> [Quantum mechanics broke the mold of the previous framework, classical mechanics, by establishing that the predictions of science are necessarily probabilistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/quantum-mechanics-broke-the-mold-of-the-previous-framework-classical/)

[Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/)

> [Investing is about making probabilistic decisions with limited information about an unknowable future. The variables are well known, as are the possible outcomes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/investing-is-about-making-probabilistic-decisions-with-limited/)

[Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/)

> [Investing is a probabilistic business. Every once in a while, it's sort of like you're throwing six-sided dice, and anything except a one or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-tilson/investing-is-a-probabilistic-business-every-once-in-a-while-it-s-sort/)

[Whitney Tilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-tilson/)

> [“There are errors in this book. I do not know where they are. If I did they wouldn't be there. But with close to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/there-are-errors-in-this-book-i-do-not-know-where-they-are-if-i-did/)

[Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/)

> [And we think that our citizens and yours would be very angry if they thought that we hadnt taken every possible step for prevention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-blunkett/and-we-think-that-our-citizens-and-yours-would-be-very-angry-if-they/)

[David Blunkett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-blunkett/)

> [The military profession, especially is the long-established great powers, is deeply pessimistic about the likelihood that people and countries will behave well under stress.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwynne-dyer/the-military-profession-especially-is-the-long-established-great/)

[Gwynne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwynne-dyer/)

> [...The likelihood of treatment (of any one patient) increases with the length of time since the origin of the disease. ...Those cases in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hardin-b-jones/the-likelihood-of-treatment-of-any-one-patient-increases-with-the/)

[Hardin B. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hardin-b-jones/)

> [Smart tech investor thinks about: a) future product roadmap, b) bottoms-up market size &amp; growth, c) talent and skill of team. Essentially you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andreessen/smart-tech-investor-thinks-about-a-future-product-roadmap-b-bottoms/)

[Marc Andreessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andreessen/)

> [Role modeling is the most basic responsibility of parents. Parents are handing life's scripts to their children, scripts that in all likelihood will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/role-modeling-is-the-most-basic-responsibility-of-parents-parents-are/)

[Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/)

> [It is false to say that what we don’t know can’t hurt us, especially when it comes to the Bible. If ever there were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-jr/it-is-false-to-say-that-what-we-don-t-know-can-t-hurt-us-especially/)

[R. C. Sproul, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-jr/)

> [ \[We need to \] select immigrants based on their likelihood of success in U.S. society and their ability to be financially self- sufficient. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-to-select-immigrants-based-on-their-likelihood-of-success-in/)

[Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/)

> [There's more likelihood of Ian Paisley being the next pope, than of me agreeing to a fix or a stitch-up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhodri-morgan/there-s-more-likelihood-of-ian-paisley-being-the-next-pope-than-of-me/)

Rhodri Morgan

## More by Harvard Business School Press

> [“Executives are doers; they execute. Knowledge is useless to executives until it has been translated into deeds. But before springing into action, the executive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/executives-are-doers-they-execute-knowledge-is-useless-to-executives/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“The use of “war games” is a powerful antidote to the lack of thinking about competitors’ reactions to proposed moves. 11.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/the-use-of-war-games-is-a-powerful-antidote-to-the-lack-of-thinking/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“If thinking is an intellectual response to a problem, then the absence of a problem leads to the absence of thinking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/if-thinking-is-an-intellectual-response-to-a-problem-then-the-absence/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“Business-unit managers should remain involved in corporate-level strategy planning that affects their units. But a focus on issues rather than business units better aligns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/business-unit-managers-should-remain-involved-in-corporate-level/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“More than anything else, this disconnect—between the way planning works and the way decision making happens—explains the frustration, if not outright antipathy, most executives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/more-than-anything-else-this-disconnect-between-the-way-planning/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“Uhlaner put in place a Growth and Performance Planning Process that starts with agreement by Ballmer’s leadership team on a set of strategic themes—major…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/uhlaner-put-in-place-a-growth-and-performance-planning-process-that/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“Stockdale Paradox This finding is named after Admiral James Stockdale, winner of the Medal of Honor, who survived seven years in a Vietcong POW…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/stockdale-paradox-this-finding-is-named-after-admiral-james-stockdale/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“Management must think of itself not as producing products but as providing customer-creating value satisfactions. It must push this idea (and everything it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/management-must-think-of-itself-not-as-producing-products-but-as/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“Worried that you’re not a born leader? That you lack charisma, the right talents, or some other secret ingredient? No need: leadership isn’t about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/worried-that-you-re-not-a-born-leader-that-you-lack-charisma-the/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“Is that not what consumer research is for—to find out before the fact what is going to happen? The answer is that Detroit never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/is-that-not-what-consumer-research-is-for-to-find-out-before-the-fact/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“By embracing decision-focused planning, companies will almost certainly find that the quantity and quality of their decisions will improve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/by-embracing-decision-focused-planning-companies-will-almost/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“they’ve also changed the nature of top management’s discussions about strategy—from “review and approve” to “debate and decide,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/they-ve-also-changed-the-nature-of-top-management-s-discussions-about/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“When is the urgency rate high enough? From what I have seen, the answer is when about 75% of a company’s management is honestly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/when-is-the-urgency-rate-high-enough-from-what-i-have-seen-the-answer/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“In short, a customer feedback program should be viewed not as “market research” but as an operating management tool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/in-short-a-customer-feedback-program-should-be-viewed-not-as-market/)

Harvard Business School Press

> [“Executives also owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to tolerate nonperforming individuals in important jobs. It may not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/executives-also-owe-it-to-the-organization-and-to-their-fellow/)

Harvard Business School Press

Explore all 67 Harvard Business School Press quotes

## More Likelihood quotes

> [There's more likelihood of Ian Paisley being the next pope, than of me agreeing to a fix or a stitch-up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhodri-morgan/there-s-more-likelihood-of-ian-paisley-being-the-next-pope-than-of-me/)

Rhodri Morgan

> [ \[We need to \] select immigrants based on their likelihood of success in U.S. society and their ability to be financially self- sufficient. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-to-select-immigrants-based-on-their-likelihood-of-success-in/)

[Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/)

> [It is false to say that what we don’t know can’t hurt us, especially when it comes to the Bible. If ever there were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-jr/it-is-false-to-say-that-what-we-don-t-know-can-t-hurt-us-especially/)

[R. C. Sproul, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-jr/)

> [Role modeling is the most basic responsibility of parents. Parents are handing life's scripts to their children, scripts that in all likelihood will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/role-modeling-is-the-most-basic-responsibility-of-parents-parents-are/)

[Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/)

> [Smart tech investor thinks about: a) future product roadmap, b) bottoms-up market size &amp; growth, c) talent and skill of team. Essentially you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andreessen/smart-tech-investor-thinks-about-a-future-product-roadmap-b-bottoms/)

[Marc Andreessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andreessen/)

> [...The likelihood of treatment (of any one patient) increases with the length of time since the origin of the disease. ...Those cases in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hardin-b-jones/the-likelihood-of-treatment-of-any-one-patient-increases-with-the/)

[Hardin B. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hardin-b-jones/)

> [The military profession, especially is the long-established great powers, is deeply pessimistic about the likelihood that people and countries will behave well under stress.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwynne-dyer/the-military-profession-especially-is-the-long-established-great/)

[Gwynne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwynne-dyer/)

> [And we think that our citizens and yours would be very angry if they thought that we hadnt taken every possible step for prevention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-blunkett/and-we-think-that-our-citizens-and-yours-would-be-very-angry-if-they/)

[David Blunkett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-blunkett/)

> [Past performance speaks a tremendous amount about one's ability and likelihood for success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-spitz/past-performance-speaks-a-tremendous-amount-about-one-s-ability-and/)

[Mark Spitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-spitz/)

> [We know that if we can prevent kids from trying drugs in their teenage years, we dramatically reduce the likelihood that they will go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-walters/we-know-that-if-we-can-prevent-kids-from-trying-drugs-in-their/)

[John Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-walters/)

> [I have watched patients stand and gaze longingly toward the city they in all likelihood will never enter again. It means liberty and life;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-bly/i-have-watched-patients-stand-and-gaze-longingly-toward-the-city-they/)

[Nellie Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-bly/)

> [What can we surmise about the likelihood of someone's being caring and generous, loving and helpful, just from knowing that they are a believer?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/what-can-we-surmise-about-the-likelihood-of-someone-s-being-caring/)

[Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/)

> [If you know how to value businesses, it's crazy to own 50 stocks or 40 stocks or 30 stocks, probably because there aren't that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/if-you-know-how-to-value-businesses-it-s-crazy-to-own-50-stocks-or-40/)

[Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/)

> [I like Diaspora because it's audacious, it's driven by passion, and it's very, very hard to do. After all, who in their right mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-battelle/i-like-diaspora-because-it-s-audacious-it-s-driven-by-passion-and-it/)

[John Battelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-battelle/)

> [There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom. The glib supposition of utilizing atomic energy when our coal has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-andrews-millikan/there-is-no-likelihood-man-can-ever-tap-the-power-of-the-atom-the/)

[Robert Andrews Millikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-andrews-millikan/)

Browse all 185 Likelihood quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“can only express a likelihood of purchase in probabilistic terms. Thus”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Harvard Business School Press"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchase-in-probabilistic-terms-thus/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Likelihood"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchase-in-probabilistic-terms-thus/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/harvard-business-school-press_quote_can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchas_1474994.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/harvard-business-school-press_quote_can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchas_1474994.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/harvard-business-school-press_quote_can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchas_1474994.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“can only express a likelihood of purchase in probabilistic terms. Thus” — Harvard Business School Press",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Harvard Business School Press",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvard-business-school-press/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“can only express a likelihood of...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchase-in-probabilistic-terms-thus/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-school-press/can-only-express-a-likelihood-of-purchase-in-probabilistic-terms-thus/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
