---
id: "quote-capability-demo-habit-default"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Habit Playbook"]
tags: ["strategy", "metrics"]
related: ["concept-habit-moat", "concept-capability-competition"]
speaker: "Yuanyuan Gina Cui, Patrick van Esch and Jan Kietzmann"
speakers: ["Yuanyuan Gina Cui", "Patrick van Esch", "Jan Kietzmann"]
sources: ["attention"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-attention"
originDay: 4
articleStem: "hbr-tier2-07-chinese-ai-firms-habits"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/lessons-from-chinese-ai-firms-on-owning-customers-habits"
sourceTitle: "Lessons from Chinese AI Firms on Owning Customers’ Habits"
---
# Capability earns the demo, habit earns the default

## Quote — "Capability earns the demo. Habit earns the default."

> "Capability earns the demo. Habit earns the default."

— jointly attributed to [[entity-yuanyuan-gina-cui]], [[entity-patrick-van-esch]], and [[entity-jan-kietzmann]]

**Context:** The single most compact statement of the whole thesis — the pivot from [[concept-capability-competition]] to the [[concept-habit-moat]] and the [[framework-habit-playbook]].