My wife and I recently went to see a movie that’s generating hype, hype and more hype as “the defining movie of our time.” Expecting some sort of religious experience, we were both really excited to see it.

My review? I liked it. It was fine. But absent was the choir of angels to herald the arrival of my eureka moment.

Denied my life-altering epiphany, I felt compelled to tell everyone not to expect too much from this movie. And right in my hand was my iPhone with its arsenal of apps beckoning to have me do just that.

I resisted the urge, just barely.

A week later we set some sort of “married-couples-with-young-kids” record by seeing another non-animated movie. This time it was a comedy that had received its fair share of publicity, positive reviews and award nominations, but had not been promoted in such grandiose terms.

We loved it. Once again, I really wanted to share that experience with friends. My wife did too – heck, she was on Facebook before we even left the theatre.

If businesses learned anything over the past year, it’s that people are more skeptical than ever and cranky enough to do something about promises going undelivered.

Over-hype may pay off initially with a few extra sales (and maybe even a few Golden Globes), but the masses will surely slap you back to reality — and are empowered to do so — if you don’t meet their expectations and even if your product is pretty darn good.

Set the appropriate expectations, and you’ll win fans that will happily advocate on your behalf.

Earning advocacy still happens over time, but gains momentum as interactions speed up with the use of technology and the lowering of thresholds to share information. Many of your customers are becoming more willing to share experiences – personal and professional – with their community of family, friends and business contacts.

This time, they might be telling others to hold the popcorn. Disappoint them again, and they’ll be telling others to hold a boycott, rally, referendum, emergency shareholders meeting, etc.

You get it. It’s a dangerous, butter-flavored slippery slope.