Marketing textbook, chapter 3

From brushing our teeth in the morning, to buying the daily newspaper at the newsagent, to the bedtime ritual: we don't decide everything anew every day - rather, we repeat behaviours from day to day without thinking about them. Scientific studies show that almost half of our daily routines/procedures are completely habitualised. We form habits to relieve our brain. This is why we often have good ideas while showering or going for a walk - habitualised activities that are carried out without thinking.

How do habits develop and how can they be used for marketing? A certain habitualised behaviour (e.g. pulling a smartphone out of a jacket pocket), which is triggered by corresponding key stimuli (e.g. listening to a WhatsApp ringtone), promises a reward (e.g. making social contact), which in turn drives the habitualised behaviour. Once a habit has been formed (e.g. a habitualised decision to buy a certain brand of detergent), it is activated by internal stimuli (remembering the fresh smell of laundry) or external stimuli (watching a commercial for the brand) - even if the reward is not received later. It is also difficult to change habits because the key stimuli trigger the behaviour automatically. If we do not perform the behaviour that our brain has learned leads to a reward, the brain evaluates this change in behaviour as a loss or punishment.

When Febreze was launched in 1996, Procter & Gamble was sure it had a winner: the first spray that could remove bad odours from virtually any fabric - ideal for smokers, cat and dog owners, sports enthusiasts, car drivers, etc. The product was positioned accordingly: „Febreze removes bad odours from all textiles.“ The product was launched, advertised - and was a failure.

Market research studies showed that Febreze lacked a key prerequisite for success: there was no perceptible problem, as the sense of smell has the ability to become accustomed to odours („adaptation“). For example, after a short time a smoker no longer notices that his clothes or his home smell of cigarette smoke. Without a perceptible problem, however, there is also no reward, i.e. the promise to rid clothes or a home of unpleasant odours is not relevant if there are subjectively no unpleasant odours at all because the occupants have become accustomed to them. Both the key stimulus or trigger and the reward are missing.

The solution to the problem was to integrate the new product into existing routines instead of creating a new routine (using a spray to remove unpleasant odours from clothes and home), as this was not possible without a perceptible key stimulus (unpleasant odour). Cleaning was suitable as a relevant action routine. The „cleaning habit“ is often associated with positive emotions - people are satisfied with the „cleaning result“ and feel really good in a clean home. The clean appearance of the home is the relevant reward, and Febreze has now been linked to this reward: At the end of the cleaning routine, people spray the freshly cleaned furniture, beds, curtains and floors with Febreze. Fragrances were added to the originally odourless spray, which were clearly perceptible, while the disappearance of a foul odour, to which the olfactory cells became „accustomed“ after a short time, is not perceptible. The scent of the spray therefore reinforced the reward resulting from the cleaning routine. The advert made it clear that the home now smelled as good as it looked - namely clean and fresh. Instead of removing odours from dirty textiles, Febreze became the crowning glory and thus part of the rewarding cleaning routine.

Sources:

• https://decodemarketing.com/media/pages/science-update/archiv/c5a843b987-1588852580/decode_su_1_2015_habits_en.pdf (as of 27 June 2022). Duhigg, Ch.: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change, New York 2012.