We are all creatures of habit and understanding consumer beliefs and behaviours are extremely important. In order to keep up with (and perhaps even influence) those changes, brands must deep dive to uncover the truth.
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted nearly every routine in day-to-day life. The extreme measures and duration of lockdowns and business closures have forced consumers to re-evaluate their choices and ‘habits’ – whether that would be going to a shopping mall, eating out at a restaurant, or meeting up with friends. These habits had to come to quite a sudden stop.
Before the ‘new normal’, consumers would stick stubbornly to their habits, resulting in little to no behavioural change. And now, because of COVID-19 consumers have had to adjust to every twist and turn – which really has opened their eyes. Think With Google have noticed different consumer behaviours, for example, in the past year 1 in 4 clothing shoppers have bought from a new brand or retailer; 75% of womenswear and 83% of menswear shoppers said that they will continue to buy online from these same new retailers over the next 6 months.
Even though this specific consumer behaviour change (shopping habits) might be coronavirus specific, consumers are open to trying different brands and products. Now more than ever. As mentioned, we are all creatures of habit, and these habits are beginning to be broken. Our behaviours are driven by unconscious influences (System 1 reactions) that cannot be tackled with traditional messages - its time to change up your marketing.
People know what to do, but don’t do it
We don’t need to tell people that smoking is bad for their health, or that more exercise would make them live longer. People know the facts. The reason why they are not taking up desired behaviours is because unconscious emotional drivers are keeping them trapped in current habits. To truly change behaviour, we need to identify what is driving current habits – something our award-winning Motivation Deep Dive delivers reliably.
Behavioural Science lets us truly change behaviour. Here is an example of a case study we received from a past client and the new insight we provided them with:
Brief:
A major health charity experienced problem converting awareness for the cause into support and donations. Although people saw it as a worthwhile cause, they were prioritising other charities. Emotional Logic was asked how the charity could get people to turn their positive intentions into action.
New Insight:
Our Motivation Deep Dive technique revealed that consumers connected with the charity rationally but not emotionally. They understood the need but did not feel a connection with the cause. This was due to the imagery used in communication.
A revised brand image and new communication campaign generated double digit growth in fundraising income over several years.
Throughout this research we used a range of techniques such as the use of NLP Depth Interviews where we apply language patterns from Neuro Linguistic Programming to allow respondents to reveal the underlying drivers of their behaviour, implicit testing to identify unconscious biases that your audience is holding (this will help you develop messages that cut through the noise) and correlation analysis which analyses which emotions drive behaviour (ensuring focus on emotions that make a difference). We can change habits with Behavioural Science.
So, does it work? Absolutely. Our unique Behavioural Change Model will help you understand the unconscious emotional drivers that are keeping consumers trapped in current habits.
Whether you need insight to adjust your strategies for existing brands to the new normal or are thinking about launching new products we can help you get it right. Emotional Logic is a specialist behavioural insight agency and we offer a range of cost-effective research solutions to ensure your strategy connects with the constantly shifting needs of the consumer. Please get in touch for a free consultation.
