We are creatures of habit, and our daily habits influence our decisions. One study found that our habits affect 45 percent of the choices we make every day.
Marketers, coaches and politicians are using the science of habit formation to make changes in shoppers, players and voters. You can use it too—to change your own habits, or to change the habits of others.
Can you make recycling or composting a habit in your audiences? Can you get people to turn out the lights or walk instead of drive? Studying habit formation will give you some clues.
Brain researchers found that after rats learned to navigate a maze, they essentially turned off the decision-making parts of their brains. We do much the same with many of our daily activities. We operate on auto-pilot with things like brushing our teeth and backing out of the driveway.
A recent article in the New York Times talked about how Target used the major life event of pregnancy to change women’s shopping habits. They found they could tell, from what their customers were buying, if they were likely to be pregnant. Target sent these women subtle marketing enticements to encourage them to buy baby products at Target. The potential reward for the company was huge: if Target could develop shopping habits in these women, it could capture them as customers for years. Continue Reading »
