It’s A Hard Habit To Break
One in eight people who survive a heart attack change their lifestyle to avoid another attack. One in eight. (see FastCompany’s May 2005 cover story here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/94/open_change-or-die.html So how can marketers, organizational development professionals, anyone, get people to change ingrained habits? A simple example: changing a standard light bulb. I expect most of us have done this. It is easy, inexpensive, and one thing you don’t have to say, “I know a guy who does…(insert plumbing, carpentry, landscaping, etc. here). Yet there are more energy efficient, longer lasting bulbs that have been on the market for quite some time: the Compact Flouresent (CF) bulb (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls). There is every reason in the world to use them: economics (save as much as $66 over a bulb’s life), environment (reduction in greenhouse gases, mercury and more), geopolitical (bulb-switching alone can stem the import of foreign oil). Let’s discuss change management: why hasn’t everyone switched to these bulbs? Why haven’t you?
Stumble it!
Joe Raasch :: Jan.03.2007 :: Change Management ::
It is a design thing, it is a money thing, and it is a marketing thing… I remember when I fist saw the spiral bulb. They sort of sat awkwardly on the shelf amongst the traditional globe. I picked up the box examined the design and it just didn’t feel right. I wasn’t sure it would fit in my fixtures, fans, scones, lamps, thus I put it down and bought what felt comfortable. Maybe a year later I had read some press on the bulbs, determined that they would fit, save energy, shine brighter, and that I should make the switch. On my next trip to Target I hit the bulb aisle to stock up for the future picked up the “ionic spiral bulb” and laughed when I saw the $10 price tag for a single bulb. I asked myself do I seriously want to spend $40.00 on four bulbs when I can spend $4.79 for a traditional 4-pack? NO – because I don’t spend money to save money. I don’t buy a compact car to spend less at the gas pump and I don’t buy appliances based on the yellow energy tag. I buy things that I like. In fact this year I bought LED Christmas lights for my house at double the cost of a standard string of bulbs. I didn’t buy them because I thought they’d last longer or save on electricity, but rather because the color on the box seemed brilliant and that is brilliant marketing.
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Screw in a Lightbulb…
The adoption of technology typically follows an S-curve. POSIWID invites us to think about the “purpose” of this S-curve. Merely exhorting people to adopt a new product is not going to make any fundamental change….