Editor’s note: Erica Carranza is vice president of consumer psychology at Boston-based marketing research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey. This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared under the title, “Greatest generation to toilet paper generation?”
My Papap – my grandfather on my mom’s side – was a child of the Great Depression. He had just turned 13 in 1929. He was an extroverted, happy-go-lucky guy – always smiling. But, to his dying day, he saved everything. Even if it was broken. When he changed the oil in his car, he’d even save the old oil. He also remained price-sensitive. When my parents bought something, his first question was always: “What’d that cost ya?”
He wasn’t alone. The Great Depression permanently altered habits and values for most of those who lived through it.
Likewise, we’re sure to undergo significant changes as a result of what we’re living through today. Already new norms are taking hold – most as a matter of current necessity. Which consumer behaviors will revert to their original state and which will stick around even when the pandemic is behind us? It’s a critical question for brands seeking to weather this storm and position themselves to thrive in the “new normal.”
One way to approach this question is through the lens of the Fogg Behavior Model. Originally developed in the tech and innovation space, it’s applicable to a broad range of behaviors.
In Fogg’s model, behavior is a factor of motivation and ability: When motivation is high, people will perform a behavior even when ability is low – i.e., even when it’s difficult. The strength of the motivation needed to drive the behavior goes down as ability (i.e., ease of performing the behavior) goes up. So, when ability to perform a behavior is very high (i.e., when it’s very easy to do), people will do it without much motivation.
It’s a simple framework, whereas people are a complicat...