Thoughts on Habit

I am reading Neale Martin’s book “Habit: The 95% of Behavior that Marketers Ignore.”

The main premise of the book is that we shop with our unconscious mind. We make shopping decisions because they feel good, because they are predictable.

However we use our rational mind during testing. We answer questions based on the decisions that we should make, instead of the ones we will actually make.

Neale gives the example of product development for a fast food restaurant. The restaurant had been seeing declining sales, but noticed market trends that boomers were becoming more concerned with healthy choices. The fast food company did research to gauge the interest in a low fat/low card alternative on their menu. The concept tested well because the respondents used their rational mind to determine that healthy alternatives would be a good choice. The project moved forward and the fast food company created a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, but the product was a huge failure. Respondents used their rational mind to guide product development, but when it came to their real purchase decision, it was easier to fall back on the familiar greasy burger and fries. We lie during testing, because we are thinking rationally instead of habitually.

So why bother testing new product ideas? Why bother creating new products at all for that matter? If people are going to take the path of least resistance, what principles should we design for? What things jar people into accepting a new product? What factors will prohibit a new products success?

How can we be sure?