Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Power of Habit [Chapter 2]

Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups

By Cindy Lyles

Chapter Two, “The Craving Brain,” of The Power of Habit explores how to create new habits. Duhigg discusses Claude Hopkins, the first advertising guru. His prominence grew as a result of his learning how to introduce a new craving to consumers for whatever product he promoted. “Quaker Oats, Goodyear tires, the Bissell carpet sweeper,” Pepsodent toothpaste, and other products all became international household names as a result (32).

Clearly defining a cue (or trigger) and reward (or the payoff for the routine) for the audience fueled Hopkins’s advertising methods. Business schools and firms across the nation employed the technique, including Proctor & Gamble as they introduced Febreze. However, consumers failed to recognize smelly odors in their homes—a specific cue—if they had grown used to them.

How did the ideas about cues and triggers affect your views of habit formation?

6 comments:

Jasmine said...

The ideas about cues and triggers, for me, brought to light something that should have been obvious. When it comes to business strategies and habits I think there are a lot of things we don't realize. For example, healthy eating has become a big business strategy for businesses.

When businesses advertise their food as healthy, the cue is the fact that it's good for you and it still tastes good, and the reward is being thinner. Any strategies that relates to looks in this country are crucial because we are a very superficial culture.

As a result of just a simple advertisement other habits can come about. It can start with eating healthy, then eating healthy, and then like the lady from the beginning of the book, running marathons. The cue (triggers) and reward strategies is very crucial to forming habits.

Jessica L.W. said...

The ideas about cues and triggers affected my views of habit formation by reinforcing my opinion that habits are easily developed and are usually difficult to get rid of. In my opinion, successful advertising is accomplished because the companies realize that consumers are attracted to cues and will continue to purchase their product once the “habit loop” has fully developed. The more often that the loop is used, the quicker the behavior becomes embedded and subsequently develops into a habit. All habits are not negative and in fact have a positive impact on our routine. Although, for those habits that are not beneficial it is helpful to understand that habits are triggered by cues and if we are able to decline the cue then we have a better chance of breaking that unwanted habit.

Tia Borders Baptist said...

Well cues and triggers usually come from being conditioned to do certain things. So i believe my view on habit formation comes from that. This is why commercials use the tactics of triggers to make people do certain thing to their advantage. This why people buy certain things that the media want them to buy or do. This then becomes a habit that they have to do because they been conditioned to think a certain item or plan works. Similar to when everyone was told to eat subway cause it will make them more healthy and lose weight. This is a way to trigger person get their product when they see it on tv cause they know then they will be eating healthy. This is also how the triggers are formed so i do agree that they work together in the media

Jessica said...

Advertisements contribute largely to the pubics habit formation. I agree with Tia, that we are conditioned to practice some habits. Employees of the advertising committees are customers outside of work, I believe they use cues that they know would trigger their mind as a buyer. If you think about it, you don't see advertisement for every brand or item in our shopping centers. Instead it seems that you always see food, beauty products, and toys on our commercial breaks. I believe that is because these items are high in the market therefore they are used as cues to get shoppers inside stores. Once you enter local stores, due to a conditioned mind, we pick up the weekly ads that advertise additional items; and we buy them. This is a habit formation that advertisers have indirectly conditioned custumers to practice.

Jessica Johnson

Kizzy Hopkins said...

The Power of Habit had afforded me more knowledgeable about how habits are created and has given me a better understanding of consumerism and true free choice.


Good marketing strategies creates cues, triggers, and, habits that enforces an assumed need to buy, which encourages people to consume more.

The idea about habit formation has made me realize that some habits are not my own, but created through triggers and rewards which-in-turn creates self forming habits.

Hilary Conrad said...

When I read this part I was instantly reminded of the Proactive commercials and how they use celebrities to endorse their products. The advertisements use certain words that draw in listeners to believe that their product is the best. Once you hear the commercial multiple times with different celebrities, it makes you think that the product actually works.