Unilever
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Using "displacement" research, we got consumers to cleanse their hands and faces in non-bathroom locations
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We found that violating social norms-even in small, subtle ways-resulted in disapproving looks and comments from others that strongly inhibited use of some new products
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The findings led to a series of product strategies that employed the sociological theories of "front stage" and "back stage" created by the Sociologist Erving Goffman
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There's more to a bathroom than running water
For the global leader in personal care, adult "personal cleansing" was re-defined in a major new use environment that had never been examined. Lever wanted to move "outside the bathroom" and into the workplace and car. It assumed that the major problem would be the lack of running water. The field research used a "displacement" technique that required consumers to take care of most of their personal cleansing needs without the benefit of their home bathrooms. Observations of consumers as they dealt with this new environment for cleansing themselves quickly revealed what the major challenges were-and they had nothing to do with the lack of running water. |
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