New habits in relation to how we work, learn, relax and shop
New habits in relation to how we work, learn, relax and shop

Every marketer knows that an incumbent brand's best friend is 'inertia'. Why is that? In a word: habit. Consumers (like you and me) are 'cognitive misers'. That's psycho-babble for 'thinking is hard, so save it for the important stuff'. To avoid thinking we take short-cuts, which is where habits come in. Habits are simply behaviours we have learned to do on 'automatic pilot' to avoid 'wasting time' (i.e.: thinking) when we don't have to.

It typically takes about 60 days to form a habit, i.e.: for a behaviour to become automatic, something you literally don't think about. By the time Ireland's response to the COVID-19 is scheduled to be over in August we will have spent the best part of 150 days practicing new habits.

The latest report from Amárach Research shows that Irish consumers are acquiring many new habits as the public health emergency continues. Some of those habits will create new opportunities for brands and businesses in the months and years ahead. But many others will threaten the growth prospects for other brands. Possibly end them.

It isn't the New Normal: a virus-driven recession creates a New Abnormal. And the recovery will create abnormal opportunities for brands and marketers to challenge incumbents and discover profitable new needs in the near future.

Read the Report: