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Adoption of new products

I have seen that product that are most likely to be adopted into a market rapidly are products that can solve a consumer need more efficiently and effective than available solutions. Although we have seen great innovations that have the potential to address significant pain points for consumers, we too often see them fail. I believe one reason why this may be the case is the lack of trust we have in new products; consumers often need time to trust that a new product will solve a problem that has not previously been addressed. 

The example of sliced peanut butter was particularly interesting because I felt it was a simple substitute for peanut butter that reduces the time and effort a consumer would need to allocate for the same result. Interestingly enough this innovation didn’t seem to find much success. I believe this is because although this theoretically makes sense, consumers didn’t trust its production in terms of materials used. I think that especially when it comes to food consumers are even more likely to be skeptical of innovation. 

My biggest takeaway from this is that there is a fine like to be aware of between innovative products and gaining the trust of the consumers. Additionally I think adoption is likely to occur more rapidly when there is a distinct consumer need rather than a product that makes consumers lives marginally easier. 

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[alanoudab]

Frictionless experiences using AI

As a consumer I have experienced a lot of negative friction in various experiences. With the rise of AI and AI algorithms into all consumer experiences for improved experience and outcomes. Despite the inconvenience frictions have caused in my experiences as consumer I often view things that have certain frictions to be more credible and safer to use. Especially when it comes to experiences or products that have certain risks I tend to choose safer options.

When I think of frictionless experience in AI I think of ChatGPT becoming a widespread tool for content generation. When I first heard about ChatGPT I personally did not trust it and refused to use it partially because the ease of use made me suspicious of its accuracy and because I did not trust it had sufficient guardrails in place for user privacy. As the data input into ChatGPT has improved I have gained more trust in the product in terms of accuracy but still have my doubts. I believe AI will indeed improve a lot of processes, but I think human interaction will always be needed at critical points of a user journey. As AI evolves and improves the role of human interaction is likely to evolve with that but I don’t think we will ever be able to fully trust AI as a standalone product.

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[alanoudab]

Nudging in sustainable fashion 

The concept of nudging, as described in this week’s articles, is a core element in branding strategy.  Understanding the ethos behind your target customers motivations when interacting with your product is critical when designing a nudging experiment. 

The first example when comes to mind when thinking about nudging is the branding of sustainability in fashion. With the relatively recent increase in sustainability efforts, we have seen a shift away from fast fashion and a push for more sustainable fashion options, including sustainably sourced, ethically made and longer lasting clothing. I think part of the reason these brands have found success is they effectively employ mindless nudges activating a desired behavior. For example, when you purchase clothing from the brand “Reformation” they give you key statistics of the positive environmental impact the purchase has made (carbon dioxide and gallons of water saved by choosing this product).

When thinking about the Branding Lab final project I would first develop a customer journey map to identify bottlenecks, or steps at which decisions are made to then implement and test nudging at that point. In the example mentioned above of sustainable clothing, this nudge would come in at the checkout process if you are shopping online. At that point, showing environmental statistics may lead a consumer to feel that this purchase would have a material positive impact and therefore justify money spent on this clothing.

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Customer Journey Maps for Improved Experience

As a consumer my journey when purchasing an item, embarking on an experience or a choosing a service differs notably. It is directly dependent on the utility of what I am purchasing, weather it is a need or a luxury. For example, when purchasing a luxury good or something I don’t necessarily need, it usually would have taken a considerable amount of advertising for me to actually purchase it. In contrast if I need something I will often buy a product or service which is most convenient, especially when looking into product or services I may not know as much about. The company that makes the transaction and education process on the product easiest is often the one I will end up choosing.

The article “Using Customer Journey Maps to Improve Customer Experience” was an insightful overview of how to think about customer journeys from product or service offering perspective. Solving for the question: what customer need are we addressing? After answering that question, we then work backward to determine where to focus our efforts. The example used of home theater offerings particularly resonated with me as that would be a product I, as well as most people, would need assistance in understanding the specifics of what to purchase in order to make an educated choice that a customer would feel good about. This example emphasized the importance of educating a customer about a product or service to allow them to choose your product. 

A key takeaway from this article to me, is the importance of ensuring the customer feels good with their choice of purchasing your product. This can be difficult to do, especially when thinking about luxury material goods. When thinking about the customer journey map in this case I would focus on the “motivation” behind the purchase which would be a big focal point in developing this journey. The key behind developing this journey, assuming this product is not a need, would be: Why do they care? Or how do we get them to care?

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