Changing Behaviour

In advertising we often discuss about how to change consumer behaviour. I found this recent post by Faris Yakob very interesting. The MTV ‘Mera number ayega’ (my number will come) campaign came to my mind immediately. Hey, remember that “Aiwa” commercial, where people greeting and nodding at each other saying, ‘Aiwa.’ Now that was a brilliant example of behavior engineering. I remember how we used to ‘Aiwa’ each other at college.

Honestly, not many brands in India in the recent past have managed to create a campaign which could engineer consumer behaviour. The recent Frito Lay’s “What’s the program” campaign was a move towards that direction but pathetic execution failed to elicit that behavioral response.

Surely it makes sense to give consumers something to copy if you want to influence behavior. With today’s cynical youth it is rather difficult (not impossible, mind you) to achieve. So it’s not true when you say, “Young males are perhaps most prone to adopting learned behavior.” They know marketers are trying hard to change their behaviour hence a growing resistance towards all form of advertising and a ‘We-will-buy-the-brand-but-not-the-advertising’ kind of attitude.

Well, before I end, are we creating enough examples of COPY mechanisms?