The public backlash to
the plastic bag ban in supermarkets has raised an interesting dynamic in
consumer attitudes and could give lessons for QVM.
The psychology of the
plastic bag ban seemed simple enough. Plastic bags are damaging our environment
and we need to find alternatives. Public sentiment supported that view but
there was a simpler public contract being disturbed in the background. This resulted
in supermarkets having to delay their ban and introduce compromises to help
customers through the transition.
The “public contract”
was explained in an article in The Conversation as customers saying - “I will
shop with Supermarket A and they will provide me with free carry bags.” That
changed with the ban. Supermarkets were no longer having to pay for bags, the
customers were. To add fuel to the fire, if supermarkets were so interested in
reducing plastic use, why were they all wrapping small parcels of fruit and
vegetables in plastic before placing them on the shelves?
The supermarkets were
forced to introduce some changes to the introduction of a plastic bag ban
including -
- Delaying the cut-off date.
- Selling reusable bags cheaply.
- Giving away reusable bags in the critical
changeover days.
- Offering free exchanges on reusable bags
into the future.
- It should be noted that the major
supermarkets did react very quickly, a sure sign that their data collecting and
feedback systems are working well.
We probably learned two
things from this exercise -
1.
Never
underestimate the complexities of shopper psychology.
2.
Be
ready to modify and change very quickly to accommodate unexpected reactions.
Maybe some lessons for
QVM.