Toothbrushes & Toilets. Be careful with the product associations you create. I bought a product recently that successfully created an Association Bias with cleanliness and freshness but it made me disgusted.
I'll briefly talk about Association Bias, how companies utilize it, and how it can be beneficial for the user. Then we'll move on to the unsuccessful example.
The definition of Association bias is the tendency to be easily influenced by irrational opinions about the relationship between two objects or events. Studies have shown that scents can bias perceptions and prime certain behaviors because of the semantic associations they evoke (Doucé et al., 2013, Guéguen, 2012, Krishna et al., 2010, Madzharov et al., 2015).
So, if a company wants to conjure up a feeling or a picture in a potential customer's mind, it will typically be done by association. Some are recognizable and others are subconscious. For example, realtors selling a home will have the scent of fresh baked cookies in the air to create an association. The house feels welcoming and it's connected to your positive memories. Athletes and gamblers associate winning to their lucky pair of underwear or socks. This is irrational, but our brains are wired to associate meaning with what we experience.
Association bias can improve the user experience. UX designers use Jakob's Law to design interfaces. It states that people prefer a website or interface to work similarly to all the other ones that they use. Product designers use this trick to make products intuitive.
This type of association bias helps first time users develop heuristics. They intuitively know where they are, and how to get where they want to go.
For regular users they are able to quickly transition a task to their automatic system or "System 1 thinking". Similarly it is how we can drive our commute to work with zero mental effort. Now all of our mental resources are available to deal with the nut jobs or to practice non-stoic mindsets like road rage.
The unsuccessful example: I purchased a new toilet cleaner recently. Every time I used it, I got weirded out and had a disgusted feeling. One day hit me like a ton of bricks. I recognized what it was.
It smelled like toothpaste...
The fact that cleaning a toilet reminded me of something I put in my mouth really affected how I felt. 🤢 And I use a brush for both of them!
Okay let's break down the association. I get it. The company wants me to associate the cleanliness of the toilet with the fresh feeling after you brush your teeth.
Who wouldn't want their toilet to feel fresh and clean?
Became
Who wouldn't want to think about bushing their teeth when scrubbing a toilet?
I don't want a dirty toilet to remind me of my mouth. Ever. The positive association bias has been created but the psychological reaction is negative.
Please don't make product decisions like this. Remember, a successful association bias can be a failure.
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