Caring for others helps us feel connected and brings our lives meaning — but it also takes a lot of hard work, and it can be extremely stressful and overwhelming. Especially during the pandemic, new and unexpected caregiving duties (whether that’s child care, elder care, or caring for a sick relative or friend) have taken a major toll on many people’s wellbeing.
The Paradox of Marketing to Caregivers
From pre-made meals to cribs that automatically rock babies to sleep, products that help caregivers are meant to make it easier for people to help others. But new research has found that the people who would most benefit from these products are often the least open to trying them. This is because many of us have a deeply ingrained assumption that expending effort is how we demonstrate our care for others, and as such we feel guilty about using products that reduce the effort required to fulfill our caregiving duties. In this piece, the authors discuss several studies that illustrated this effect, and then go on to offer a simple intervention that marketers can use to highlight the benefits of their caregiving products without negating customers’ strong desire to demonstrate care through effort.