PEMBROKE, Mass. — Did you ever think about the question in the headline? In urban settings, customers often have three or four choices of where to do their laundry. A few are farther away than the others. But even in suburban or rural settings, there are choices.
A person could decide to do his laundry two towns over where he works rather than in the town where he lives. Or a customer could do his laundry several towns away when he visits his mother. The point is, there are choices.
Generally speaking, the customer will choose the most convenient location. The closest distance, the easiest to get to, and reasonable prices all go into the consideration.
But sometimes the customer will decide that this convenient Laundromat isn’t serving him well, and he will look for a less convenient, more out-of-the-way location. Or he will do his laundry a different way—possibly use his neighbor’s machines. Why would the individual do that?
People form habits of behavior as well as patterns of activity, so it takes something—dissonance—to break up those patterns. In other words, change is not easy. And it helps to envision the basis of this change. Let’s examine some scenarios:
PERCEIVED CLEANLINESS
A customer has been going to her Laundromat for a few years, but one morning, her husband says, “My pants still have dirt stains on them. What’s wrong with that Laundromat you go to?”
The next time she goes there, she looks around and sees a less-than-clean operation. The floors are scruffy. The bathroom is dirty. The front windows are streaky. For the first time, she thinks, “This place is a dump.” She walks out, determined to find a new Laundromat.
In this case, the husband found a stain on one pair of pants that triggered this decision. It could have been that the stain was permanent. He didn’t say, “All my clothes are coming out lousy.” He only complained about one garment. But that complaint made her look around the premises, and she found it wanting.
It could have been that the store is usually much cleaner, but this one look-around was enough to make her think that the place has lower standards. Lack of perceived cleanliness can turn a customer into an ex-customer.
BENDING THE RULES
One day, a customer wastes $4 in dryers that don’t work. Since the Laundromat is unattended, she calls the number on the bulletin board for service. But it takes three days for someone to get back to her.
When the service person hears her story, he tells her that he can only refund $2 because that’s the maximum refundable amount. She fights with him, but it is no use. He refuses and says the guidelines are posted in the Laundromat.
After she gets off the phone, she says to herself, “I don’t have to put up with this” and decides that she will do her laundry in the attended store in the next town.
It’s not a lot of money, but the principle is important to her. If they can’t bend the rules for me, I won’t bend for them, is her reasoning. People switch when they’re not treated well.
Check back Thursday for the conclusion!
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].