We sample and analyse advertising using qualitative research methodologies.
Despite over a decade of ‘low-temperature
laundry’ advertising campaigns in the UK and in Europe, energy use for domestic
laundering continued to rise (Yates & Evans, 2016).
Working in partnership with Ecover, we carried out research to inform a campaign to tackle over washing clothes. The research tracked the historical evolution of clothes washing and cleanliness, alongside the influence of detergent advertising and cultural factors that have shaped our everyday laundry habits. The final report informed a nationwide advertising campaign, a panel discussion in London, and received extensive media coverage including the Guardian.
The 14,000-word report reviews scholarship about the historical evolution of laundry from the 1600’s to the present day, showing how ideas of cleanliness and laundry practices have adapted alongside changes in technologies, materials, and social norms. Laundry detergent advertising has also had a powerful influence on our laundering and section two detailed key themes from an analysis of 60 ads from the 1950’s to the present day. The final section examined efforts made by researchers to understand everyday laundry routines alongside the social and psychological drivers of over-washing.
In the context of a lack of progress in reducing the eco impacts of laundry, the final section asked what can be done to disrupt and re-shape our laundry habits. To address this challenge, a laundry attitudes and habits survey was designed, alongside three communications briefs aimed at addressing the social norms and cleanliness standards.
The resulting report was referenced in a media campaign and Dr Cui Su part of an expert panel at the launch of the ‘Capsule Collection’ at an event held in Shoreditch in September 2024. An idea in the report, to leverage existing use of ‘chair-drobes’, instead of automatically throwing clothes in the wash, became a key part of the Ecover campaign, with the iconic ‘re-wear chair’ being heralded as an ‘anti-waste icon’ alongside the tag line “Wear Over and Over, then Wash with Ecover”.
The 14,000-word report reviews scholarship about the historical evolution of laundry from the 1600’s to the present day, showing how ideas of cleanliness and laundry practices have adapted alongside changes in technologies, materials, and social norms. Laundry detergent advertising has also had a powerful influence on our laundering and section two detailed key themes from an analysis of 60 ads from the 1950’s to the present day. The final section examined efforts made by researchers to understand everyday laundry routines alongside the social and psychological drivers of over-washing.
In the context of a lack of progress in reducing the eco impacts of laundry, the final section asked what can be done to disrupt and re-shape our laundry habits. To address this challenge, a laundry attitudes and habits survey was designed, alongside three communications briefs aimed at addressing the social norms and cleanliness standards.
The resulting report was referenced in a media campaign and Dr Cui Su part of an expert panel at the launch of the ‘Capsule Collection’ at an event held in Shoreditch in September 2024. An idea in the report, to leverage existing use of ‘chair-drobes’, instead of automatically throwing clothes in the wash, became a key part of the Ecover campaign, with the iconic ‘re-wear chair’ being heralded as an ‘anti-waste icon’ alongside the tag line “Wear Over and Over, then Wash with Ecover”.