A Milky Cascade
While at Cornell, I’ve befriended quite a few Canadians. A number of times, I’ve heard peoples’ disbelief when they find out that they drink their milk out of bags. While foreign to us in the USA, it certainly has its benefits – Since less plastic is used, costs per liter go down and tons of waste that may not have been recycled is now not even used. Following the nature of Information Cascades and Networks as a whole, could this technology be adapted elsewhere?
It may seem a bit silly to think that the milk market as a whole could be changed so dramatically for what may seem like a novel idea to many, but it is really so far out there that it is not feasible? The British Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s began distributing bagged milk in 2008, and as of 2010 the sales had gone much faster than predicted, suggesting a shift, as minor as it was, towards bagged milk. This isn’t necessarily surprising given when modeled by a network – As more people switch, those who share connections with them are more compelled to adapt, provided enough switch to make this a reasonable stress. Now, milk is certainly a less pressing matter to most people than, say, the latest phone or fad. For bags, or other relatively small changes to start a major adaptation, something must contribute to the situation in order to provide impetus to change.
Recalling the initial setup for this case study, there are environmental benefits in switching to bagged milk. This is where some complexity gets added to make this example compare in even the slightest way to the adaptation of a new iPhone, for example, which doesn’t really take environmental friendliness into account – It’s probably about the same as the old models, and I’d be willing to say most people don’t take it into consideration. Each individual node, or person, in the milk market has some requirements for why they would switch. Now, in a case such as this where individual milk products, independent of container, are nearly interchangeable, benefits such as supporting environmental sustainability have the potential to make a profound effect on sales trends. Those people who care enough will switch, once they learn of the benefits. This has the potential to create a cascade, should enough people switch, as people who walk into the milk aisle might not have a strong preference to what brand they buy, except for price. If enough people consider, at least some will switch, which accelerates the cascade and spread of knowledge along their network of friends. This is what can allow a rather small lifestyle change with some benefits to make a large effect on a tremendous market.
Now, this doesn’t mean everyone will immediately switch to bagged milk. Some changes stay, some fade out, like when previous attempts to adapt this container were made. But if nothing else, the time is right – Environmental awareness is at an all time high. A network of initial adapters in the United Kingdom exists, and support is growing in other countries. Sure, it might not be the biggest change in these adapters’ lives, but the application of basic principles to this situation reveals just how pervasive networks are in our lives, as they exist for nearly every product in existence, bagged or cartoned. Change is possible, no matter the scenario.
-T$
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenerliving/7307719/Milk-in-a-bag-at-Sainsburys.html