The New Tropicana- One Loyalist's Distress & How it Relates to Auto-Pilot Shopping

I often go grocery shopping with a fellow MBA colleague who happens to be from Finland. I can safely say I've had more fun grocery shopping in South Bend these past few months thanks to him- the way he reacts to our grocery store layouts, why we have the products we do, and his general observations often make me laugh and sometimes really make me think about how strange some of the things we have in a "standard" U.S. grocery store really are.

This friend happens to enjoy Tropicana orange juice. I mean, he REALLY enjoys it and is what I would classify as a heavy-user. Very loyal to the brand as well- Minute Maid simply won't do. We went to the store recently and when he walked over the the orange juice section of the cooler he walked right past the Tropicana containers. Then he stopped, had an inquisical look on his face, and looked around like someone had hidden his orange juice. He backed up and noticed the Tropicana was right where it has always been, it's just that the packaging had changed dramatically! He had a look of shock and curiosity, all rolled up into one. He picked up the new juice and began talking about how much he doesn't like the new design. "Why did they change a perfectly fine product?" "What's the point of making it look like this?" These are just some of the questions/thoughts he had.

Since we had discussed the packaging change in class recently, I was expecting the new design. But it was very interesting to watch his reaction for the first time. Then I thought it might be fun (true statement), to linger around the cooler section a little longer to see what other peoples' reactions to the new packing would be. Sure enough, person after person walked right past the Tropicana section, stopped when they got about 5-10 feet away with a look of confusion, and walked back looking very carefully in the cooler for their product. It was as if they were hunting for the orange juice, it had to be somewhere, right?

This made me think about all of the purchases I personally make on "auto-pilot." I pick up my favorite cereals without really thinking, same thing for granola bars, milk, etc. It made me wonder how many people experience their entire shopping trip on auto-pilot? Perhaps there is an opportunity for grocery stores to make grocery shopping time more of an experience, as opposed to some mundane act that one can do merely on auto-pilot.