Understanding the Indian consumer behaviour and developing a communication strategy to minimize the existing stigma towards adult diapers

Abstract

The problem of incontinence was historically considered as a taboo and hence the stigma towards using them even in the people who have severe issues of controlling their bladders resulted in low adoption of adult diapers in India. Adult diapers are designed to mainly support adults with incontinence issue. Bladder weakness is a common problem among adults facing neurological disorders, diabetes, or other issues. These adults are in need of diapers, but a lack of awareness of these products and the social stigma associated with diapers is preventing them from using it. We study the reason behind this stigma and propose the communication measures to increase their adoption and thereby reduce the stigma. The main emotion behind the stigma was two-fold, one due to shame of using it in the daily life and two, the fear of the risk of being perceived as an indifferent human. We also found the key situations under which the people face this issue and thereby used these situations and emotions to design 3 storyboards (Bed wetting, Market place and Fear of falling in the washroom storyboards). These storyboards address the emotions behind stigma in different situations and angles including education, humour, and facts.