{"id":28601,"date":"2021-03-11T14:09:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T18:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=28601"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:31:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:31:50","slug":"the-power-of-habit-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Habit Examples: 9 Case Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are you looking for <em>The Power of Habit<\/em> examples? How can these case studies demonstrate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/habit-formation\/\">habit formation<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These <em>The Power of Habit<\/em> examples cover <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-habit-loop\/\">the habit loop<\/a>, willpower, and habits in organizations. The examples can help explain how habit works and put habits in context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading for the best The Power of Habit examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Power of Habit Examples <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples are separated into three categories; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/habit-loop-examples\/\">habit loop examples<\/a>, willpower examples, and habits in organizations. Each of the examples will help you understand the way we form habits, and why they&#8217;re so important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out all the <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Habit Loop Examples <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples focus on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-habit-loop-2\/\">habit loop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example 1: Tingly Toothpaste<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>First in <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples is toothpaste. In the early 1900s, American rarely brushed their teeth. It just wasn\u2019t ingrained as a daily habit. Combined with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-is-food-processed\/\">processed foods<\/a>, the lack of dental hygiene led to an epidemic of rotten teeth.Enter Claude Hopkins, a master advertiser who had made Palmolive and Quaker Oats into household names. Taking up the case of new toothpaste Pepsodent, he focused on building a new habit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Cue:<\/strong>&nbsp;run your tongue over your teeth. You\u2019ll feel a film that discolors and decays your teeth.<\/li><li><strong>Routine:<\/strong>&nbsp;brush your teeth with Pepsodent<\/li><li><strong>Reward:<\/strong>&nbsp;end up with a beautiful smile<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Pepsodent rocketed in demand. Before Pepsodent, only 7% of Americans owned toothpaste; 10 years after the ad campaign, the number jumped to 65%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it turns out this wasn\u2019t the first time the cue had been used in advertising. Other brands had tried and failed with similar marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The secret, it turns out, was the aftertaste of Pepsodent. With mint oil and citric acid, Pepsodent left a cool, tingling feeling after brushing teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customers of Pepsodent revealed that<strong>&nbsp;if they forgot to brush their teeth, they missed the tingling sensation. They craved this feeling.<\/strong>&nbsp;This drove the growth of Pepsodent over other toothpastes; and when other companies introduced mint to their toothpaste, Pepsodent\u2019s market share dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example 2: Febreze and Cues of Bad Smells<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>When invented in the 1990s, Febreze was a magical product \u2013 it could remove bad smells from fabric, not just cover it up like other products. It seemed like a sure-fire win, an alternative to dry cleaning and laundry. The team designed ads with cues and rewards, focusing on the cue of bad smells. The reward was clothing that no longer smelled like cigarettes, or sofas that no longer smelled like dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the ads failed. Sales didn\u2019t bump at all, and they coasted along at low levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>They discovered that the cue failed \u2013 people perpetually around bad smells couldn\u2019t actually detect the cue any longer.<\/strong>&nbsp;If you\u2019re a long time smoker, your nose just becomes less sensitive to smoke smells. This meant the habit couldn\u2019t fully form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the Febreze team tried a different strategy.&nbsp;<strong>Instead of attacking the smell problem, they repositioned the product as the proper reward to a cleaning routine.<\/strong>&nbsp;They added more perfume to Febreze, and they encouraged customers to spray Febreze after freshly making a bed or vacuuming. Over time, customers associated cleanliness with the smell of Febreze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the smell became a craving. If it didn\u2019t smell nice like Febreze, it didn\u2019t really seem clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/habit-change\/\">habit change<\/a> catapulted the use of Febreze \u2013 it wasn\u2019t just used when bad smells happened, it was used habitually after every cleaning. This is one of the <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples that helps us understand the habit loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example 3: Cinnabon<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In malls, Cinnabon locates its stores away from other restaurants. They want the smell alone wafting through the hallways to act as a cue, then trigger a craving for the cinnamon roll. Once the customer finally sees the Cinnabon store, the routine to buy a cinnamon roll activates and they get their sweet reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Power of Habit Examples on Bad Habits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples focus on bad habits and how to overcome them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: Alcoholics Anonymous<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most successful examples of habit change is Alcoholics Anonymous. Its famous 12-step program forces the recovering alcoholic to go through a few important steps. For example, step 4 asks to make \u201ca searching and fearless inventory of ourselves,\u201d and step 5 asks to admit \u201cto God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.\u201d In these steps, it\u2019s hard not to make a list of all the reasons you drink, and the urges that started the behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Often,&nbsp;<strong>alcoholics drink not because of the physical feeling of intoxication, but because of the accompanying emotional relief<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 an escape from your everyday problems, a distraction, catharsis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To change the habit, AA forces its members to&nbsp;<strong>replace the routine of drinking with engaging socially at meetings<\/strong>. Their goal is to attend 90 meetings in 90 days, and new members get a dedicated sponsor as a personal companion. The recovering alcoholic can keep the same cues (like anxiety about a life problem) and rewards (distraction from the problem or relaxation). But the routine is entirely different, and much healthier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: Winning the Super Bowl with Habits<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1996, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were one of the worst football teams in the NFL. Tony Dungy arrived as head coach with a new strategy \u2013 force the players to develop deeply ingrained habits so they don\u2019t ever have to think during a game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, on each play a defensive lineman, would focus on only a few cues \u2013 the positioning of his opponent\u2019s back foot, the distance between him and the next player. Depending on what the cues are, the player then has an automatic habit of reacting. If it\u2019s a pass play, he\u2019ll immediately circle around the offensive line and sack the quarterback. He doesn\u2019t need to think about it \u2013 he can just explode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If these could truly become habits, then the behavior would be automatic. And Coach Dungy believed that their team didn\u2019t need to have a more complicated playbook \u2013 they just needed to be faster. Football plays happen in fractions of a second, and thinking gets you in trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This strategy, and countless sessions of drilling habits until they became automatic, ultimately led the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl. Coach Dungy then took his techniques to the Colts, who won a Super Bowl themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Power of Habit Examples of Willpower<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These the <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples focus on willpower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: Patients Break Through a Pain Point<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This insight came from a research study of orthopedic patients in Scotland. After going through a hip replacement, exercising is important to avoid blood clots and developing scar tissue. However, it\u2019s extremely painful, so many patients skip the practice. In an experiment, a researcher gave each patient a book with blank pages and instructions: \u201cMy goals for this week are _______? Write down exactly what you are going to do. For example, if you are going to go for a walk this week, write down where and when you are going to walk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three months later, the patients who had filled in the books were walking twice as fast as the control group, and getting out of their chairs three times as fast. Within all the plans written on the pages,&nbsp;<strong>the key was filling in specific plans about how to deal with predicted pain points.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, one patient trying to walk to the bus stop each day wrote down every obstacle and what pills he would take if the pain was too much. The patients who didn\u2019t write this down ahead of time never thought specifically about how to deal with the major pain points, and they didn\u2019t have the willpower to push through in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: Developing Willpower in Starbucks Baristas<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For many retail chains like Starbucks, the front-line baristas join the company as their first job. They\u2019re often not accustomed to the stress that angry customers and complicated orders bring. They may have come from environments that didn\u2019t actively promote self-discipline and willpower. This can lead employees with lower willpower to snap at customers, lowering customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key, as many companies like Starbucks have found, is&nbsp;<strong>to define routines for employees to use in rough patches<\/strong>. Say a customer is irate that you\u2019ve messed up his&nbsp;<em>venti double shot no foam soy extra hot latte with light whip and splenda<\/em>. You want to scream at his face, but instead Starbucks has trained you to follow the LATTE method:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Listen to the customer<\/li><li>Acknowledge the complaint<\/li><li>Take action by solving the problem<\/li><li>Thank the customer<\/li><li>Explain why the problem occurred<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In training,&nbsp;<strong>managers drill new baristas to picture realistic stressful scenarios and to follow the LATTE method<\/strong>. When the real stressor comes, the baristas know <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-push-through\/\">how to push through<\/a> it using a classic cue-routine-reward habit loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Examples of Habits in Organizations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This last example focuses on habits in an organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: Habits in the Operating Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2000, Rhode Island Hospital, the teaching hospital of Brown University, was a wreck. Some doctors habitually bullied nurses, chastising them for correcting the doctors.So to avoid punishment, nurses had secret habits \u2013 they communicated through marker color who the bad doctors were (green for good, black for bad). Around bad doctors, you needed to keep quiet when they got pushy. Nurses also quietly covered for doctors, fixing incorrect medication doses and fixing doctors\u2019 unintelligible handwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, this led to several high profile reports on mistakes. In multiple cases, surgeons operated on the wrong side of the head, with one case leading to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A crisis had occurred. The entire surgical ward was shut down for a day for training. New habits were instituted, like checklists for every operation and video cameras recording every surgery. At this time of crisis, no matter how vehemently the doctors opposed these practices,&nbsp;<strong>the elevation of patient safety to supersede the organization led to radical change.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These new practices dramatically improved patient safety and reduced medical error, and likely led to better morale across the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you have read several <em>The Power of Habit <\/em>examples, you can continue to learn about how and why we form habits. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for The Power of Habit examples? How can these case studies demonstrate habit formation? These The Power of Habit examples cover the habit loop, willpower, and habits in organizations. The examples can help explain how habit works and put habits in context. Keep reading for the best The Power of Habit examples.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":28605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,42,9],"tags":[226],"class_list":["post-28601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-motivation","category-psychology","tag-the-power-of-habit","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Power of Habit Examples: 9 Case Studies - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These The Power of Habit examples help explain how we form habits and why they matter. Read about the habit loop, willpower, and more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of Habit Examples: 9 Case Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"These The Power of Habit examples help explain how we form habits and why they matter. Read about the habit loop, willpower, and more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-11T18:09:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T20:31:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cinnamon-roles-dessert-table-baking-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"The Power of Habit Examples: 9 Case Studies\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-11T18:09:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T20:31:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/\"},\"wordCount\":1740,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cinnamon-roles-dessert-table-baking-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Power of Habit\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\",\"Motivation\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/\",\"name\":\"The Power of Habit Examples: 9 Case Studies - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-habit-examples\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cinnamon-roles-dessert-table-baking-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-11T18:09:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T20:31:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"These The Power of Habit examples help explain how we form habits and why they matter. 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She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Power of Habit Examples: 9 Case Studies - Shortform Books","description":"These The Power of Habit examples help explain how we form habits and why they matter. 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