Bottled water advertisements tap into human desire for immortality, University of Waterloo study claims

WATERLOO — Bottled water advertisements play on our innate fear of dying, boosting sales even though people know it may not be the best choice for them or the environment, a University of Waterloo study found.

“While sometimes we think we’re rational beings, there are unconscious things that motivate us,” said Stephanie Cote, who conducted the research while a Waterloo graduate student.

Bottled water advertisements target our deep-seated fears about mortality, which pushes people to avoid risks especially in the face of daily reminders like passing a funeral home or tragic stories in the news.

“We’ll try to distract ourselves or push death into an undefined future time,” Cote said.

Drinking bottled water can be among those decisions to keep it at bay because it seems more untouched, pure and neatly packaged compared to tap water.

“They market it as coming from pristine natural environments,” Cote said.

And the advertising is working.

Canadians bought 2.4 billion litres of bottled water in 2013, according to a report by Euromonitor. This year

that amount is expected to rise to three billion litres worth $3.3 billion, despite ongoing campaigns urging people to avoid bottled water.

“Why do they do that when we have this cheap, great, highly regulated supply of tap water?” Cote asked. “It’s because they want to. It’s not because they need to.”

To get a better understanding of what’s motivating people, the research team analyzed bottled water campaigns and advertisements, websites, photographs, and videos.

The study was based on social psychology’s terror management theory, which argues that efforts to repress a conscious and unconscious fear of death influences behaviours such as those related to consumption, wealth and status.

Bottled water advertisers have done a good job reaching out to a broad range of people, including those who value appearance, fitness, wealth, class and status, and even environmentally minded consumers through the promotion of thinner, recyclable bottles.

“They appeal to a greater diversity of people,” said Cote, now a water conservation co-ordinator at the City of Guelph.

Tap water promotion, on the other hand, focuses on primarily financial, ethical and environmental benefits. But to get more people on board with drinking municipal water, new tactics are needed to tap into those feel-good emotions that help drive people’s decisions.

Tap water campaigns are narrow and have trouble competing with the broadly effective bottled water promotions.

“There’s all these different ways they reach out to people,” Cote said.

The study appears in the journal Applied Environmental Education & Communication.