Introduction
- Identifying the deeper reasons why customers choose—or reject—products
- Reducing trial-and-error in product development
- Informing sustainable innovation that leads to lower returns and stronger usage
- Identifying the deeper reasons why customers choose—or reject—products
- Reducing trial-and-error in product development
- Informing sustainable innovation that leads to lower returns and stronger usage
What Is Jobs to Be Done — and Why It Matters for Reducing Waste?
How JTBD Connects to Product Waste
When companies miss the mark on real consumer jobs, they risk launching products that don’t get used, don’t satisfy meaningful needs, or simply feel irrelevant in daily life. This disconnect can result in:- Overstocked or under-performing SKUs
- Higher return rates
- Rapid product discontinuation
- Missed demand signals in new or emerging consumer segments
JTBD for Beauty and Household Goods: A Strong Fit
For product categories where usage is habitual and emotions run deep, like skincare or cleaning products, JTBD provides vital insight into customer motivations. These aren’t one-time purchases. Shoppers often rely on routines, preferences, and personal beliefs to guide decisions. Understanding why someone chooses one moisturizer over another can reveal much more than skin type – it may reflect a desire to feel grounded before bed, or to express a self-care identity. In household goods, buying a particular disinfectant may not just be about cleanliness but about protecting loved ones or feeling responsible as a caregiver.A JTBD-Informed Approach Reduces Trial and Error
Rather than guessing at features or launching trendy but shallow innovations, product teams can use Jobs to Be Done research to:- Discover existing unmet needs that lead to unfulfilled jobs
- Prioritize innovations that solve those high-value jobs well
- Differentiate offerings in crowded or commoditized categories
Why Emotional and Identity-Driven Jobs Shape Product Success
Beyond Basic Needs: Why Emotion Matters
Think of a shopper browsing facial cleansers. On the surface, they’re looking to clean their skin. But dig deeper, and you’ll often find an emotional job behind the purchase: “help me feel refreshed and ready to face the day” or “help me feel like I’m taking good care of myself.” These emotional drivers elevate a product from being merely useful to being meaningful. Emotions guide attention, shape memory, and influence loyalty. Ignoring them means potentially missing the heart of the decision-making process. Beauty industry research has shown time and again that emotional jobs – like confidence, control, or calm – are central to brand attachment and repeat use.Identity Drives Usage and Loyalty
Identity jobs go one step further. They relate to how individuals see themselves or want others to see them. Buying decisions in beauty and household categories often help reinforce key parts of a person’s identity, such as:- “I’m a conscious, eco-minded shopper, so I choose sustainable packaging.”
- “I’m meticulous and take pride in a spotless home, so I use high-performance products.”
- “I believe in treating myself well. My skincare isn’t just about fixing – it's about honoring self-worth.”
Why This Matters for Product Innovation
Many product development teams focus heavily on functional benefits: better cleaning, longer-lasting formulas, new formats. While these are important, overlooking the emotional and identity dimensions leads to one-dimensional products that don’t connect deeply with users. A fictional example: Imagine a new laundry detergent marketed as time-saving. If it doesn't also speak to a parent’s emotional job of feeling like they’re caring for their family efficiently, the messaging falls flat. But if the product delivers both – practicality and emotional reassurance – it strengthens connection and relevance.JTBD Brings Emotion and Identity to Light
With Jobs to Be Done research, teams can:- Capture the full range of customer needs: functional, emotional, and identity-based
- Design positioning and messaging that resonates on multiple levels
- Reduce product waste by making offerings more satisfying and sticky
How JTBD Prevents Unused or Rejected Products in Beauty and Household Goods
One of the most common reasons beauty and household products end up unused or returned is a misalignment with actual customer needs. Whether it’s a facial moisturizer that feels too greasy, a surface cleaner that doesn’t match a consumer’s fragrance preference, or a kitchen spray that overpromises and underdelivers – these outcomes often share a root cause: product development that doesn’t account for the emotional, identity-based, and functional jobs people are trying to solve.
The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework helps avoid this by uncovering what truly drives product choice and satisfaction. It reveals not only what consumers want a product to do (like clean a surface or make their skin feel smooth), but also why they specifically select a certain brand, texture, or scent – including personal values, routines, and aspirations.
Reducing Rejection Through Deeper Insight
Beauty and household goods are often tied to strong personal preferences and behaviors. A lotion isn't just a lotion – it might be tied to a consumer’s self-care routine or sense of identity. Similarly, a dish soap might signal cleanliness standards or parenting norms. When products fail to reflect or align with these roles in people’s lives, they are likely to be rejected, pushed to the back of the cabinet, or returned entirely.
JTBD addresses this risk by drilling into:
- Contextual purchase decisions – What triggered the need?
- Emotional and identity-based drivers – How does using this product make consumers feel about themselves?
- Workarounds or unmet needs – What solutions are consumers piecing together themselves?
Why Traditional Metrics Can Miss the Mark
While standard market research for beauty and household goods often focuses on preferences or purchase intent, JTBD goes further. It clarifies whether a product truly supports the customer in completing a meaningful job. That difference can prevent misunderstandings that lead to poor sell-through or excessive returns.
For example, a fictional beauty brand launching a high-end hair serum found that although consumers initially claimed interest, repeat usage was low. By applying the JTBD framework, the company discovered that consumers didn’t view daily hair application as part of their identity or routine. The job wasn’t just styling hair – it was to appear effortlessly put together without added time. With this insight, the brand reformulated into a faster-absorbing version with secondary benefits and saw significant improvement in product retention.
By aligning with these deeper human needs, brands can reduce product waste, curb returns, and ensure consumers are choosing their solutions for the right job – not just the right shelf appeal.
Examples of Brands Using JTBD to Cut Waste and Improve Relevance
Across the beauty and household categories, many brands (both established and emerging) are increasingly using the JTBD framework to guide innovation, reduce underperforming SKUs, and deliver offerings that hit the mark on relevance.
Realistic Illustrations: JTBD in Action
To highlight how JTBD works in practice, here are two simplified, fictional examples inspired by real market dynamics:
Fictional Example 1: Beauty Brand Streamlines Its Portfolio
A skincare company offering 30+ moisturizers noticed that several products consistently underperformed, despite high-quality ingredients. A JTBD study revealed that consumers buying these items weren’t looking for “maximum hydration” – they were seeking simple, lightweight products that seamlessly fit into their morning routine while signaling they were taking care of themselves.
Armed with this insight, the company consolidated overlapping offerings and rebranded several SKUs to speak more to identity-driven jobs like “feel ready to face the day” or “look my best effortlessly.” Sales increased, and inventory waste from slow-moving moisturizers dropped sharply within a year.
Fictional Example 2: Household Brand Rethinks a Cleaning Product
A homecare brand with low adoption of an all-purpose cleaner had assumed the product’s multi-surface versatility would drive purchases. A Jobs to Be Done analysis uncovered a more emotional job behind cleaning: “quickly resetting the house to feel calm and livable.” Consumers weren't just cleaning – they were restoring control during hectic days.
The company reformulated the product to include a lighter scent and faster-drying finish, reflecting the idea of “a quick refresh” rather than deep sanitization. This shift supported the real job and led to stronger repeat usage and less product abandonment.
The Strategic Impact of JTBD
In both examples, JTBD helped eliminate unnecessary or unsuccessful variants by drawing attention to what consumers truly valued. This improves SKU rationalization and strengthens connection to market needs. Across both beauty industry research and household goods trends, this strategy is gaining momentum for a reason – by reducing disconnects between product design and real-life usage, brands can avoid waste and build stronger consumer relationships.
JTBD isn’t just about innovation – it’s about continuous optimization. Brands that bake it into their research efforts can avoid product missteps that lead to returns, markdowns, or costly rebrands.
Three Ways JTBD Supports More Sustainable Product Development
Designing with sustainability in mind doesn’t start with ingredients or packaging – it starts with relevance. When beauty and household products are built to fulfill actual jobs in consumers’ lives, fewer end up on shelves collecting dust or in landfills.
Here are three key ways JTBD supports more sustainable product development:
1. Reducing Excess Inventory from Poor Product-Market Fit
One of the biggest contributors to product waste in CPG categories is surplus inventory. When products don’t resonate with the consumer’s intended use or lifestyle, they tend to sit unsold. By using JTBD to reduce excess inventory, companies can prioritize launches that are more likely to connect emotionally and functionally with core buyers.
This improves not only retail success but warehouse efficiency and upstream supply chain planning – all areas tied to sustainability performance.
2. Empowering Thoughtful Innovation Based on True Needs
JTBD reduces the need to chase innovation for innovation’s sake. It helps companies target product innovation where it matters most – solving meaningful pain points with fewer, more strategic launches. That means fewer “nice-to-have” items that fade out quickly and more “must-have” solutions built for longevity.
It also allows researchers to understand customer emotion and identity in buying decisions, ensuring that new solutions are more than just incremental tweaks – they reflect something meaningful to the user’s life.
3. Minimizing Returns and Disposal Through Better Experience Design
Returns are a hidden source of waste – especially in the online beauty and household markets where expectations don’t always match experience. Applying JTBD helps brands preempt issues that lead to dissatisfaction, such as speed of use, feel, scent, or perceived inconsistency with personal values.
By understanding both emotional purchase drivers and practical usage contexts, JTBD can lead to stronger initial satisfaction and reduce product returns in CPG.
Altogether, these benefits help create a cleaner innovation pipeline and a healthier product portfolio – not just for the bottom line, but for the environment too.
Summary
Understanding the deeper motivations behind why consumers choose – and ultimately stick with – certain products is crucial, particularly in the crowded and competitive worlds of beauty and household goods. The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) methodology provides a powerful lens to reduce waste across the innovation lifecycle by aligning product strategies with what truly matters to people.
From identifying emotional and identity-driven jobs to improving product-market fit, preventing underused items, and guiding smarter innovation, JTBD empowers brands to make decisions that resonate. By doing so, businesses can avoid costly mismatches, streamline their portfolios, and create offerings that people not only buy – but keep using.
Whether you're exploring market research for beauty and household goods, revisiting your current product strategy, or investing in future-focused sustainability, JTBD is a framework that adds both clarity and impact.
Summary
Understanding the deeper motivations behind why consumers choose – and ultimately stick with – certain products is crucial, particularly in the crowded and competitive worlds of beauty and household goods. The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) methodology provides a powerful lens to reduce waste across the innovation lifecycle by aligning product strategies with what truly matters to people.
From identifying emotional and identity-driven jobs to improving product-market fit, preventing underused items, and guiding smarter innovation, JTBD empowers brands to make decisions that resonate. By doing so, businesses can avoid costly mismatches, streamline their portfolios, and create offerings that people not only buy – but keep using.
Whether you're exploring market research for beauty and household goods, revisiting your current product strategy, or investing in future-focused sustainability, JTBD is a framework that adds both clarity and impact.
