Honestly, the plastic bag furore surprised me. On the whole, supermarkets are pretty good at shaping behaviour. Product placement, the music, even the smell is designed to ensure we buy in certain ways.

So how is it that our clued-up retailers are having such as hard time removing those convenient but environmentally unfriendly plastic bags? It’s a behaviour-shaping move that should be right in their wheelhouse, so what went wrong?

Sociologists argue that we live in two worlds: one where social norms dominate and the other where market norms dominate. And we have historically been pretty good at keeping those worlds separate.

For a long time, corporations happily operated under a market norm, and customers were happy with that. But increasingly, businesses are noticing emerging trends and social norms, and are putting them to work selling. Companies, including supermarkets, routinely shape narratives to consumers and set social bargains with them, based on these social norms.

Coles and Woolworths position themselves as a partner to Australian families, offering convenience, low prices and unfettered choice. It was a market play at heart, based on low cost and a sleek supply chain rather than differentiation, but it came wrapped in a social norm of support and reliability. We knew we were paying for bags, but it was politely indirect, unlimited and handy.

Then supermarkets heard a growing expectation of environmental stewardship. They heard consumers telling them that food at any cost wasn’t enough anymore and that we were looking for leadership in sustainability.

At this point, common wisdom suggests supermarkets needed to do two things: make a choice to support sustainability, and talk to their customers about it. And they did. They decided to cut "free" plastic bags, they set a date and stuck to the plan. But far from shaping behaviour, they irritated consumers.

The backlash against the Coles flip-flop wasn't caused by a lack of communication - it was well advertised, and the reasons were well known. You could say they should have stuck to their guns, but arguably they responded quickly to customer feedback. But however you characterise the issue, customers were not prepared to trade the convenience they paid for and were used to for what appeared to be just a saving for Coles.

They weren’t just tweaking things a bit, so it wasn’t a question of communication. It was a major renegotiation of their bargain with customers and their role in our lives.

Companies need to think long and hard before they decide to force a change of norms. It’s a truly strategic move and not a communications activity. It is going to hit the bottom line. If you aren’t ready for that, stick with market norms until change is enshrined in legislation and creates an even playing field.

But if you want to take leadership and force a change, be ready to bear the innovation costs that brings, with the deep research, creative solutions and executive leadership that entails.

Those organisations that have the courage to stick with this sort of deep strategy and brave any short-term fluctuations are rewarded with more loyal customers and brand advocates.

Lisa Hagan is a director of Pivot, a strategic business consultancy and part of the Frost Collective.

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