What cleaning habits reveal about consumer psychology with Oksana Sobol
April 28, 2026
Cleaning is no longer just about hygiene. New research shows consumers increasingly see it as a source of control, satisfaction, and emotional reset. In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie Vance and Lev Mazin speak with Oksana Sobol, Vice President of Consumer Insights at The Clorox Company. They discuss how people’s relationships with their homes are evolving. Drawing from the Home Care Redefined report, Oksana explains why emotional outcomes from cleaning are rising in importance, how “in-the-flow cleaning” is replacing traditional routines, and what these shifts signal for brands, researchers, and the future of home care innovation.
In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie Vance and Lev Mazin are joined by Oksana Sobol, Vice President of Consumer Insights at The Clorox Company. Oksana leads trend discovery and consumer trend landscaping at Clorox, helping the company translate cultural signals into strategic business decisions.
The conversation explores insights from the Home Care Redefined report, a major research initiative examining how Americans’ relationships with their homes are evolving. Oksana explains how Clorox identifies and validates long-term consumer trends, and why the most important signals often come from understanding what doesn’t change in consumer behavior.
A major shift the research uncovered is that emotional and social outcomes from cleaning are now as important as functional ones. Consumers increasingly see cleaning not just as a task, but as a reset. A way to restore a sense of control, accomplishment, and well-being. This shift is especially visible among younger generations, who approach cleaning with experimentation, creativity, and inspiration from social media.
Stephanie, Lev, and Oksana also discuss the rise of “in-the-flow” cleaning, where tasks are woven into daily routines rather than reserved for traditional deep cleaning sessions. This shift is reshaping product design, packaging, and innovation priorities for brands operating in the home care category.
The episode also explores how social media has transformed cleaning into a form of content and identity expression, creating new opportunities for researchers to observe behavior directly rather than relying solely on self-reported data.
Finally, Oksana shares how insights teams combine social listening, real-world observation, and traditional research to identify meaningful consumer trends and translate them into strategic opportunities for brands.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why the most valuable trends often come from identifying what doesn’t change in consumer behavior
- How emotional outcomes like satisfaction and control are reshaping the meaning of cleaning
- What the rise of “in-the-flow cleaning” reveals about modern lifestyles
- Why social media has become a powerful research environment
- How insights teams can identify unspoken consumer needs by watching what people do
- The three key sources of trend discovery: digital signals, real-world observation, and traditional research
- Why laundry remains one of the most unresolved consumer pain points in home care
Episode Resources:
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