Psychology of consumer behaviour I. Introduction to modern psychology

What is Consumer Psychology? • Consumer psychology is the study of human responses to product and service related information and experiences. • Consumer psychologists study consumer activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer’s emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses that precede, determine, or follow these activities. • A broad range of product and service related information is relevant to consumer psychology, including marketer initiated stimuli (e.g., advertisements, websites, package labels, coupons, point-of-purchase displays), consumer magazines and other media, as well as word-of-mouth communications from friends and relatives.

Consumer psychology employs theoretical psychological approaches to understanding consumers. Consumer psychologists draw upon social, cognitive, developmental, and other psychology domains. Consumer psychologists use a variety of research methods including quantitative (e.g., lab and field experiments, surveys) and qualitative (e.g., interviews, observation) approaches. The goals of consumer psychologists are to describe, predict, influence, and/or explain consumer responses.

Short history The field of consumer psychology grew as consumer society grew An increased interest in understanding consumers was driven by: • Increased production and adoption of consumer goods (ranging from Coca-Cola to household appliances and automobiles) in the 1920’s and 1930’s • The advent of advertising via radio (1920) and television (1941) • After World War II, governments around the world sought to strengthen their economies in part through increased consumer spending, further bolstering interest in this area. • In USA The Division of Consumer Psychology of the APA was formed in 1960 to represent psychologists whose interests lie in consumer-related topics. The name was changed in 1988 to The Society for Consumer Psychology.

Short history of modern psychology 1879 First psychology laboratory Wilhelm Wundt opens first experimental laboratory in psychology at the university of Leipzig, Germany. He established the psychology as an academic discipline. There is enough information about psychic states that they deserve to be studied within a specialized scientific branch not as a part of some other science

Short history of modern psychology 1883 First American psychology laboratory G. Stanley Hall, a student of W. Wundt, establishes the first US experimental laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. His interests were focused on childhood development and evolutionary theory. 1896 – he was supervising the study Of Peculiar and Exceptional Children which described a series of only child oddballs as permanent misfits. For decades, academics and advice columnists alike disseminated his conclusion that an only child could not be expected to go through life with the same capacity for adjustment that siblings possessed. "Being an only child is a disease in itself," he claimed. Freud, Darwin

Short history of modern psychology 1896 Functionalism Early school of psychology focuses on the acts and functions of the mind rather than its internal contents. Its most prominent American advocates are William James and John Dewey, whose 1896 article "The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology" promotes functionalism.

Short history of modern psychology 1896 Psychoanalysis The founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, introduces the term in a scholarly paper. Freud's psychoanalytic approach asserts that people are motivated by powerful, unconscious drives and conflicts. He develops an influential therapy based on this assertion, using free association and dream analysis.

Psychoanalysis The Unconscious The concept of the unconscious was central to Freud's account of the mind. The unconscious was first introduced in connection with the phenomenon of repression, to explain what happens to ideas that are repressed. Freud stated explicitly that the concept of the unconscious was based on the theory of repression. He postulated a cycle in which ideas are repressed, but remain in the mind, removed from consciousness yet operative, then reappear in consciousness under certain circumstances. The postulate was based upon the investigation of cases of traumatic hysteria, which revealed cases where the behavior of patients could not be explained without reference to ideas or thoughts of which they had no awareness. This fact, combined with the observation that such behavior could be artificially induced by hypnosis, in which ideas were inserted into people's minds, suggested that ideas were operative in the original cases, even though their subjects knew nothing of them.

Psychoanalysis Freud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level.  He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious.  While buried there, they continue to impact us dramatically according to Freud.

The role of the unconscious is only one part of the model The role of the unconscious is only one part of the model.  Freud also believed that everything we are aware of is stored in our conscious.  Our conscious makes up a very small part of who we are.  In other words, at any given time, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality; most of what we are is buried and inaccessible.   The final part is the preconscious or subconscious.  This is the part of us that we can access if prompted, but is not in our active conscious.  Its right below the surface, but still buried somewhat unless we search for it.  Information such as our telephone number, some childhood memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the preconscious. Because the unconscious is so large, and because we are only aware of the very small conscious at any given time, this theory has been likened to an iceberg, where the vast majority is buried beneath the water's surface.  The water, by the way, would represent everything that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that has not been integrated into our personalities, referred to as the nonconscious.

Id, ego and super ego According to Freud, we are born with our Id.  The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met.  Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle.  In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation.  When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries.  When the child needs to be changed, the id cries.  When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.   The id doesn't care about reality, about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction.  If you think about it, babies are not real considerate of their parents' wishes.  They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, relaxing, eating dinner, or bathing.  When the id wants something, nothing else is important.

Ego Defense Mechanisms We stated earlier that the ego's job was to satisfy the id's impulses, not offend the moralistic character of the superego, while still taking into consideration the reality of the situation.  We also stated that this was not an easy job.  Think of the id as the 'devil on your shoulder' and the superego as the 'angel of your shoulder.'  We don't want either one to get too strong so we talk to both of them, hear their perspective and then make a decision.  This decision is the ego talking, the one looking for that healthy balance. What drives the id, ego, and superego?  According to Freud, we only have two drives; sex and aggression.    Sex, also called Eros or the Life force, represents our drive to live, prosper, and produce offspring.  Aggression, also called Thanatos or our Death force, represents our need to stay alive and stave off threats to our existence, our power, and our prosperity.

Ego Defense Mechanisms Now the ego has a difficult time satisfying both the id and the superego, but it doesn't have to do so without help.  The ego has some tools it can use in its job as the mediator, tools that help defend the ego.  These are called Ego Defense Mechanisms or Defenses.  When the ego has a difficult time making both the id and the superego happy, it will employ one or more of these defenses:

1901 Manual of Experimental Psychology With publication of the Manual of Experimental Psychology, Edward Bradford Titchener introduces structuralism to the United States. Structuralism is the view that all mental experience can be understood as a combination of simple elements or events. This approach focuses on the contents of the mind, contrasting with functionalism. Structuralism fades after Titchener's death in 1927. – The whole is more than the summary of its parts.

1905 IQ tests Using standardized tests, Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon develop a scale of general intelligence on the basis of mental age. Later researchers refine this work into the concept of intelligence quotient; IQ, mental age over physical age. From their beginning, such tests' accuracy and fairness are challenged.

1913 Behaviorism John B. Watson publishes "Psychology as Behavior," launching behaviorism. In contrast to psychoanalysis, behaviorism focuses on observable and measurable behavior. Personality? Motivation? Unconscious? Soul? Where they are? Show them! Because it is not possible we will not deal with them.

Behaviourism an approach to psychology that combines elements of philosophy, methodology, and theory. The psychology should concern itself with the observable behavior of people and animals, not with unobservable events that take place in their minds. The behaviorist school maintains that behaviors as such can be described scientifically without recourse either to internal psychological events or to hypothetical constructs such as thoughts and beliefs. From early psychology in the 19th century, the behaviorist school ran concurrently with the psychoanalytic and Gestalt movements in psychology into the 20th century; Its main influences were Ivan Pavlov, who investigated classical conditioning although he did not necessarily agree with behaviorism or behaviorists; Edward Lee Thorndike, John B. Watson who rejected introspective methods and sought to restrict psychology to experimental methods, and B.F. Skinner who conducted research on operant conditioning. In the second half of the 20th century, behaviorism was largely eclipsed as a result of the cognitive revolution. While behaviorism and cognitive schools of psychological thought may not agree theoretically, they have complemented each other in practical therapeutic applications, such as in cognitive–behavioral therapy that has demonstrable utility in treating certain pathologies, such as simple phobias, and addiction. In addition, behaviorism sought to create a comprehensive model of the stream of behavior from the birth of a human to their death.

I.P. Pavlov – simple conditioning In simple conditioning, the dog was presented with a stimulus such as a light or a sound, and then food was placed in the dog's mouth. After a few repetitions of this sequence, the light or sound by itself caused the dog to salivate. Bell became a signal and the dog connected it with food.

Do not mix them up!!! Salivation when seeing food is unconditioned response. Food is unconditioned stimulus. Bell is conditioned stimulus. Salivation when hearing the bell - conditioned response.

Operant conditioning Operant conditioning was developed by B Operant conditioning   Operant conditioning was developed by B.F Skinner in 1937 and deals with the modification of "voluntary behaviour" or operant behaviour. Operant behavior operates on the environment and is maintained by its consequences. Skinner created the Skinner Box or operant conditioning chamber to test the effects of operant conditioning principles on rats.   Rat in a box with a small lever. When moving in the box the rat accidentally crosses the level and hits is. And voila – here comes the food. Rat – after she hits the lever accidentally few more times learns to press it purposefully.   2 core tools : Reward – everything that is pleasant, punishment = unpleasant (relative – 100 year old cognac offered to an abstinent). Reinforcement – the

Classic conditioning: the object is passive and only reacts Operant behaviour is active one - this is the main difference between the simple/classical and operant conditioning. Classic conditioning: the object is passive and only reacts Operant conditioning: the object creates the situations he/she wants. To learn and maintain such behavior it has to be reinforced. In the experiment described, the food was the means of reinforcement. The response that is not reinforced starts to go out. When food stops falling, the rat stops to press the lever after some time, too. The reinforcement is most efficient when it is irregular.

Operant behaviour in practice When an employee knows that his boss will check him every day at 11 and 15.00, his performance will be highest in these times. However when he knows that the boss will check him several times a day at random, his performance will be higher during the whole working hours.

Law of exercise: has two parts; the law of use and the law of disuse. Edward Lee Thorndike Law of effect- if an association is followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” it will be strengthened (we repeat it) and if it is followed by an “annoying state of affairs “ it will be weakened (we stop doing it). Law of exercise: has two parts; the law of use and the law of disuse. Law of use- the more often an association is used the stronger it becomes. Law of disuse- the longer an association is unused the weaker it becomes. Law of recency- the most recent response is most likely to reoccur. Law of effect explains many behaviour with unclear motivation – when someone repeats certain behaviour, he gets something out of it (go to work, lock door, regular quarrels with partner, nasty child…)

1935 Gestalt psychology Kurt Koffka, a founder of the movement, publishes his Principles of Gestalt Psychology. Gestalt means „whole“ or „essence“. That is why gestalt psychology asserts that psychological phenomena must be viewed not as individual elements but as a coherent whole (chair). The whole is more than the summary of parts…. Study of learning processes: they introduced the concept of „learning by insight“ – and „aha“ experience (you look at something and for certain period you do not know what to do with it – and then – blick – and you know, you understand.

1954 Biopsychology In his studies of epilepsy, neuroscientist Wilder G. Penfield begins to uncover the relationship between chemical activity in the brain and psychological phenomena. His findings set the stage for widespread research on the biological role in psychological phenomena. Another representative of biopsychology is Roger Sperry (Nobel prize winner). Biopsychologist dealt with a issue of inheritability – and untill now there is no final conclusion: is a man product of his genes or are his qualities influeced more by the environment? "nature versus nurture„ test

1954 Humanistic Psychology In the wake of psychoanalysis (dark science saying that man is governed by his primitive urges) and behaviorism (reducing man to a reacting animal), humanistic psychology emerges as the "third force" in psychology. Led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, who publishes Motivation and Personality in 1954, this approach centers on the conscious mind, free will, human dignity, and the capacity for self-actualization. Maslow as well as Rogers stressed the need of self-actualization and consideres the self-actualization one of the basic needs of a man. Also, he develops Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Man always needs something – once he gets it he needs something else.

1963 Cognitive psychology Inspired by work in mathematics and other disciplines, psychologists begin to focus on cognitive states and processes. George A. Miller's 1956 article "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two" on information processing is an early application of the cognitive approach. The main focus of cognitive psychologists is on the mental processes that affect behavior – mainly attention (test with headphones), memory and perception. Cognitive psychology is linked to the development of computers in 20th century. Human mind was compared to computer. Nerves = hardware, ideas = software (computer metaphore). Computer terminology is used frequently (input, output). They expanded the psychology of behaviorism - they inserted into S ► R the third part, cognitive processes and claimed that man is actively processing information and stimuli – man is not just responsing, passive.

1976 Evolutionary psychology Richard Dawkins publishes The Selfish Gene, which begins to popularize the idea of evolutionary psychology. This approach applies principles from evolutionary biology to the structure and function of the human brain. It offers new ways of looking at social phenomena such as aggression and sexual behavior.

Social psychology Studies how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Social psychologists therefore deal with the factors that lead us to behave in a given way in the presence of others, and look at the conditions under which certain behavior/actions and feelings occur. Social psychology is concerned with the way these feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions and goals are constructed and how such psychological factors, in turn, influence our interactions with others. One of the most attractive psychological branches It monitors and tries to understand how we cooperate and compete, how we get to know other people, how people develop, the process of leader- sheep herd etc.

Albert Bandura – Bobo doll experiment- demonstrated how aggression is learned by imitation. This was one of the first studies in a long line of research showing how exposure to media violence leads to aggressive behavior in the observers Stanley Milgram – focuses on obedience as a form of compliance. Study - people were ready to administer shocks to a person in distress on a researcher's command.   In the Stanford prison study, by Philip Zimbardo, a simulated exercise between student prisoners and guards showed how far people would follow an adopted role. In just a few days, the "guards" became brutal and cruel, and the prisoners became miserable and compliant. This was initially argued to be an important demonstration of the power of the immediate social situation and its capacity to overwhelm normal personality traits 

Learning process - vicarious reinforcement