EXPOSURE, PERCEPTION, AND ATTENTION

Exposure Coming into contact with a stimulus Some factors influencing exposure Ad placement Shelf placement of items Selective exposure: Trying to limit exposure to sources that agree with one’s current beliefs Consumer attempts to limit exposure to stimuli not of interest—e.g., “Do not call” lists Ad blocking software Skipping through ads Zipping: Fast forward through pre-recorded ads Zapping: Channel surfing during ads

Responding to Consumer Ad Avoidance Control measures On-line ad click-throughs—must find “X” to close the ad Disabled fast forwarding feature on DVRs Short ad must be watched to see content Variation: “Can skip ad in __ seconds.” Alternatives Op-in Advertising at places of boredom (e.g., on public transportation and airline baggage claim areas) Choice from among different product types advertised

Characteristics of Attention Limited—cannot give priority to all that is ongoing Information overload Selective Some stimuli are given priority based on Interest/relevance Situation Can be divided Some potential for multi-tasking Excessive distractions can cause problems (e.g., cell phones and driving)

Focal vs. non-focal Focal Non-focal Stimuli chosen for attention May involve unconscious (preattentive) processing May have impact on brand choice and affect

Pre-attentive Processing Processing of massive amounts of environmental information done at the unconscious level More critical and relevant stimuli will be identified for conscious attention Danger Personal relevance--e.g., recognizing one’s name in a conversation by others at a cocktail party and then being able to “go back” and register information coming immediately before

Enhancing Attention Personal relevance Pleasantness of stimuli Novelty Attractive models Music Humor (subject to certain caveats) May get the consumer to focus on the advertisement but not the product Novelty Unexpectedness/ surprise Puzzles Prominent stimuli (contrast) Concrete stimuli Minimum competing stimuli

Habituation Details may be ignored as their presence is experienced more routinely May need to vary and/or change Packaging Advertising

Perception Process of determining qualities of a stimulus based on five senses: Vision Hearing Taste Smell Touch

Perceiving Through Vision Size and shape Lettering Image location on page Color Judgment of stimulus Mood Liking

Perceiving Through Hearing and Taste Sounds associated with brands Difficult to tune out Taste Evolutionary preferences Individual variations Often driven in large part by smell

Perceiving Through Smell Strong emotional link High sensory priority (highly diagnostic of danger) Impact on people Aroma therapy Attention Association Liking Trial Purchasing

Sensory Thresholds Absolute thresholds Differential thresholds “Just noticeable difference” (JND) “Down-sizing” of products Subliminal messages Generally cannot pick up on more than one or two syllables (auditory) Logos may influence affect

The Mythical Theater Experiments Admitted to be a hoax These messages are much longer than the 1-2 syllables the brain can pick up Tachistoscope research: People giggle at “dirty” words exposed for a fraction of a second but not at neutral ones (those exposed to dirty words do not consciously know specifically what they saw) An advertising executive claimed in 1957 to have “spliced” messages of “EAT POPCORN” or “DRINK COCA COLA” into film footage (24 frames per second in traditional movie films) A frame with the message inserted every, say, 20th frame Not consciously notable Claimed that popcorn sales increased 57% and Coca Cola sales by 18% on days the respective message was used

“Priming” and unconscious influence Who is likely to be happier in life, all other things being equal? Bernard Allen Daniels James Obidiah Young Priming—planting concepts in consumer minds (e.g., brand anagrams containing either luxury or undistinguished car brands) Visual associations Credit card logo impact on cash donations to charity Musical associations

Perception of Stimuli Perceptual organization (making sense of disparate stimuli as a whole) Figure and ground Usually cannot see both image possibilities at the same time Grouping

Comprehension Source identification Determining what is perceived May involve categorization Objective comprehension: Is meaning taken away consistent with actual statement? Subjective comprehension: Additional meaning and inferences Miscomprehension Cultural impact: High vs. low context cultures

Literal and Non-Literal Interpretations Figures of speech Slang “Get out of here” “Graveyard shift” Metaphorical expressions “In the ball park” “Eat my words” Sarcasm “That’s just great!” Hyperbole or exaggeration “I could eat a horse” “You’re the best mom in the World” Simplified statements

High Context Cultures Generally, in more homogenous cultures, there are more “unwritten” rules and expectations In more heterogeneous cultures, expectations are not as readily shared Interpretation of behavior Symbolic meaning of items

Consumer Inferences From brand names and symbols Numbers in brand names From product features and packaging From price From retail setting

Consumer Social Inferences The “Carla Game”—telling people that Carla drives a minivan causes people to make likely inferences—certain cues are considered more “diagnostic” Based on experience and culture An individual may incorrectly interpret based on his or her own beliefs and preferences Can involve very complex reasoning based on cues (e.g., “My grandma is an Episcopalian.”)