1. Learning, Memory and Perception
Consumer Behaviour
Learning,
Memory and
Perception

2. Learning
Can be defined as relatively permanent change on behavior occurring as a result of experience.
(experience may be of purchase and consumption)

3. Consumer Learning Processes
Cognitive Learning (Thinking)
Consumers learn through information processing and problem solving
Behavioral Learning (Conditioning)
Learning via association (classical conditioning)
Learning via reinforcement (instrumental cond.)
both with help of external stimuli and response (S-R)
Modeling Processes (Modeling)
Based on observation of outcomes and consequences experienced by others

4. Behavioral learning theory.
Two approaches of the theory
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Says that learning is an associative process with an already existing relationship b/w a stimuli and response. that is not taught rather it already exists.
e.g. of food and salivation

5. Classical conditioning (continued)
–learning results from a relationship between a stimulus and a response
Pavlov and his salivating dogs: a conditioned stimulus (the ringing bell before each feeding) results in a conditioned response (salivation)
Marketing applications
Higher order conditioning and celebrity advertising
Strength of the unconditioned stimulus
Number of pairings
New versus existing products

6. This Brita ad uses classical conditioning

7. Operant/Instrumental conditioning
The individual must actively operate or act on some aspect of environment for learning to ossur.Also called instrumental conditioning.
Is that learner or consumer will discover the appropriate response that will be reinforced.

8. Instrumental Conditioning Process
Behavior
(consumer uses
product or service)
Positive or negative
consequences occur
(reward or punishment)
Increase or decrease in
probability of repeat
behavior (purchase)

9. Memory

10. Memory Two sources of product information:
External environment: packaging, labels, POS displays, prices, other marketing information
Memory: past experiences, word-of-mouth, family preferences
Network of nodes (concepts) and links (connections)
Scripts: information organized in memory around different types of events or episodes (e.g., a restaurant script)

11. How Information is Captured and Stored in Memory
Memory processing areas:
New information is initially captured in sensory memory.
processing is shallow; capacity is limited
*see notes
Sensory memory is the shortest-term element of memory. It is the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimuli have ended. It acts as a kind of buffer for stimuli received through the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, which are retained accurately, but very briefly. For example, the ability to look at something and remember what it looked like with just a second of observation is an example of sensory memory. Sensory memory is an ultra-short-term memory and decays or degrades very quickly, typically in the region of milliseconds.

12. (May I have your attention please?)
Continued…
Information is transmitted from sensory memory to short-term memory (STM).
Analyzing and assigning meaning; limited capacity to a finite number of pieces (units of memory); information may be rehearsed to retain its meaning
Information is passed from the sensory memory into short-term memory via the process of attention
(May I have your attention please?)
Attention:  The cognitive process of selectively focusing on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things, which filters the stimuli to only those which are of interest at any given time

13. Information rehearsed in Short term memory (STM) is transmitted to long-term memory (LTM) for storage and retrieval as needed; LTM capacity is unlimited
Examples :

14. Information Retention
It refers to the amount of material previously learned that is remembered
Forgetting – the loss in retention of material previously learned
Retention is affected by:
Incoming information
The person receiving the information

15. Retention: Characteristics of Incoming Information and Processing
Repetition or rehearsal
Relevance
Competing information (new information competes with old; ad “clutter” issue)
Completeness of information – if incomplete, info retained for later completion)
Time (delay time since exposure)
Mood (positive mood impact)

16. How Retention is Influenced by the Information Recipient
Consumer familiarity or experience
Being more familiar with a product category increases the chances of remembering information about new or existing brands
Affects way information is organized in memory
Consumer motivation
Higher motivation to process info is positively related to doing so at deeper levels of memory and to retain info longer and more accurately.

17. How Information is Retrieved from Memory
Retrieval cues – “self-” or “externally-” generated (sensory images: sounds, shapes, colors, smells,etc.)
Consumer’s state of mind: higher retrieval levels occur when info processing and retrieval mood and/or interest levels match

18. Information Storage in Memory – Processing Effects
Recall of numerically-coded information is better than verbal information

19. Sensation and Perception
Sensation is the immediate response of our sensory receptors (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and fingers) to basic stimuli (light, color, sound, odor, and texture).
Perception is the process by which sensations are selected, organized, and interpreted.
Like computers we undergo stages of information processing in which we input and store stimuli. We receive external stimuli or sensory inputs on a number of channels. The inputs our five senses detect are the raw data that begin in the perceptional process.

20. Figure 2.1 Perceptual Process
We receive external
stimuli through
our five senses
Figure 2.1 shows that there are three stages that make up the process of perception. These are exposure, attention, and interpretation.

21. Hedonic Consumption
Hedonic consumption: multisensory, fantasy, and emotional aspects of consumers’ interactions with products
Marketers use impact of sensations on consumers’ product experiences
Target is an example of a retail store that has done very well using sensation to relate to consumers.

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Sensory Systems
Our world is a symphony of colors, sounds, odors, tastes
Advertisements, product packages, radio and TV commercials, billboards provide sensations
Sensory marketing means that companies pay extra attention to how our sensations affect our product experiences. Marketers recognize that our senses help us to decide which products appeal to us.
9/16/2018
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

23. Vision Color provokes emotion
Reactions to color are biological and cultural
Color is becoming brighter and more complex
Trade dress: colors associated with specific companies
Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in advertising, store design, and packaging. They communicate meanings on the visual channel through a product’s color, size, and styling. Color can also be part of a brand’s sensory signature.

24. Vertical-Horizontal Illusion
Which line is longer: horizontal or vertical?
Answer: both lines are same length
This figure illustrates that our perceptions regarding vision are not always accurate.

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Scents
Odors create mood and promote memories:
Coffee = childhood, home
Cinnamon buns = Romance
Marketers use scents:
Inside products
In promotions (e.g., scratch ‘n sniff)
Odor can affect our moods and emotions. They can invoke memories or relieve or create stress. An interest in scent has spawned new products. Some brands utilize scent easily. For instance, Starbucks requires baristas to grind a batch of coffee each time they brew a post instead of just once each morning to ensure customers have that intense smell during their Starbucks’ experience.
Ad companies spend about $80 million per year on scent marketing. For example, Burger King offered Flame, a body spray that smelled like flame broiled meat.
9/16/2018
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

26. Sound Sound affects people’s feelings and behaviors
Uses sound and music to create mood
High tempo = more stimulation
Slower tempo = more relaxing
Stores and restaurants often play certain kinds of music to create a certain mood.

27. Touch
Haptic senses—or “touch”—is the most basic of senses; we learn this before vision and smell
Haptic senses affect product experience and judgment
Kinsei engineering is a Japanese philosophy that translates customers’ feelings into design elements
Recent research found that participants who simply touch an item for 30 seconds or less had a greater level of attachment with the product. This connection in turn boosted what they were willing to pay for it. Some anthropologists view touch like a primal language. Researchers are starting to identify the role haptic sense plays in consumer behavior. Haptic senses appear to moderate the relationship between product experience and judgment confidence. Kinsei engineering helps marketers to understand how to design products to follow a consumer sense of touch. For instance, the Mazda Miata was designed to emulate the feeling of a horse and rider as one.

28. Table 2.1 Tactile-Quality Associations
Perception
Fine
High class
Wool
Silk
Low class
Denim
Cotton
Coarse
Heavy
Light

29. Taste Flavor houses develop new invention for consumer palates
Cultural changes determine desirable tastes
The more respect we have for ethnic dishes, the more spicy food we desire
Our taste receptors contribute to our experience of many products. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo use the tongue to test the quality of corn syrups. A food item’s image and the values we attach to it influence how we experience the actual taste. For instance, as consumer appreciation for ethnic foods increases, our desire for spicy food increases.

30. Exposure
Exposure occurs when a stimulus comes within range of someone’s sensory receptors
We can concentrate, ignore, or completely miss stimuli
Cadillac’s 5 second ad
We notice stimuli that come within range for even a very short time if we choose. That’s why Cadillac developed a 5-second commercial to illustrate that Cadillac’s can go from zero to 60 in less than 5 seconds.

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Absolute threshold
There are some stimuli that people cannot perceive. The absolute threshold is the minimum stimulation to be noticed. For example, the sound of a dog whistle is too high for human ears to detect – it is beyond our auditory absolute threshold. The absolute threshold is an important consideration in designing marketing stimuli.
9/16/2018
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

32. Differential Threshold
The ability of a sensory system to detect changes or differences between two stimuli
Minimum difference between two stimuli is the j.n.d. (just noticeable difference)
Example: packaging updates must be subtle enough over time to keep current customers
Example: ABBEY to SANTANDER Bank
The differential threshold is the ability of a sensory system to detect changes of differences between two stimuli. The minimum difference we can detect between two is the just noticeable difference of j.n.d. For instance, if we made a package smaller to cut our costs, we would want to make the change under the j.n.d. so that customers did not notice that they were getting less product for the price.

33. Subliminal Perception
Subliminal perception occurs when stimulus is below the level of the consumer’s awareness.
Rumors of subliminal advertising are rampant—though there’s little proof that it occurs.
Most researchers believe that subliminal techniques are not of much use in marketing.

34. Subliminal Techniques
Embeds: figures that are inserted into magazine advertising by using high-speed photography or airbrushing.
Subliminal auditory perception: sounds, music, or voice text inserted into advertising.
Marketers can use both visual and aural channels to send subliminal messages, supposedly. Embeds are tiny figures that are inserted into magazine advertising via high-speed photography or airbrushing. These hidden figures supposedly exert a strong but unconscious influence on the reader. We can do something similar for auditory messages. However, there is no evidence to support that subliminal stimuli can bring about desired changes in behavior.

35. Attention
Attention is the extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus
Consumers are often in a state of sensory overload
Marketers need to break through the clutter
Attention refers to the extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus. The allocation of processing activity can vary depending on the characteristics of the stimulus and the recipient. Although we live in an information society, consumers are often in a state of sensory overload. Sensory overload means consumers are exposed to far more information than they can process. Much of this comes from commercial sources. We are exposed to thousands of advertising messages each day in addition to the other types of stimuli we sense. This camera ad from Singapore reminds us that consumers do tune out stimuli.

36. Gestalt Theory of Perception
Gestalt , loosely translated into English, means “shape” or “form”
Gestalt principle: the whole adds up to more than the sum of its parts
People perceive “form” or Shape above all else
Applications: size, actual/illusion of motion, bordering for ads or displays while really the same

37. What do you perceive?

40. In an image, we can study the relationship between its elements, separately or
together, to develop the message we want to transmit to the receiver.

41. Factors Influencing Gestalt Perception
Stimulus factors: color and contrast, size, intensity, position, isolation, and unity
Individual response factors: interest, involvement, needs, values, and cognitive set

42. Perceptions of Product/Service Quality
Perceived quality – a perceptual outcome generated from processing product or service features (benefits delivered) that leads the consumer to make inferences about the quality of that product or service
Dimensions of perceived quality for durable goods: ease of use, versatility, durability, serviceability, performance, and prestige
Perceived high quality  product satisfaction

43. Risk Perception/Risk Reduction
It refers to a perceptual process and behavior outcomes generated from the perception of risk in the purchase or a product or service
Components of risk:
Severity of consequences (how bad will it be)
Uncertainty related to those consequences (what are the chances the consequence will occur)
Risk reduction strategies: behaviors to reduce their perception of risk in purchase situations

44. Price Perception
Consumers perceive a price as either high or low on the basis of a comparison with an internal price (or referent price).
Price perceptions and the social judgment theory – “regions”
“Assimilation” (acceptable)
and “contrast” (too high or low)

45. Perceived Value
The trade-off between product benefits and product costs.
Perceived value = perceived benefits / perceived costs