Perception, Learning and Memory

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Questions and Answers

What are some factors that can influence attention?

Stimulus and individual factors

Internal and external factors (correct)

Individual and situational factors

Situational and stimulus factors

What is interpretation in the perception process?

The set of mechanisms that sustain focus on information

The meaning we assign to sensory stimuli (correct)

The physical characteristics of the stimulus

The extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus

What is the role of technology in observing attention?

It can determine the physical characteristics of the stimulus

It can influence what we notice and what we ignore (correct)

It can sustain focus on information most relevant for behavior

It can assign meaning to sensory stimuli

What are some stimulus factors that can influence attention?

Physical characteristics of the stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What are some individual factors that can influence attention?

Perceptual vigilance and perceptual defense Signup and view all the answers

What is the first stage of the perception process?

Exposure Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of attention?

The extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What is perceptual vigilance?

The tendency to notice certain stimuli and ignore others Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of interpretation?

The meaning we assign to sensory stimuli Signup and view all the answers

What are the factors that determine interpretation?

Individual, situational, and stimulus characteristics Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of technology in understanding attention?

Eye-tracking allows marketers to observe what consumers pay visual attention to Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between perceptual vigilance and perceptual defense?

Perceptual vigilance is the tendency to notice certain stimuli and ignore others, while perceptual defense is the tendency to interpret stimuli in a way that is consistent with existing beliefs Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between Short-term Memory (STM) and Long-term Memory (LTM)?

STM is a portion of total memory that is currently activated or in use while LTM is devoted to permanent information storage Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between Semantic memory and Episodic memory?

Semantic memory is the basic knowledge and feelings an individual has about a concept while Episodic memory is the memory of a sequence of events in which a person participated Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between Brand-specific and Product category memory?

Brand-specific memory is the memory stored in terms of the claims the brand makes while Product category memory is the memory stored in terms of how the product works Signup and view all the answers

What is classical conditioning?

The process of using an established relationship between a stimulus and response to bring about the learning of a different response to a different stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What is negative reinforcement?

Something negative is removed from a person’s experience to increase the likelihood of a behavior Signup and view all the answers

What is iconic rote learning?

Concepts are learned without conditioning Signup and view all the answers

What does brand image refer to?

The schematic memory of a brand Signup and view all the answers

What is product positioning?

Creating a defined brand image relative to competition within a market segment Signup and view all the answers

What is product repositioning?

A deliberate decision to significantly alter the way the market views a product Signup and view all the answers

What role do traditional food retailers play in exposing consumers to new product offerings?

A pivotal role Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary purpose of food product labels?

To communicate with customers Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between food labels and decision-making?

Food labels are one of many cues that can be used to reduce risk and evaluate quality, shaping product expectations and influencing decision-making Signup and view all the answers

What has led to increased interest in labelling as a means of communicating product information?

Health concerns related to dietary behaviour Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary reason why labels have been ineffective in enacting dietary change at a population level?

Discrepancy between label penetration and actual usage Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between motivation and behaviour?

Motivation can influence behaviour through providing energy and direction Signup and view all the answers

What are goals viewed as in relation to motivation?

A discrepancy-creating process with motivational properties Signup and view all the answers

What do consumers rely on when seeking to interpret labelling?

Existing product category knowledge and the information immediately available Signup and view all the answers

What research methods were used to explore factors influencing consumers' engagement with food product labels?

Qualitative approach Signup and view all the answers

Why were self-reported label usage measures avoided in the study?

They are prone to over-reporting and mis-reporting Signup and view all the answers

What are the limitations of eye-tracking measures in the study?

They do not always indicate attention Signup and view all the answers

What is the cued retrospective think-aloud protocol used for in the study?

To address limitations of eye-tracking stemming from lack of introspection Signup and view all the answers

What is the focus of the retrospective think-aloud protocol in the study?

To address limitations of eye-tracking Signup and view all the answers

What are the potential drawbacks of using self-reported measures in the study?

They may capture more of the motivational component of label usage than objective measures Signup and view all the answers

Why were labels designed specifically for the study?

To reduce familiarity effect and ensure accuracy of equipment used Signup and view all the answers

How many yogurt labels were analyzed in the study to design the labels used in the study?

38 Signup and view all the answers

What eye-tracking system was used in the study?

Gazepoint GP3 Signup and view all the answers

What was the resolution of the LCD monitor used in the study?

1920 × 1080 Signup and view all the answers

What task were the participants assigned in the study?

Open-ended task to evaluate product offerings for a typical food shop Signup and view all the answers

How far were the participants seated from the computer monitor?

60 cm Signup and view all the answers

How many participants were recruited for the study?

17 Signup and view all the answers

What was the sampling strategy used in the study?

Purposive maximum variation sampling using an extended network method Signup and view all the answers

What software program was used for data analysis in the study?

NVivo 11 Signup and view all the answers

Was quantitative data analysis conducted in the study?

No Signup and view all the answers

What are the three key themes identified in consumer interactions with food labelling related to decision-making?

Attention, existing knowledge, and established mechanisms Signup and view all the answers

What can disrupt established search behavior through attention capture without the participant becoming consciously aware of the disruption?

Label design Signup and view all the answers

What role do goals play in shaping interactions with food labelling?

A significant role Signup and view all the answers

What are the three distinct cohorts of consumers based on their health goals?

Those with low goal negotiability and high goal specificity, those with avoidance health goals, and those with approach goals relating to general health and wellbeing. Signup and view all the answers

What did participants in the study show in terms of their motivation for decision-making with low involvement products?

Low motivation Signup and view all the answers

What did some consumers see as linked when it comes to fat and sugar content in food products?

Fat and carbohydrate content Signup and view all the answers

What did highly motivated consumers do in terms of seeking out information and decision-making?

Actively sought out information and engaged in incidental learning Signup and view all the answers

What did participants struggle with when it comes to understanding and processing nutritional information?

Nutritional information Signup and view all the answers

What are the two dominant strategies identified in the study?

Clarification and Simplification Signup and view all the answers

Which strategy involves deeper information processing and is characterized by a slower and more deliberative decision-making process?

Clarification Signup and view all the answers

What tends to occur among more involved consumers, with consumer involvement defined in terms of risk importance and existing in the presence of clearly defined goals relating to health and dietary restrictions?

Clarification strategies Signup and view all the answers

What is a key element of clarification strategies, driven by a need to verify product claims owing to a disposition of distrust at a product-specific or food industry level?

Verification of product claims Signup and view all the answers

Which strategy leverages a small number of associations in long-term memory to reduce the immediate cognitive burden and expedite decision-making, particularly in the new purchase context, reflecting the less motivated state of these consumers?

Simplification Signup and view all the answers

What contributes to the use of simplification strategies, according to the study?

Existing knowledge structures held in long-term memory and low self-efficacy, relating to understanding and interpretation of labeling information Signup and view all the answers

What led to beliefs that information distortion was an integral part of the framing of food benefits, resulting in a perceived need to engage a more critical evaluation stance when considering new products which offered personally relevant benefits?

Dispositions of distrust towards the food industry Signup and view all the answers

Which strategy was used in a fast and automated way, relying on a limited number of familiar product cues, particularly where information overload was experienced and where goals driving product category engagement were partially or poorly specified?

Simplification Signup and view all the answers

What are the two dominant strategies identified in the study?

Clarification and simplification strategies Signup and view all the answers

Which type of consumers tended to use clarification strategies?

Consumers with high risk importance and clearly defined goals relating to health and dietary restrictions Signup and view all the answers

What facilitated the use of simplification strategies?

Familiarity with the product category Signup and view all the answers

What was a key element of clarification strategies?

Verification of product claims Signup and view all the answers

What contributed to the use of simplification strategies?

Understanding and interpretation of labeling information Signup and view all the answers

What was a distinction drawn between in terms of communication channels used to inform product evaluations?

Manufacturer- and consumer-dominated information channels Signup and view all the answers

What did participants who predominantly exhibited the use of simplification strategies indicate about their health concerns?

They had no specific health concerns affecting their decisions Signup and view all the answers

What did distrust towards the food industry lead to?

Beliefs that information distortion was an integral part of the framing of food benefits Signup and view all the answers

What determines whether information is considered for product evaluation purposes?

Motivational relevance Signup and view all the answers

What is the most influential factor in determining the specificity of health goals?

Non-negotiable health goals Signup and view all the answers

What is the impact of discrepancies in understanding labeling information?

Divergent and sometimes inaccurate interpretation Signup and view all the answers

What is the problematic notion related to the 'average' consumer?

The 'average' consumer is problematic Signup and view all the answers

What is the trade-off between experimental control and environmental validity?

Restricted immediate interactions Signup and view all the answers

What is the need for incorporating introspective techniques in reflecting the consumer experience?

To capture the motivational component of label usage Signup and view all the answers

What is the limitation of attention in instances of low-motivational relevance?

Attention's full potential is not being currently met Signup and view all the answers

What is the need for needs-based information provision in the new product context?

Attention capture alone is not sufficient Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

The Perception Process: Exposure, Attention, and Interpretation

Perception is a three-stage process: Exposure, Attention, and Interpretation.
Exposure is when a stimulus comes within the range of someone’s sensory receptors.
Attention is the extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus.
Attention can be viewed as a set of mechanisms that sustain focus on information most relevant for behavior.
Attention is influenced by internal and external factors.
Stimulus factors include physical characteristics of the stimulus itself, which influence what we notice and what we ignore.
Individual factors include perceptual vigilance and perceptual defense.
Situational factors include clutter and program involvement.
Technology such as eye-tracking allows marketers to observe what consumers pay visual attention to.
Interpretation refers to the meaning we assign to sensory stimuli, which is based on a schema.
Interpretation is determined by individual, situational, and stimulus characteristics.
Interpretation is highly subjective and varies depending on our existing knowledge.

The Perception Process: Exposure, Attention, and Interpretation

Perception is a three-stage process: Exposure, Attention, and Interpretation.
Exposure is when a stimulus comes within the range of someone’s sensory receptors.
Attention is the extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus.
Attention can be viewed as a set of mechanisms that sustain focus on information most relevant for behavior.
Attention is influenced by internal and external factors.
Stimulus factors include physical characteristics of the stimulus itself, which influence what we notice and what we ignore.
Individual factors include perceptual vigilance and perceptual defense.
Situational factors include clutter and program involvement.
Technology such as eye-tracking allows marketers to observe what consumers pay visual attention to.
Interpretation refers to the meaning we assign to sensory stimuli, which is based on a schema.
Interpretation is determined by individual, situational, and stimulus characteristics.
Interpretation is highly subjective and varies depending on our existing knowledge.

Factors influencing consumer motivation to engage with food product labelling

Traditional food retailers continue to play a pivotal role in exposing consumers to new product offerings and act as the primary forum for purchasing decisions.
Food product labels remain an important communication medium for manufacturers and customers.
Food labels represent one of many cues that can be used to reduce risk and evaluate quality, shaping product expectations and influencing decision-making.
There has been increased interest in labelling as a means of communicating product information, particularly nutritional information, due to health concerns related to dietary behaviour.
Labels have been ineffective in enacting dietary change at a population level, with the discrepancy between label penetration and actual usage being the subject of much investigation.
Motivation has been demonstrated to influence behaviour through acting as a force which provides energy and direction to behaviour enactment.
Goals can be viewed as a “discrepancy-creating process” and have motivational properties.
Food labels are comprised of different components and labelling systems, which seek to inform consumer decision-making.
Consumers have limited capacity to process all of the information available to them and when seeking to interpret labelling they rely on the information immediately available and existing knowledge.
Consumers regularly use existing product category knowledge when evaluating new products within a category.
Working memory is a useful means through which to further our understanding of food label usage.
The primary factors influencing consumer motivation to engage with food product labelling as part of the new product evaluation process include personal dispositions and individual idiosyncrasies.

Methodology for Exploring Factors Influencing Consumers' Engagement with Food Product Labels

Qualitative approach used to explore individual and environmental factors influencing consumers' engagement with food product labels
Eye-tracking methods, retrospective think-aloud protocol, and semi-structured interviewing employed to identify and explore label usage determinants
Self-reported label usage measures avoided due to concerns of over-reporting and mis-reporting
Eye-tracking measures physiological responses to visual stimuli, but fixation does not always indicate attention
Cued retrospective think-aloud protocol integrated into semi-structured interview schedule to address limitations of eye-tracking stemming from lack of introspection
RTA focuses on sequence of cognitive events occurring during participant engagement with information stimuli
Sole reliance on eye-tracking measures raises questions about whether attended information was incorporated into decision-making process
Self-reported measures may capture more of the motivational component of label usage than objective measures
Concurrency in think-aloud protocol may disrupt normal search behavior and not easily capture automated processes
Labels designed specifically for this study to reduce familiarity effect and ensure accuracy of equipment used
Content analysis of 38 yogurt labels on Irish marketplace used to design labels in compliance with existing regulation and familiar to consumers
Five labels designed with total label density ranging from 18 to 32 content codes, logically distributed across front-of-pack and back-of-pack.

Eye-tracking experiment design and sampling strategy for a study on food label usage

Eye-tracking system used was Gazepoint GP3 with a recording frequency of 60 Hz and accuracy of 0.5-1.0 degrees of visual angle.
Labels were presented on a Dell P2314 23-inch LCD monitor with 1920 × 1080 resolution using the Gazepoint Analysis UX software package.
Participants were seated 60 cm from the computer monitor and underwent a 9-point calibration prior to the experiment.
Participants were assigned an open-ended task to evaluate product offerings for a typical food shop.
Fixation cross was presented before each stimulus for a duration of 1 s and no time limit was placed on viewing the stimuli.
17 participants were recruited through purposive maximum variation sampling using an extended network method, with theoretical saturation achieved with n=16 participants.
Participants had to have a substantial role in food shopping for the household, be purchasers within the yogurt category, and have normal or corrected to normal vision.
Sampling strategy aimed to obtain "information-rich cases" and achieve heterogeneity in sex, age, and socio-economic backgrounds.
One participant was excluded from analysis due to insufficient accuracy in calibration.
Thematic approach proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006) was used for data analysis facilitated by NVivo 11 software program.
Quantitative data analysis was not conducted due to the use of open-ended task assignment and small sample size.
Saturation was evidenced through a constant comparative approach to code development and peer discussions within the research team, with a consensus reached among all members of the research team.

Key Themes in Consumer Interactions with Food Labelling

Three key themes were identified in consumer interactions with food labelling related to decision-making: attention and motivational relevance, existing knowledge structures and idiosyncrasies, and established mechanisms or scripts for acquiring and utilizing information.
Attention is a prerequisite for cognitive processing of labelling stimuli, either as a result of purposeful goal-driven activities or stimulus-driven attention capture.
Label design can disrupt established search behavior through attention capture, without the participant becoming consciously aware of the disruption.
Information checkpoints, such as product claims or branding, act as barriers or facilitators for further label usage.
Goals play a significant role in shaping interactions with food labelling, with non-negotiable health goals tending to be more involved in the decision-making process.
There are three distinct cohorts of consumers based on their health goals: those with low goal negotiability and high goal specificity, those with avoidance health goals, and those with approach goals relating to general health and wellbeing.
Participants' desire to attain multiple goals can give rise to personal conflict, leading to a sense of unease or discomfort.
Environmental cues, including food labels, can serve to promote direction of cognitive resources to longer-term goals.
Sense-making tends to draw on a combination of incidental and intentional learning, but learning and understanding can be hampered by information overload and uncertainty.
Consumers express confusion when confronted with conflicting messaging related to product claims.
Purchase decisions for new products often rely on a limited number of learning occasions.
Associative learning is less cognitively demanding and is used for incidental learning.Consumer Understanding and Use of Nutritional Labels
Participants in the study showed varying levels of motivation in their decision-making process for low involvement products.
Fat and sugar content were often seen as linked, with low-fat claims acting as a warning signal for some consumers to avoid products.
Highly motivated consumers actively sought out information and engaged in intentional learning to make informed decisions.
Participants developed strategies to find information and educate themselves, including using trusted products as a basis for comparison in new product contexts.
High levels of subjective knowledge reduced consumer motivation to learn and may contribute to entrenched beliefs.
Existing subjective knowledge and self-efficacy beliefs shaped interactions with information, potentially leading to erroneous conclusions.
Participants were reasonably confident in evaluating products based on sensory characteristics but struggled to understand and process nutritional information.
Some consumers disregarded information or products when encountering difficulties processing information.
Participants developed strategies to maximize the likelihood of obtaining the best products for their needs without actively learning more about labeling information.
Acknowledged knowledge gaps were framed in terms of others' knowledge to justify a lack of willingness to engage in more cognitively burdensome learning processes.
Nutritional information was used to reach product evaluations on health dimensions as well as products' sensory characteristics.
Participants suggested that the food industry has a responsibility to make label content more accessible, but were unclear as to how this might be achieved.

Strategies for Using Information in Consumer Decision Making

Participants in the study developed strategies to navigate their information landscape in the purchasing environment, based on limited cognitive abilities, divergent goals, and variations in information provision.
Two dominant strategies were identified: clarification and simplification strategies.
Simplification strategies were used in a fast and automated way, relying on a limited number of familiar product cues, particularly where information overload was experienced and where goals driving product category engagement were partially or poorly specified.
Simplification strategies were facilitated by familiarity with the product category, brand familiarity, and past experiences, and were used especially where the participant indicated prior experience with products in a given brand range.
Clarification strategies involved deeper information processing, were characterized by a slower and more deliberative decision-making process, and utilized information from multiple sources, both within and beyond the product label.
Clarification strategies tended to occur among more involved consumers, with consumer involvement defined in terms of risk importance and existing in the presence of clearly defined goals relating to health and dietary restrictions.
Verification of product claims was a key element of clarification strategies, driven by a need to verify product claims owing to a disposition of distrust at a product-specific or food industry level.
Dispositions of distrust towards the food industry led to beliefs that information distortion was an integral part of the framing of food benefits, resulting in a perceived need to engage a more critical evaluation stance when considering new products which offered personally relevant benefits.
Distrust influenced the communication channels which were used to inform product evaluations, with a distinction drawn between manufacturer- and consumer-dominated information channels.
Simplification strategies leveraged a small number of associations in long-term memory to reduce the immediate cognitive burden and expedite decision-making, particularly in the new purchase context, reflecting the less motivated state of these consumers.
Existing knowledge structures held in long-term memory and low self-efficacy, relating to understanding and interpretation of labeling information, contributed to the use of simplification strategies.
Participants who predominantly exhibited the use of simplification strategies did not indicate any specific health concerns as affecting their decisions.

Factors Affecting Consumers’ Motivation to Engage with Food Product Label Information

Label usage is strongly influenced by situational and individual factors that impact information acquisition and processing, cognitive resources, and responses to context-specific information.
Information checkpoints represent pivotal moments in information acquisition where evaluations held in long-term memory are recalled and serve to signal points for (dis)continuing label usage.
Motivational relevance, i.e. the extent to which the information is viewed as salient to goal attainment, determines whether information is considered for product evaluation purposes.
Health goal specificity impacts label usage and information processing, and the presence of non-negotiable health goals appears to be the most influential factor in determining the specificity of health goals.
Due to limited cognitive resources or motivational impetus, discrepancies in understanding led to divergent and sometimes inaccurate interpretation of labeling information.
The notion of an ‘average’ consumer is problematic, and there exists clear challenges in delivering information to facilitate consumers in attaining purchasing goals.
Attention is a resource whose full potential is not being currently met, due to the gap between attention and product evaluation occurring in instances of low-motivational relevance.
Retrospective think-aloud is a promising means through which to capture the motivational component of label usage and distinguish between the conscious and subconscious aspects of attention.
Immediate interactions with food labeling were restricted to an experimental setting, with the trade-off between experimental control and environmental validity being a limitation of this study.
There is a need to incorporate introspective techniques to more accurately and wholly reflect the consumer experience and capture the motivational dimension of food choice and label usage.
Needs-based information provision cannot be overlooked in the new product context, and attention capture alone is not sufficient.
Future studies may seek to explore the impact of divergent evaluations and knowledge structures to bridge the gap between attention and information usage.

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Description

Test your knowledge on the Perception Process: Exposure, Attention, and Interpretation with this informative quiz. Learn about the three stages of perception and how they contribute to our understanding of the world around us. Discover how attention is influenced by internal and external factors, and how interpretation is highly subjective and based on our existing knowledge. This quiz is perfect for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of perception and the way we process information.