Introduction to Consumer Behavior; Perception, Learning, and Memory (Lecture Notes) PDF

Silke Knoll Introduction to Consumer Behavior; Perception, Learning, and Memory 05/06/2024 The lecture is based amongst other on the consumer behavior textbooks by Hoyer et al. and Avery et al. The slides include material from these textbooks. You are not allowed to download the video files of the...

Silke Knoll Introduction to Consumer Behavior; Perception, Learning, and Memory 05/06/2024 The lecture is based amongst other on the consumer behavior textbooks by Hoyer et al. and Avery et al. The slides include material from these textbooks. You are not allowed to download the video files of the lectures. You are not allowed to forward or distribute any course material. Any transgressions of proprietary rights will be prosecuted. Overview Introduction to and overview of consumer behavior Perception and perceptual process Learning Memory and knowledge 2 / 45 Consumer Behavior as Research Object of Various Scientific Fields Psychology Sociology Marketing (consumers, organizations) Macro economics Management Consumer Economics science Behavior Consumer policy Micro economics Interdisciplinary Others such as consumer behavior semiotics, linguistics, research history, … 3 / 45 Multidisciplinarity of CB Research: Associations Related to the JCR Editorial Committee American Anthropological Association American Association for Public Opinion Research American Economic Association American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences American Marketing Association American Sociological Association American Statistical Association Association for Consumer Research Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences International Communication Association Society for Consumer Psychology Society for Personality and Social Psychology 4 / 45 Devolopment of Consumer Behavior Research as a Scientific Discipline Part of marketing research: descriptive consumer research Since 1970s: „explaining“ consumer research (both positivist and interpretivist approach) 1970: Association for Consumer Research (ACR) 1974: Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) Since 1980s: established consumer/buyer behavior research To date: advanced „emancipation“ from marketing, increasing specialization, strong influence of psychology 5 / 45 Relevance of Consumer Behavior Basic understanding of the role of human beings as buyers and consumers Macroeconomic impact (e.g., domestic demand) Impact on society (e.g., welfare, well-being) and on political decisions Important knowledge for practitioners 6 / 45 Knowledge for Practitioners: Marketing Implications of Consumer Behavior Developing and implementing customer-oriented strategies Selecting the target market Developing products Positioning Promotion and marketing communications decisions Pricing decisions Distribution decisions 7 / 45 Definition of Consumer Behavior (Hoyer/MacInnis) Consumer behavior reflects the totality of consumers‘ decisions with respect to the acquisition, consumption and disposition of goods, services, activities, and ideas by (human) decision- making units [over time]. 8 / 45 Consumer Behavior… (Hoyer/MacInnis) involves products, services, activities, and ideas involves more than buying is a dynamic process can involve many people involves many decisions is affected by many different factors 9 / 45 Overview of Consumer Behavior Antecedents: Consumers as Process of individuals and decision Outcomes consumers‘ making culture 10 / 45 Antecedents Consumers as individuals / the „psychological core“: perception, learning, memory, understanding, knowledge, motivation, values, involvement, attitudes, self, identity Consumers’ culture: social class, household, social groups, opinion leaders, culture, marketing, political and economic environment 11 / 45 Process of Decision Making Problem recognition and information search Judgment and decision making, buying Post-decision processes 12 / 45 Outcomes Purchase, consumption Adoption of, resistance to, and diffusion of innovations Symbolic consumer behavior … 13 / 45 Perception – Overview Perceptual process Perceptual biases and thresholds Subliminal perception Perceptual organization 14 / 45 Perception Perception occurs when stimuli are registered by one of our five senses: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. (Hoyer/MacInnis) 15 / 45 Perceptual Process Exposure Attention Interpretation 16 / 45 Exposure Exposure reflects the process by which a consumer comes into physical contact with a stimulus. A stimulus is any object or event in the external environment. 17 / 45 Attention Attention is the process by which we devote mental activity to a stimulus. Attention – is selective – can be divided – is limited 18 / 45 Interpretation Interpretation refers to the meaning that people assign to sensory stimuli. 19 / 45 Factors That Shape Perception Stimulus characteristics: sensory characteristics (e.g., color  see next slides) and information content Context Consumer characteristics (needs, involvement, sensory and cognitive skills, familiarity and expertise) 20 / 45 Colors and Brands 21 / 45 Perceptual Biases Selective exposure Selective attention Selective interpretation 22 / 45 Perceptual Thresholds Stimuli are not registered if they fall below the perceptual threshold. The absolute threshold is the minimum level of stimulus intensity needed for a stimulus to be perceived. The differential threshold refers to the intensity difference needed between two stimuli before people can perceive that the stimuli are different. 23 / 45 Absolute Thresholds (Brown et al. 1962) Vision: A candle flame 30 miles away Hearing: A watch ticking 20 feet away Smell: A drop of perfume in a six-room house Taste: A teaspoon of sugar in a gallon of water Touch: A wing of a fly on your cheeck, dropped 1 cm (varies from person to person) 24 / 45 Differential Threshold 25 / 45 Sublimininal Perception Perception of stimuli without being aware of them: Stimuli presented below the threshold level of awareness are called subliminal, and our perception of them is called subliminal perception. Stimuli perceived subliminally can elicit primitive feeling responses, but they are often not sufficiently strong to alter consumers‘ preferences or to make a brand more memorable. 26 / 45 Subliminal Stimuli in Movies 27 / 45 Marketing Applications of Perception Processes Price perception (e.g., reference prices) Brand perception (e.g., country of origin) Sensory marketing (smell, touch, sound, taste, sight) … 28 / 45 Learning – Overview Learning definition Models of learning – Classical conditioning – Instrumental learning – Cognitive learning – Modeling or observational learning 29 / 45 Learning Learning is acquiring a response to a stimulus. It refers to a relatively permanent change in behavior which comes with experience. 30 / 45 Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus that elicits a response is paired with another stimulus that initially does not elicit a response on its own. Over time, the second stimulus causes a similar response because it is associated with the first stimulus. Marketing application: ads containing sexual stimuli 31 / 45 Classical Conditioning: Pavlov’s Experiment 32 / 45 Instrumental Learning Instrumental learning occurs as the individual learns to perform behaviors that produce positive outcomes and to avoid those that yield negative outcomes. Marketig application: repeat buying behavior due to satisfaction with a product 33 / 45 Cognitive Learning Cognitive learning occurs as a result of mental processes, by acquiring new information (information retrieval, information processing, information integration). Marketing application: extensive buying behavior 34 / 45 Modeling/Observational Learning Observational learning occurs when people watch the actions of others and note the reinforcements they receive for their behaviors Marketing application: celebrity advertising 35 / 45 Memory and Knowledge - Overview Memory and information processing Consumer knowledge content and structure 36 / 45 Memory Memory is a place in human brain where information is processed and stored (over time). Three parts: sensory, short-term, and long-term memory 37 / 45  Memory and Information Storage Short-term memory Long-term Sensory memory Brief storage Elaborative memory Temporary storage Attention of information, rehearsal Permanent storage of sensory currently being of information, information, used unlimited capacity, high capacity, limited capacity long or permanent very short duration (7+/-2), duration short duration 38 / 45 Information Transfer From Short- to Long-Term Memory: Encoding Repetition (e.g., numbers) Mnemonics: nonsensical associations (e.g., Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492) Elaboration: active processing of information with other information already in memory to identify meaning in new information ( associative networks) 39 / 45 Associative Network 40 / 45 Retrieving Information from Long-term Memory (to Short-term Memory) Retrieval is the process whereby information is accessed from long-term memory. Recognition: identifying a stimulus as having been encountered before Recall: accessing information without any clues (unaided) or with some clues (aided) Recognition scores are higher than recall scores; they tend to be more reliable as they do not decay over time 41 / 45 Retrieval Failures Decay: memory strength weakens Interference: memory strength deteriorates because of competing memories Primacy or recency effects: tendendy to show greater memory for information that comes first or last in a sequence 42 / 45 Consumer Knowledge: Content Knowledge content reflects the information consumers have already learned about brands, companies, stores, ads, etc. Schemas are a set of associations that are linked to a concept (e.g. tree: leaves, green, big, nature,…). A script represents knowledge of a sequence of events (e.g., process of having lunch at the university). 43 / 45 Consumer Knowledge: Structure Knowledge structure refers to the way consumers organize knowledge objects. Objects can be organized in ordered, hierarchically structured categories, with similar objects in the same category The prototype is that category member perceived to be the best example of the category (e.g., iPhone is/used to be a prototypical smart phone). 44 / 45 Hierarchical Knowledge Structure 45 / 45