Description
Describes about the concept of consumer learning and various theories about consumer learning like cognitive learning theory.
Consumer Learning It can be defined as the process by which individuals acquire the purchase & consumption knowledge & experience that they apply to future related behaviour. i.e. consumer learning is a process which continually evolves & changes as a result of newly acquired knowledge (from reading, discussions, observations, thinking) or actual experience. Both newly acquired knowledge & personal experience serve as feed back to the individual & provide the basis for future behaviour in similar situation.
The basic element of learning theories are – Motivation, cues, responses & reinforcement. i) Motivation – The driving force within individuals that impels them to action. It acts as a spur (trigger, catalyst) to learning. e.g. men & women who want to take up bicycle riding for fitness are motivated to learn all about riding & also to practice it. ii) Cues- stimuli that gives direction to consumer motives (i.e. that suggest a specific way to satisfy a salient motive) .In the market place; price, styling, packaging, advertising & store displays all serve as cues to help consumers fulfill their needs in product -specific way.
iii)
iv)
Response – How individuals react or a drive or cue – how they behave – constitute their response. Learning can occur even when responses are not overt. A need / motive may evoke a whose variety of responses. A responses is not tied to a need in a oneto-one fashion. eg there are many ways to respond to need for physical exercise besides bicycling, cues provide some direction but there are many cues competing for the consumers attention, which response the consumer makes depends heavily on previous learning. Reinforcement – A positive or negative outcome that influence the likelihood that a specific behaviour will be repeated in the future in response to a particular cue / stimulus.
Behavioural Learning Theories – Also known as stimulus response theories because they are based on the premise that observable responses to specific external stimuli signal that learning has taken place. When a person acts (responds) in a predictable way to a known stimulus, he or she is said to have “learned”. These theories are more focused on inputs & outcomes of learning rather than the learning process. a) Classical conditioning b) Instrumental conditioning a) Classical conditioning – According to Pavlovian theory, conditioned learning results when a stimulus paired with another stimulus that elicits a known response serves to produce the same response by itself.
In CB context, an unconditioned stimulus might consist of a well known brand symbol eg. Kellogs which implies healthy food. This previously acquired consumer perception of Kellogs is the unconditioned response. Conditioned stimuli might consist of new product bearing the well known symbol Kellogs & the conditioned response would be trying these products because of symbol Kelloggs. Strategic Applications of Classical Conditioning – 3 basic concepts derived from classical conditioning arei) Repetition– it increases the strength of association between a conditioned stimulus & an unconditioned stimulus & slows the process of forgetting. Advertising wearout occurs when over learning (ie repetition beyond what is necessary for learning) takes places. Though overearnings aids retention but at some time because of numerous exposure both attention & retention declines.
ii)Stimulus Generation- The inability to perceive differences between slightly dissimilar stimuli. Stimulus generalization explains why some imitative “me-too” products succeed in the market place. Similar packaging & similar names helps “me-too” products to sell. •Product line, Product Form & Category Extensions are the strategy used by marketer which is based on stimulus generalization. •Family Branding is another strategy that capitalizes on the consumers ability to generalize favourable brand associations from one product to another. •Licensing – it is allowing a well known brand name to be affixed to products of another manufacturer – is a marketing strategy that separates on the principle of stimulus generalization.
The name of designer, manufacturer celebrity, corporation & even cartoon are attached for a fee (i.e. rented) to a variety of pdts. Eg Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin, Klein etc. 3) Stimulus Discrimination opposite to stimulus generalization & results in the selection of a specific stimulus from among similar stimuli. The consumers ability to discriminate among similar stimuli is the basis for positioning strategy, which seeks to establish a unique image for a brand in the consumers mind. •Positioning – it is the image or position – that a product or service holds in the minds of the consumer. •Product Differentiation – Product differentiation strategies are designed to distinguish a product or brand from that of competitors on the basis of an attribute that is relevant, meaningful & valuable to consumers.
b) Instrumental Conditioning (IC) – also known as operant conditioning occurs as the individual learns to perform behaviour that produce positive outcomes & to avoid those that yield negative outcomes. It was given by psychologist B.F. Skinner Responses in classical conditioning are involuntary & fairly simple whereas those in instrumental conditioning are made deliberately to obtain a goal & may be more complex. Shaping – it is the reinforcement performed before the desired consumer behavior actually takes place. IC occurs in 3 waysi) Positive Reinforcement – when the environment provides the reinforcement in the form of reward, the response in strengthened & appropriate behaviour is learned. Eg If a person gets compliment for shirt (yellow), the result is repeat purchase of yellow shirt
ii) Negative Reinforcement – is an unpleasant or negative outcome that also serves to encourage a specific behaviour. Eg an ad that shows a model with wrinkled skin is designed to encourage consumers to buy & use the advertised skin cream iii) Punishment – it occurs when a response is followed by unpleasant events.Punishment is designed to discourage behaviour. Extinction & Forgetting – when a learned response is no longer reinforced it diminishes to the point of extinction ie to the point at which the link between the stimulus & the expected reward is eliminated. This is result of dissatisfaction from service /pdt. Forgetting is related to time log. If a particular behaviour is not reinforced for long because of some reason (not dissatisfaction)
Application – i) Reinforcement of consumption – Marketers have many ways to reinforce of consumers, ranging from simple thank you after the purchase to substantial rebates & follow up phone calls. ii) Frequency Marketing – it reinforces regular purchases by going them prizes with values that increase along with the amount purchased.
EVENT CONDITION APPLIED
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR Effect : Positive event strengthens Responses preceding occurrence Learning Process: Consumer learns to perform responses that produce positive outcome Effect : Removal of positive event weakens responses preceding occurrence Learning Process: Consumer learns that responses No longer produces positive outcome
ns ak e n W e c t io nne Co
CONDITION REMOVED
EXTINCTION
BEHAVIOUR
Stre ng Con thens nec tion
PUNISHMENT NEGATIVE BEHAVIOUR Effect :Negative event weakens Responses that are followed by negative outcome. Learning Process: Consumer learns not to perform responses Leading to punishment
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT Effect :Removal of negative event Strengthens responses that allow avoidance of negative outcome. Learning Process: Consumer learns to perform responses that allow him/ her to avoid –ve outcomes.
Cognitive Learning Theory – Learning based on mental activity is called cognitive learning . It holds that the kind of learning most characteristic of human being is problem solving which enables individual to gain some control over their environment Unlike behavioural learning involves complex ‘mental processing of information.’ Instead of stressing the importance of repetition or the association of a reward with a specific response, cognitive theorists emphasize the role of motivation & mental process in producing a desired response. Imagery – It is the ability to form mental images. These differences influence their ability to recall information. The more experience a consumer has with a product category the greater his/her ability to make use of product
How Consumers Store, Retain & Retrieve Information- Information processing in related to both the consumers cognitive ability (cognition – gaining knowledge by thought or perception) & the complexity of the information to be processed. Because information processing occurs in stages it is generally believed that there are separate ‘sequential’ storehouses’ in memory where info. is kept temporarily before further processing: a sensory store, a short term store & a long term store.
Sensory Input
Sensory Store
Rehe arsal
Working Memory (Short Term Store)
Enco ding
Long Term Store
Retrieval
Forgotten; Lost
Forgotten; Lost
Forgotten; Unavailable
Information processing& Memory stores
Sensory Store- All data is transmitted to brain in fragments from our sensory organs simultaneously (such as smell, colour, shape, feel) and perceived as a single image in a single moment of time. This image of a sensory input lasts for just a second or two in the minds ‘sensory store’. If it is not processed it is lost immediately. We are constantly bombarded with stimuli from the environment & subconsciously block out a great deal of information that we do not need/use, that means marketer an create image in consumers sensory store but it is difficult to make lasting impressions. Moreover brain automatically & subconsciously tags all perceptions with a value either +ve or –ve this evaluation, added to the initial perception in the first microsecond of cognition, tends to remain unless further information is processed. This explain why first impression tends to last.
Short term Store – also known as ‘working memory’ is the stage of real memory in which information is processed & held for just a brief period. If information in the short term store undergoes the process known as ‘rehearsal’ (ie the silent, mental repetition of information) it is then transferred to the long term store. The transfer process takes 2 -10 second, if not rehearsed the info is lost in 30 second or less. Long term Store – The long term store retains info for relatively extended periods of time. Though at times the info is lost in few minutes, if info reaches in long term store remains those for days, weeks & months/years. Rehearsal & Encoding – The amount of info available for delivery from short-term storage to long-term storage depends on the amount of rehearsal (the silent, mental repetition of material) it is given.
Encoding is the process by which we select a word or visual image to represent a perceived object. When consumers are presented with too much information (called information overload) they may encounter difficulty in encoding & storing it all. Retrieval – it is the process by which we recover information from long term storage.
Brand Loyalty – can be defined as consumers consistent preference and/or purchase of the same brand in a specific pdt / service category.
Marketers feel that brand loyalty consist of both attitudes & actual behaviours towards a brand & both must be measured. Attitudinal measures are concerned with consumers overall feeling about the product & the brand (ie evaluation) & their purchase intentions. Behavioural measures are based on observable responses to promotional stimuli-repeat purchase behaviour rather than attitude towards product/brand.
doc_766098625.ppt
Describes about the concept of consumer learning and various theories about consumer learning like cognitive learning theory.
Consumer Learning It can be defined as the process by which individuals acquire the purchase & consumption knowledge & experience that they apply to future related behaviour. i.e. consumer learning is a process which continually evolves & changes as a result of newly acquired knowledge (from reading, discussions, observations, thinking) or actual experience. Both newly acquired knowledge & personal experience serve as feed back to the individual & provide the basis for future behaviour in similar situation.
The basic element of learning theories are – Motivation, cues, responses & reinforcement. i) Motivation – The driving force within individuals that impels them to action. It acts as a spur (trigger, catalyst) to learning. e.g. men & women who want to take up bicycle riding for fitness are motivated to learn all about riding & also to practice it. ii) Cues- stimuli that gives direction to consumer motives (i.e. that suggest a specific way to satisfy a salient motive) .In the market place; price, styling, packaging, advertising & store displays all serve as cues to help consumers fulfill their needs in product -specific way.
iii)
iv)
Response – How individuals react or a drive or cue – how they behave – constitute their response. Learning can occur even when responses are not overt. A need / motive may evoke a whose variety of responses. A responses is not tied to a need in a oneto-one fashion. eg there are many ways to respond to need for physical exercise besides bicycling, cues provide some direction but there are many cues competing for the consumers attention, which response the consumer makes depends heavily on previous learning. Reinforcement – A positive or negative outcome that influence the likelihood that a specific behaviour will be repeated in the future in response to a particular cue / stimulus.
Behavioural Learning Theories – Also known as stimulus response theories because they are based on the premise that observable responses to specific external stimuli signal that learning has taken place. When a person acts (responds) in a predictable way to a known stimulus, he or she is said to have “learned”. These theories are more focused on inputs & outcomes of learning rather than the learning process. a) Classical conditioning b) Instrumental conditioning a) Classical conditioning – According to Pavlovian theory, conditioned learning results when a stimulus paired with another stimulus that elicits a known response serves to produce the same response by itself.
In CB context, an unconditioned stimulus might consist of a well known brand symbol eg. Kellogs which implies healthy food. This previously acquired consumer perception of Kellogs is the unconditioned response. Conditioned stimuli might consist of new product bearing the well known symbol Kellogs & the conditioned response would be trying these products because of symbol Kelloggs. Strategic Applications of Classical Conditioning – 3 basic concepts derived from classical conditioning arei) Repetition– it increases the strength of association between a conditioned stimulus & an unconditioned stimulus & slows the process of forgetting. Advertising wearout occurs when over learning (ie repetition beyond what is necessary for learning) takes places. Though overearnings aids retention but at some time because of numerous exposure both attention & retention declines.
ii)Stimulus Generation- The inability to perceive differences between slightly dissimilar stimuli. Stimulus generalization explains why some imitative “me-too” products succeed in the market place. Similar packaging & similar names helps “me-too” products to sell. •Product line, Product Form & Category Extensions are the strategy used by marketer which is based on stimulus generalization. •Family Branding is another strategy that capitalizes on the consumers ability to generalize favourable brand associations from one product to another. •Licensing – it is allowing a well known brand name to be affixed to products of another manufacturer – is a marketing strategy that separates on the principle of stimulus generalization.
The name of designer, manufacturer celebrity, corporation & even cartoon are attached for a fee (i.e. rented) to a variety of pdts. Eg Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin, Klein etc. 3) Stimulus Discrimination opposite to stimulus generalization & results in the selection of a specific stimulus from among similar stimuli. The consumers ability to discriminate among similar stimuli is the basis for positioning strategy, which seeks to establish a unique image for a brand in the consumers mind. •Positioning – it is the image or position – that a product or service holds in the minds of the consumer. •Product Differentiation – Product differentiation strategies are designed to distinguish a product or brand from that of competitors on the basis of an attribute that is relevant, meaningful & valuable to consumers.
b) Instrumental Conditioning (IC) – also known as operant conditioning occurs as the individual learns to perform behaviour that produce positive outcomes & to avoid those that yield negative outcomes. It was given by psychologist B.F. Skinner Responses in classical conditioning are involuntary & fairly simple whereas those in instrumental conditioning are made deliberately to obtain a goal & may be more complex. Shaping – it is the reinforcement performed before the desired consumer behavior actually takes place. IC occurs in 3 waysi) Positive Reinforcement – when the environment provides the reinforcement in the form of reward, the response in strengthened & appropriate behaviour is learned. Eg If a person gets compliment for shirt (yellow), the result is repeat purchase of yellow shirt
ii) Negative Reinforcement – is an unpleasant or negative outcome that also serves to encourage a specific behaviour. Eg an ad that shows a model with wrinkled skin is designed to encourage consumers to buy & use the advertised skin cream iii) Punishment – it occurs when a response is followed by unpleasant events.Punishment is designed to discourage behaviour. Extinction & Forgetting – when a learned response is no longer reinforced it diminishes to the point of extinction ie to the point at which the link between the stimulus & the expected reward is eliminated. This is result of dissatisfaction from service /pdt. Forgetting is related to time log. If a particular behaviour is not reinforced for long because of some reason (not dissatisfaction)
Application – i) Reinforcement of consumption – Marketers have many ways to reinforce of consumers, ranging from simple thank you after the purchase to substantial rebates & follow up phone calls. ii) Frequency Marketing – it reinforces regular purchases by going them prizes with values that increase along with the amount purchased.
EVENT CONDITION APPLIED
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR Effect : Positive event strengthens Responses preceding occurrence Learning Process: Consumer learns to perform responses that produce positive outcome Effect : Removal of positive event weakens responses preceding occurrence Learning Process: Consumer learns that responses No longer produces positive outcome
ns ak e n W e c t io nne Co
CONDITION REMOVED
EXTINCTION
BEHAVIOUR
Stre ng Con thens nec tion
PUNISHMENT NEGATIVE BEHAVIOUR Effect :Negative event weakens Responses that are followed by negative outcome. Learning Process: Consumer learns not to perform responses Leading to punishment
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT Effect :Removal of negative event Strengthens responses that allow avoidance of negative outcome. Learning Process: Consumer learns to perform responses that allow him/ her to avoid –ve outcomes.
Cognitive Learning Theory – Learning based on mental activity is called cognitive learning . It holds that the kind of learning most characteristic of human being is problem solving which enables individual to gain some control over their environment Unlike behavioural learning involves complex ‘mental processing of information.’ Instead of stressing the importance of repetition or the association of a reward with a specific response, cognitive theorists emphasize the role of motivation & mental process in producing a desired response. Imagery – It is the ability to form mental images. These differences influence their ability to recall information. The more experience a consumer has with a product category the greater his/her ability to make use of product
How Consumers Store, Retain & Retrieve Information- Information processing in related to both the consumers cognitive ability (cognition – gaining knowledge by thought or perception) & the complexity of the information to be processed. Because information processing occurs in stages it is generally believed that there are separate ‘sequential’ storehouses’ in memory where info. is kept temporarily before further processing: a sensory store, a short term store & a long term store.
Sensory Input
Sensory Store
Rehe arsal
Working Memory (Short Term Store)
Enco ding
Long Term Store
Retrieval
Forgotten; Lost
Forgotten; Lost
Forgotten; Unavailable
Information processing& Memory stores
Sensory Store- All data is transmitted to brain in fragments from our sensory organs simultaneously (such as smell, colour, shape, feel) and perceived as a single image in a single moment of time. This image of a sensory input lasts for just a second or two in the minds ‘sensory store’. If it is not processed it is lost immediately. We are constantly bombarded with stimuli from the environment & subconsciously block out a great deal of information that we do not need/use, that means marketer an create image in consumers sensory store but it is difficult to make lasting impressions. Moreover brain automatically & subconsciously tags all perceptions with a value either +ve or –ve this evaluation, added to the initial perception in the first microsecond of cognition, tends to remain unless further information is processed. This explain why first impression tends to last.
Short term Store – also known as ‘working memory’ is the stage of real memory in which information is processed & held for just a brief period. If information in the short term store undergoes the process known as ‘rehearsal’ (ie the silent, mental repetition of information) it is then transferred to the long term store. The transfer process takes 2 -10 second, if not rehearsed the info is lost in 30 second or less. Long term Store – The long term store retains info for relatively extended periods of time. Though at times the info is lost in few minutes, if info reaches in long term store remains those for days, weeks & months/years. Rehearsal & Encoding – The amount of info available for delivery from short-term storage to long-term storage depends on the amount of rehearsal (the silent, mental repetition of material) it is given.
Encoding is the process by which we select a word or visual image to represent a perceived object. When consumers are presented with too much information (called information overload) they may encounter difficulty in encoding & storing it all. Retrieval – it is the process by which we recover information from long term storage.
Brand Loyalty – can be defined as consumers consistent preference and/or purchase of the same brand in a specific pdt / service category.
Marketers feel that brand loyalty consist of both attitudes & actual behaviours towards a brand & both must be measured. Attitudinal measures are concerned with consumers overall feeling about the product & the brand (ie evaluation) & their purchase intentions. Behavioural measures are based on observable responses to promotional stimuli-repeat purchase behaviour rather than attitude towards product/brand.
doc_766098625.ppt