SUBJECT CODE: MARKETING 1

MODULE No. : 7
SUBJECT NAME: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
TOPIC: CONSUMER LEARNING

OBJECTIVE/S:
At the end of the lecture/discussion/week, the student should be able to:
 To Study Behavioral Learning and Understand Its Applications to
Consumption Behavior
 To Understand the Process and Four Elements of Consumer Learning
 To Study Information Processing and Cognitive Learning and Understand
Their Strategic Applications to Consumer Behavior.

PART I. LECTURE/DISCUSSION

CONSUMER LEARNING
– Is the process by which consumer acquire the purchase and knowledge and
experience that they apply in future related behavior.
- It is the cognitive process of acquiring skill and knowledge; learning is the acquisition
and development of memories and behaviors including skills, knowledge,
understanding, values and wisdom.

Repeating advertising messages about brands and their benefits, rewarding people
for purchase behavior by Selling products provide superior benefits, getting
consumers to make associations among different Offerings under the same brand
name, and developing brand loyalty are all elements of consumer learning.

Marketing strategies are based on communicating with the Consumer-directly, through

advertisements, and indirectly, through product appearance, packaging, price, And
distribution channels. Marketers want their communications to be noted, believed,
remembered, and Recalled. For these reasons, they are interested in every aspect of
the learning process.
Two general categories of learning theory:

 behavioral learning theory- Behavioral learning theories are

sometimes referred to 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 pre dictable way to
a known stimulus, he or she is said to have “learned.” Behavioral theories are not
so much concerned with the process of learning as they are with the inputs and
Outcomes of learning: that is, in the stimuli that consumers select from the
environment and the observable Behaviors that result.
 cognitive learning -Learning based on mental activity is called cognitive
learning. Cognitive learning theory holds that the kind of learning most
characteristic of human beings is problem solving which enables individuals to
gain some control over their environment.

Elements of consumer learning:

MOTIVATION - The concept of motivation is important to learning theory. Remember,

motivation is based on needs and goals Motivation acts as a spur to learning.
Uncovering consumer motives is one of the prime tasks of marketers who then try to
teach Motivated consumer segments why and bow their products will fulfill the
consumers’ needs.

CUES – the ad Is the cue, or stimulus, that suggests a specific way to satisfy a Salient
motive. In the market place, price, styling, packaging, advertising, and store displays all
serve as cues to Help consumers fulfill their needs in product-specific ways Cues serve
to direct consumer drives when they are consistent with consumer expectations.

RESPONSE-signifies how a consumer reacts to the motives or even cues. The

response can be shown or hidden, but in either of the cases learning takes place. Often
marketers may not succeed in stimulating a purchase but the learning takes place over
a period of time and then they may succeed in forming a particular image of the brand
or product in the consumer’s mind.
REINFORCEMENT-Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a specific response
will occur in the future as the result of Particular cues or stimuli.

Two behavioral theories

 Classical conditioning – theory refers to learning through repetition.
This is referred to as a spontaneous response to particular situation achieved by
repetitive exposure. It is such a kind of a behavioral theory which says, when a
stimulus is connected to or paired with another stimulus, it serves to produce the
same response even when used alone.
 Instrumental conditioning - Like classical conditioning, instrumental
conditioning requires a link between a stimulus and a response. However, in
instrumental conditioning, the stimulus that results in the most satisfactory
response is the one that is learned.The name most closely associated with
instrumental (opirant) conditioning is that of the American Psychologist B. F.
Skinner. According to Skinner, most individual learning occurs in a controlled
environment in Which individuals are rewarded” for choosing an appropriate
behavior.

Cognitive associative learning

Contemporary behavioral scientists view classical conditioning as the learning of
associations among events That allows the organism to anticipate and “represent”
its environment. According to this view, the Relationship (or contiguity) between the
conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus (the bell and The meat paste)
fluenced the dogs’ expectations, which in turn influenced their behavior (salivation).
Classical Conditioning, then, rather than being a reflexive action, is seen as
cognitive assiociative learning—not the Acquisition of new reflexes, but the
acquisition of new knowledge about the weld?

Strategic applications of classical conditioning

Three basic concepts derive from classical conditioning:
Repetition- Repetition increases the strength of the association between a
conditioned stimulus and an Unconditioned stimulus and slows the process of
forgetting. However, research suggests that there is a limit to the amount of repetition
that will aid retention.

Stimulus Generalization-According to classical conditioning theorists, learning

depends not only on repetition but also on the ability of Individuals to generalize.They
are hoping that consumers will confuse their packages with the leading brand and buy
their product Rather than the leading brand. Similarly packaged competitive products
result in millions of lost sales for wellpositioned and extensively advertised brands.
Stimulus Discrimination -Stimulus discrimination is the opposite of stimulus
generalization and results in the Selection of a specific stimulus from among similar
stimuli. The consumer’s ability to discriminate among Similar stimuli is the basis of
positioning strategy which seeks to establish a unique Image for a brand in the
consumer’s mind.

Family branding-the practice of marketing a whole line of company products

under the same Brand name-is another strategy that capitalizes on the consumer’s
ability to generalize favorable brand Associations from one product to others.

Positioning -In our over-communicated society, the key to stimulus discrimination

is effective positioning, a Major competitive advantage. The image-or position-that a
product or service holds in the mind of the Consumer is critical to its success. When a
marketer targets consumers with a strong communications program That stresses the
unique ways in which its product will satisfy the consumer’s needs, it wants the
consumer to Differentiate its product from among competitive products on the shelf.

Product Differentiation- Most 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, and valuable to consumers.

Two types Reinforcement of behavior

1. positive reinforcement consists of events that strengthen the likelihood of a
Specific response.
2. Negative reinforcement is an unpleasant or negative outcome that also serves
to Encourage a specific behavior.

Extinction and Forgetting- When a learned response is no longer reinforced,

it diminishes to the point of Extinction, that is, to the point at which the link between the
stimulus and the expected reward is eliminated.

Strategic applications of Instrumental conditioning-Marketers

effectively utilize the concepts of consumer instrumental learning when they provide
positive Reinforcement by assuring customer satisfaction with the product, the service,
and the total buying Experience.

Customer Satisfaction (Reinforcement)- Marketers must be certain To

provide the be possible product for the money and to avoid raising consumer
expectations for product (or service) performance beyond what the product can deliver.
Aside from the experience of using the product Itself, consumers can receive
reinforcement from other elements in the purchase situation, such as the Environment
in which the transaction or service takes place, the attention and service provided by
employees, And the amenities provided.

Relationship marketing- developing a close personalized relationship with

customers-is another form of nonproduct reinforcement. Knowing that she will be
advised of a forthcoming sale or that selected merchandise will be set aside for her Next
visit cements the loyalty that a consumer may have for a retail store.

Reinforcement Schedules- Marketers have found that product quality must be

consistently high and provide Satisfaction to the customer with each use for desired
consumer behavior to continue.

Shaping-Reinforcement performed before the desired consumer behavior actually

takes place is called shaping Increased the probabilities that certain desired consumer
behavior will occur.

Massed versus distributed learning -As illustrated previously, timing has an

important influence on consumer learning. Should A learning schedule He spread out
over a period of time (distributed learning,) or should it be “bunched up”all at once
(massed Learning)? The question is an important one for advertisers planning a media
schedule, because massed Advertising produces more initial Learning whereas a
distributed schedule usually results in learning that Persists longer.

Modeling or observational learning-Learning theorists have noted that a

considerable amount of learning takes place in the absence of direct Reinforcement,
either positive or negative, through a process psychologist call modeling or
observational Learning (also called vicarious learning), Consumers often observe how
others behave in response to certain Situations (stimuli) and the ensuing results
(reinforcement) that occur, and they imitate (model) the positively Reinforced behavior
when faced with similar situations. Modeling is the process through which individuals
Learn behavior by observing the behavior of others and the consequences of such
behavior. Their role models Are usually people they admire because of such traits as
appearance, accomplishment, skill, and even social Class.

Information processing - is related to both the consumer’s cognitive ability and

The complexity of the information to be processed. Consumers process product
information by attributes, Brands, comparisons between brands, or a combination of
these factors. Although the attributes included in The brand’s message and the number
of available alternatives influence the intensity or degree of information Processing,
consumers with higher cognitive ability apparently acquire more product information and
are More capable of integrating information on several product attributes than
consumers with lesser ability.
How consumers store, retain, and retrieve information Of central importance to the
processing of information is the human memory. A basic research concern of Most
cognitive scientists is discovering how information gets stored in memory, how it is
retained, and how it Is retrieved. Because information processing occurs in stages, it is
generally believed that there are separate And sequential “storehouses” in memory
where information is kept temporarily before further processing: a Sensory store, a
short-term store, and a long-term store.

Sensory Store-All data come to us through our senses; however, the senses do
not transmit whole images as a camera does. Instead, each sense receives a
fragmented piece of information (such as the smell, color, shape, and feel of a Flower)
and transmits it to the brain in parallel, where the perceptions of a single instant are
synchronized and Perceived as a single image, in a single moment of time. The image
of a sensory input lasts for just a second or Two in the mind’s sensory store.

Long-term Store – retains information for relatively extended periods of time.

Although it is possible to forget something within a few minutes after the information has
reached long-term storage, it is more common for data in long-term storage to last for
days, weeks, or even years.

Rehearsal and Encoding- is to hold information in short-term storage long

enough for encoding to take place. Encoding is the process by which we select a word
or visual image to represent a perceived object. The amount of information available for
delivery from short-term storage to long-term storage depends on The amount of
rehearsal it is given.

Retention -Information does not just sit in long-term storage waiting to be retrieved.
Instead, information is Constantly organized and reorganized as new links between
chunks of information are forged.

Retrieval -is the process by which we recover information from long-term storage.
Interference -interference effects are caused by confusion with competing ads,
and make information Retrieval difficult.

Involvement theory -Involvement theory developed from a stream of research

called hemispheral lateralization, or split-brain Theory. The basic premise of split-brain
theory is that the right and left hemispheres of the brain “specialize” in the kinds of
information they process.

Involvement theory and media strategy - Building on the notion of

hemispheral lateralization, a pioneer consumer researcher theorized that individuals
passively process and store right-brain (nonverbal, pictorial) information-that is, without
active involvement .Because TV is primarily a pictorial medium, TV viewing was
considered a right-brain activity (passive and Holistic processing of images viewed on
the screen), and TV itself was therefore considered a low involvement Medium. This
research concluded that passive learning occurs through repeated exposures to a TV
Commercial (i.e., low-involvement information processing) and produces changes in
consumer behavior (e.g.. Product purchases) prior to changes in the consumer’s
attitude toward the product.

Involvement theory and consumer relevance- Involvement theory is

focused on the degree of personal relevance that the product or purchase hold for that
consumer. High-involvement purchases are those that are very important to the
consumer and thus provoke extensive problem solving and information processing.

Central and peripheral routes to persuasion -The theory of central

and peripheral routes to persuasion illustrates the concepts of extensive and limited
Problem solving for high- and low-involvement purchase situation.
.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model- The elaboration likelihood model (ELM)

suggests that a person's level of involvement during message processing is a critical
factor in determining which route to persuasion is likely to be effective.

Measures of involvement- Given that involvement theory evolved from the notion
of high- and low-involvement media, to high- and low involvement consumers, to high-
and low-involvement products and purchases, to appropriate methods of persuasion in
situations of high and low product relevance, it is not surprising to find there is great
variation in the conceptualization and measurement of involvement itself.

Marketing applications of involvement- showed that high purchase

involvement coupled with perceived brand differences lead to a high favourable attitude
toward the brand, which in turn leads to less variety seeking and brand switching and to
strong brand loyalty.

measures of consumer learning- many marketers, the dual goals of consumer

learning are increased market share and brand-loyal consumers. These goals are
interdependent: Brand-loyal customers provide the basis for a stable and growing
market share, and brands with larger market shares have proportionately larger groups
of loyal buyers.

Recognition and recall measures- Marketers measure our memories about

products and ads. We can use either recognition or recall techniques to measure
memory for product information. Consumers are more likely to recognize an
advertisement if it is presented to them than they are to recall one without being given
any cues.

Cognitive responses to advertising – Cognitive response refers to the

response in individuals generated on seeing an ad which is evaluated in the light of past
experiences, knowledge and attitudes. The consumers are asked to either write down or
verbally express their cognitive responses to an ad message through exposure.

Comprehension is a function of the message characteristics, the consumer’s

Opportunity and ability to process the information, and the consumer’s motivation (or
level of involvement).

Copy testing either before the advertising Is actually run (called pretesting) or after
it appears (post testing).

Brand loyalty - Brand loyalty is the ultimate desired outcome of Consumer learning.
Brand equity- is a marketing term that describes a brand's value. That value is
determined by consumer perception of and experiences with the brand. If people think
highly of a brand, it has positive brand equity.

ethics and consumer learning- the ethics involved in using such factors as
motivation and perception to arouse consumer needs and influence their cognitions of
marketing offerings, with the assumptions that such influences will lead to purchase
behavior.
PART II : ASSESSMENT

1.What is the relationship between brand loyalty and brand equity?

2.The process of acquiring purchase and consumption knowledge that applies to future
behavior is known as:
3.What increases the probability that a specific response will follow a certain cue?
4.When Kellogg’s introduces a new cereal as part of its product line of cereals with the
name: “Kellogg’s …….,” this is an example of:
5.Another term for instrumental condition is _______ conditioning.
6.What type of conditioning refers to the situation in which the stimulus that produces
the most satisfactory response for the consumer is the one that the consumer learns?
7.What type of stimulus is designed to discourage a specific behaviors.
8.identify the necessary elements of Learning Theories?
9.What’s the Importance of Learning?
10.Explain Classical Conditioning?

PART III: SOURCES/REFERENCE