CONSUMER LEARNING

Consumer Behaviour (CB)

PGP - Term IV (2024-2025)

Prof. Gopal Das

Consumer Learning

7Ps 7Ps

Organize Interpret

7Ps 7Ps

Retention
(Learning)
Would you like to touch this hot bulb?

Do you know the unique features of

iPhone 14?

Do you know how to shop online?

Importance of consumer learning
Importance of consumer learning

Marketers must teach consumers:

• Where to buy
• How to use
• How to maintain
• How to dispose of products
• …………….
• …………
What is Consumer Learning?

• Learning: Is applying past

knowledge and experience to
present circumstances and
behaviour.

• Consumer Learning: Is a process

by which individuals acquire the
purchase and consumption
knowledge and experience that
they apply to future related
behavior.

• Learning refers to a relatively

permanent change in behavior
that is caused by experience.
Types of Consumer Learning?

• Intentional Learning:
Consumer learning may be
intentional, where learning
is an outcome of a careful
search for information,
evaluation of alternative.

• Incidental learning: can also

be incidental, where
learning occurs as a matter
of chance, by accident or
without much effort such as
through social media post.
Elements of Consumer Learning?

Four elements

• Motive
• Cues
• Responses
• Reinforcement
Elements of Consumer Learning?

Consumer Motivation
• Unfulfilled needs are the
underlying drivers that lead to
motivation.

• Example: your doctor has

informed you that you need to
live a more active lifestyle to
reduce your elevated cholesterol
levels, your unfulfilled need is to
live a more active, healthy
lifestyle. Therefore, you may be
motivated to learn gym and
cycling for a more active lifestyle
and improving your health.
Elements of Consumer Learning?

Cues
• Cues are the stimuli such as
advertisement, WOM (4Ps)
that suggest a specific way to
satisfy your motivations.

• Example: In our prior example

of gym and bicycle, in order to
learn about local gyms and
bicycle, cues could take the
form of advertisements,
WOM, social media etc.
Elements of Consumer Learning?
Responses
• The behavior of a person
constitutes the response; i.e.,
how a person reacts to a drive or
a stimulus, reflects a response.

• This response could take various

forms:
- It may lead to purchase
the product/brand.
- The response may just be
learning for the future, i.e.
the purchase is postponed for future;
- A favorable image about
the product and the brand may get
created; the consumer develops
an intention to buy.
Elements of Consumer Learning?

Reinforcement
• The reward -- the pleasure,
enjoyment and benefits -- that the
consumer receives after buying and
using a product or service is called
reinforcement. Reinforcement is
critical to the learning process and
can significantly impact future
responses, even though this element
typically happens after purchase.

• Example: Happiness after purchasing

and using gym services and bicycle
CP - Elements of Consumer Learning for self-health promoting
products
Types of Consumer Learning Theory

Learning Theory

Behavioral Theory
Cognitive Theory

• Classical conditioning
• Instrumental conditioning
• Observational conditioning
 Behavioural Learning Theory: A managerial perspective

Buy 1 get 2 Impulse

FREE Buying

Stimulus: Response:
Promotion Impulse
buying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEUwijRCYN0&t=4s
 Behavioural Learning Theory: A managerial perspective

Buy 1 get 2 Impulse

FREE Buying

Stimulus: Response:
Promotion Impulse
buying

Behavioral learning theories, often referred to as stimulus/input-response/output

theories, focus on the premise that learning occurs in response to external cues or
stimuli that the consumer is exposed to.

How to read the S-R model: Buy 1 get 2 Free leads customers to impulse buying.

Examples of Stimuli, and Responses from CB perspective:

Stimuli: 7 Ps
Response: Purchase, WOM, Loyalty, re-purchase, Impulse buying
 Behavioral Learning Theories
Behavioral Learning Theories Assume that Learning Takes Place
as the Result of Responses to External Events.

Stimulus
Consumer
Consumer Response
Stimulus Response

Consumer’s Black
Box
Behavioural Learning Theory – Classical Conditioning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEMkOtB8tM

• Classical conditioning: is
viewed as automatic
response that builds up
through (i) repeated
exposure and (ii) close
association/pairing between
two stimuli.

• Pavlov (1902) conduct

famous dog experiment to
explain classical conditioning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxdZRZCBNfE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEMkOtB8tM
 Classical Conditioning

US ----> UR
(Unconditioned stimulus) (Unconditioned response)

US + CS -----> UR
(Conditioned stimulus)

CS ------> CR (CS alone is now

(Conditioned response) able to bring
E.g.: CR)
Romantic music (US) -------> Positive affect (UR) NOTE: UR and CR
represent the same
Romantic music + Kwality Wall’s (CS) ----> Positive affect behavior, but causes
differ
Kwality Wall’s -------> Positive affect
Classical Conditioning – Application in Ads

• Coca-Cola: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=mMazTkUnrIc
• Airtel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0uZmBsk0_E

Unconditional Stimulus: The positive feeling the dogs evoke.

The brand Vodafone becomes associated with the dogs

through (i) repetitive ads (ii) pairing. The Vodafone then
becomes Conditioned stimulus as it will evoke the same
positive feeling as the dogs.
 Strategic Application – Classical Conditioning
• The general idea is to create an advertisement that has positive
features such that the ad creates enjoyment in the person exposed
to it. The enjoyable ad serves as the unconditioned stimulus (US),
and the enjoyment is the unconditioned response (UR). Because the
product being advertised is mentioned in the ad, it becomes
associated with the US, and then becomes the conditioned stimulus
(CS). In the end, if everything has gone well, seeing the product
online or in the store will then create a positive response in the
buyer, leading them to be more likely to purchase the product.
Strategic Application – Classical Conditioning

• What comes to your

mind when you see this
image?
Strategic Application – Classical Conditioning

Positioning?
Strategic Application – Classical Conditioning
Strategic Application – Classical Conditioning

• Need for repetition: Repetition works by increasing the strength of

the association between a conditioned stimulus and an
unconditioned stimulus and slows the process of forgetting.

• Example: Having a healthy mouth and good oral hygiene are a human
need (i.e., unconditional stimulus), which many consumers are
associated with the word “Colgate”. Why? Because several years of
repetitive advertisement Colgate is a conditional stimulus.

• The three-hit theory states that the optimum number of exposures

to an ad is three. i) One to make the consumers aware of the
product. ii) A second to show consumers the relevance/benefits of
the product. iii) A third to remind them of its benefits.
Strategic Application – Classical Conditioning
• Stimuli generalization: Learning not only depends on repetition but also
on individuals’ ability to generalize. For example, Pavlov found that a dog
could learn to salivate not only to the sound of a bell but also to similar
sounds such as jangling keys or coins.

• A person who is loyal to HUL and buys many of their brands as he finds
them to be of quality, would also buy this new product (stimulus
generalization).

• Applications: Brand/line extension (Colgate), Brand loyalty/Equity, Look-

alike package (lays).
 Strategic Application – Classical Conditioning
• Stimuli discrimination: Stimulus discrimination is the opposite of
stimulus generalization and results in the selection of 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.

• The key to stimulus discrimination is effective positioning, a major

competitive advantage.

https://ebooks.ibsindia.org/consumer-behavior/part/consumer-learning/
 Classical Conditioning and Marketing Strategy

Identify and pair product with a known, well-liked stimulus

– More attention
– More favourable attitudes
– Greater intention to buy the product

Use stimulus generalization effectively

Distinguish the product through effective use of stimulus

discrimination
Types of Consumer Learning Theory

Learning Theory

Behavioral Theory
Cognitive Theory

• Classical conditioning
• Instrumental conditioning
• Observational conditioning
Behavioural Learning – Instrumental Conditioning
• Instrumental conditioning: is a learning process that involves changes in human
behavior depending upon the consequences of a significant event such as
reinforcement or punishment.

• If the event produced positive outcomes (reinforcement) that lead to a positive

change in human behavior, then the individual would learn to repeat such behaviors.

• However, if an event generated negative outcomes (punishment) that generated

negative changes in human behavior, an individual avoided or escaped such negative
behaviors.

• Example: After visiting stores, which stores carry the type of clothing they prefer at
prices they can afford to pay. When the consumers find a store that carries clothing
that meets their needs, they are likely to patronize it to the exclusion of other stores
(trail-and-error process).
Behavioural Learning – Instrumental Conditioning
Behavioural Learning – Instrumental Conditioning (Skinner)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQtDTdDr8vs
 Instrumental Conditioning and Marketing Strategies

• Make the product the ultimate reward

• Provide samples and free trials
• Provide non-product rewards
• Practice relationship marketing
Behavioural Learning – Observational Conditioning

• Observational learning (also called modeling/indirect learning) is the process

through which individuals learn behavior by observing the behavior of others
and the consequences of such behavior.

• Examples: If a child sees an advertisement that shows muscular young athlete

eating Wheaties - “Breakfast of Champions” – he/she will buy to eat it too.
 Learning – Cognitive theory
Cognitive Learning Theory views learning as a problem-solving process rather
than stimuli-response model.

Kolher’s Experiment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-YWrPzsmEE

Products solve our problem – the process of buying teaches us how to bargain,
knowledge about brands, pricing etc. For example, if you have skin problems
and use a product that helps resolve them, you have learned through experience
to purchase that product again.

Cognitive learning is the systematic evaluation of information and alternatives

needed to solve a recognized but unfulfilled need or unsolved problem.
- It occurs when a person has a goal and must search for and process
data in order to make a decision or solve a problem.
- Consumer decision making process is an example of cognitive learning
(Need recognition to purchase).
CP - Cognitive learning

• Local vs. global

information processing
leads to higher
purchase intention
Behavioural Learning – Cognitive theory
Cognitive learning is the systematic evaluation of information and
alternatives needed to solve a recognized but unfulfilled need or
unsolved problem.
a. It occurs when a person has a goal and must search for and
process data in order to make a decision or solve a problem.
b. The tricomponent attitude model consists of three stages:
i. The cognitive stage – the person’s knowledge and beliefs
about a product
ii.The affective stage – the person’s feeling toward and
evaluations of a product as “favorable” or “unfavorable”;
and
iii.The conative stage – the person’s level of intention to buy
the product.
Behavioural Learning – Cognitive theory
• Theorists of this approach believe that learning takes place as a
result of a person’s conscious and deliberate information
processing and storage activity, often in response to problem
solving.
• Thus, learning is a function of mental processing. One of the main
proponents of this theory is Edward Tolman, who experimented
on rats. In terms of consumer learning, any kind of extensive
problem solving, on the part of the consumer, is cognitive and
would be included under this approach.

• This would include gathering, processing and interpreting

information; storing it in memory; and final retrieval when
required.