Ch 4 Comprehension Memory Cognitive Learning

Perceptual Distortions STEREOTYPES OR PROTOTYPE

- Combines information based on the category or class to which a person, situation, or object belongs. - Individual differences are obscured.

PERCEPTION & COGNITION consumer inferences

- Consumers learn about products from various sources (e.g., advertising, promotion, word-of-mouth...) - But consumers don't learn everything they need to know to help them judge these products - So consumers fill in the remaining information by making inferences, typically through Induction or Deduction

SMELL MARKETING APP

- Generates immediate emotions (hunger, memories) because it is located in the primitive part of the brain (Limbic System) - Marketers use smell: -Scented stores, scented household products -Signature/trademarked scents - Experiment: Error rate of keypunch operators in a company fell 80% when they used lavender ventilation!

Environment Characteristics

- Information intensity - FRAMING: Meaning of something is influenced by the information environment - Construal level theory - Timing

MKT APP OF JND

- Marketers need to determine the relevant j.n.d. for their products -so that negative changes are not readily discernible to the public -so that product improvements are very apparent to consumers "Marketers make changes in their products over time. Sometimes they have to make negative changes, perhaps increase price or reduce package size. They want to make this negative change subtle enough that most consumers will not notice. On the other hand, a marketer might want to make positive changes to the product. They would want to determine how small they can make this change so that it is noticeable to the end consumer but does not cost the marketer excessive amounts of money. Marketers also want to be careful that when they change the look of a product or packaging, that consumers still recognize the brand and transfer their positive feelings toward the brand. Negative changes include reduction in product or package size, reduction in quality, increase in price... need to be below the j.n.d Positive changes such as increase in package size or reduction in prices (discounts), promotions... need to be equal or very slightly above the j.n.d"

VISION MARKETING APPLICATIONS

- Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in advertising, store design, packaging, choice of logo Color, size, and styling -We have much greater memory for colored print ads than black and white ads - Colors have meaning and can elicit emotional responses but meanings may be different based on the country - Some reactions to color come from learned associations: Black for mourning in USA, White for mourning in China

Consumer Comprehension Influence Factors

- Message - Message Receiver - Environment (info processing situation)

JUST MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE

- Smallest amount of change in a stimulus that would influence consumer consumption and choice -A price increase could potentially fall above the JND for some consumers, but it might not deter them from purchase unless it falls above their JMD.

SUMMARY

- consummer comprehension is influenced by the characteristics of the message, message receiver, and the environment - multiple store theory of memory views the memory process as utilizing the sensory, work-bench (short term), and long term memory of the human brain - repetition, dual coding, meaningful encoding, and chunking help consumers remember things - associative network is a network of mental pathways that link knowledge with memory - schema is a portion of the associative network which represents a specific entity thereby providing it with meaning

Sensory Memory

Area where a consumer stores encounters exposed to one of the five senses

Declarative Knowledge;

Cognitive components that represent facts Nodes: concepts found in an associative network Paths: Representations of the association between nodes

Social Schema

Cognitive representation that gives a specific type of person meaning Can be based on a person's occupation, age, sex, ethnicity, religion,and product ownership

Exemplars

Concept within a schema that is the single best representative of some category Differs based on consumers' unique experiences Provide consumers a basis of comparison for judging whether something belongs to a category

retention influenced by the information RECIPIENT

Consumer's mood, consumer familiarity or experience, consumer motivation

SENSORY MEMORY

EXPOSURE very temporary storage of information we receive from our senses

PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

EXPOSURE To Stimuli: The stimulus can be sensed by the consumer using one of the five senses (Sensing) ATTENTION: Purposeful allocation of information-processing capacity towards developing an understanding of the stimulus COMPREHENSION: Consumers attempt to derive meaning from the information they receive (Organizing and Interpreting)

Product Schema

Each time a consumer encounters a snack food, the mind compares all associations to see if the thought is correct

Stages Associated with LT Memory

Encoding stage (Interpretation) Information entered in a recognizable way Storage stage Knowledge integrated into what is already there and warehoused Retrieval stage The person accesses the desired information

Message Congruity

Extent to which a message is internally consistent and fits surrounding information (message characteristics)

Chunking

Grouping stimuli by meaning so that multiple becomes a single memory unit

Repetition

Holding a thought in short-term memory by mentally repeating the thought

Information Processing and Memory Stores ENCODING

If held long enough, the information can be or given a word or visual image to represent the object.

INDUCTION INFERENCES

Induction is the process in which consumers generalize from specific information to general conclusions Heuristic-based inferences They use a single piece of information to make inference about the overall quality of the product Price-quality inference: Consumers infer aspects of quality from information about price

Memory Structure of Information

Information is organized in memory in terms of an ASSOCIATIVE NETWORKS in which each concept in memory, a NODE, is connected to other concepts by LINKS

Message Receiver Characteristics

Intelligence/ability Prior Knowledge Involvement Familiarity/habituation Physical limits Expectations: beliefs of what will happen in the future Brain Dominance: Phenomenon of hemispheric lateralization

SHORT TERM MEMORY STM

Limited period of time & limited capacity (ATTENTION - Less than 20 seconds; finite number of chunks) WORKING memory (i.e., holds memory we are currently processing - Rehearsal and Encoding)

Episodic Memory

Memory for past events in one's life - store brands associated with positive events and tend to be preferred by consumers

DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD JND

Minimal difference that can be detected between two similar stimuli Weber's law The j.n.d. between two stimuli is not an absolute amount but an amount relative to the intensity of the first stimulus The stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different.

Associative Networks

Network of mental pathways linking knowledge within memory Otherwise referred as a Semantic Network

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS HALO EFFECTS

Occur when one attribute of a person/product/ or situation is used to develop an overall impression of the individual or situation (first impressions, reception at companies...)

Meaningful Encoding

Occurs when preexisting knowledge is used to store new information

Brand Schema

Part within one's total associative network responsible for defining a marketing entity

Perception is Everything

Perception is everything: Although two competing candy shops had the same prices, neighborhood kids preferred one store over the other. When asked why, they said, "Because the person in the 'good' store always gives more candy. The girl in the other store takes candy away." True? Not really. In the "good" store, the owner would always make sure to put a small amount of candy on the scale, and then keep adding to it. In the "bad" store, the owner would pile heaping amount of candy on the scale, and then take it off until it hit the right weight. The same amount of candy was sold, but perception is everything. -Adapted from Personal Selling Power

Message Characteristics

Physical - intensity, color, font, spacing, and shape Simplicity vs. Complexity - simpler the message, the more likely a consumer develops meaningful comprehension

Memory

Process of Acquiring, Processing, Storing, and Retrieving information such that it will be available when needed Memory of Past Experiences with products is the single MOST influential factor in our future responses to marketing information about those products

RECOGNITION V RECALL

RECOGNITION: Extent to which subjects can remember the information and retrieve it from memory when they see it: Have you seen this specific car ad before RECALL: Extent to which subjects can independently remember information: What car ads do you remember seeing? Recall of numerical coded information is better than verbal information: 36 miles per gallon vs. good gas mileage

Mental Processes that help consumers remember things

Repetition Dual Coding Meaningful Encoding Chunking

storing info

Repetition enhances remembering but avoid wear-out by modifying the ad! Relevant information is easier to remember targeting the right customer Competing information in the same time frame hard to remember Incomplete information requires more processing, you store until it is complete!

RETENTION influenced by INCOMING INFO

Repetition, relevance, competing information, completeness of information, time

Long term Memory

Repository for all information that a person has encountered

STORING EPISODES and SCRIPTS

SCHEMA allows the organization of information in memory in such a way that it can be easily retrieved when needed in appropriate situations

SENSORY THRESHOLDS

SENSATION is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to stimuli A stimulus is any unit of input to any of the senses. The ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD is the lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation. SENSORY ADAPTATION refers specifically to "getting used to" certain sensations, or becoming accustomed to a certain level of stimulation. SLIDE 44

Prototypes

Schema best representative of some category but that is not represented by an existing entity

Script

Schema representing an event

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS: Selective Perception and Perceptual Defense

Selective Perception: The tendency to single out those aspects of a situation, person, or object that are consistent with one's needs, values, or attitudes. Strongest impact is at the attention stage. Perceptual Defense: The tendency to screen out stimuli which are threatening

SOUND

Sound affects people's feelings, behaviors, and moods -Can increase connectivity in the brain -> enhance memory -Can affect dopamine levels -At stores, can increase preference of products placed on the side closer to where the music is playing

Workbench Memory (Short Term)

Storage area where information is stored while being processed and encoded for later recall

Associative Network

System of beliefs organized in memory (Strength of Links Vary)

Factors affect memory

The consumer's mood—A positive mood enhances memory. The consumer's level of familiarity with the product/service—Consumers familiar with the product are more likely to remember new information about it. - It also affects how information is stored in memory: either by attribute (less familiar) or by brand (more familiar) -> increase knowledge of product category vs. brand The consumer's motivation to remember—Consumers who are motivated to process information are likely to do so at deeper levels.

time

Two linkages of the same strength, the one that is in memory for a longer time is better remembered than the newer one!

Message Source

Type of Language Message Source; Comprehension varies based on : likeability, attractiveness, expertise, trustworthiness, congruence (message characteristics)

Multiple Store Theory of Memory

Views the memory process as utilizing different storage areas within the human brain

Sensory Memory

When information FIRST enters the brain captured as little more than a sensation and may last for only fractions of a second

RETRIEVAL

ability of consumer to RECOGNIZE OR RECALL product and service information from memory Info in Memory -> does not mean it can be retrieved

RETENTION

amount of material previously learned that is remembered.

Cognitive Theory

an alternative to behavior analysis that emphasizes THE THINKING RATHER THAN THE DOING aspects of learning

Information Processing and Memory Stores REHEARSAL

can be done either by Repeating the information or Relating it to Other Data.

Perception

consumer's awareness and interpretation of reality. It shapes consumer learning. - It is the way in which an individual gathers, processes, and interprets information from the environment into a meaningful picture of the world. Perception is how we see the world around us. You and your friend might see the same person, thing, or event yet you will interpret in different ways. This interpretation is highly individualized and depends on each person's own needs, values, and expectations.

LONG TERM MEMORY ltm

if the info is rehearsed and encoded, it is stored in LTM: Storage and RETENTION Can Retain info for a long period of time Process involves thinking about a stimulus and relating it to information already in memory

Interference

info in memory is eventually forgotten, as new information and learning interferes with existing information. vice versa can occur

Long Term

information rehearsed in short term memory is transmitted to long term memory (up to many years)

Cognitive Learning

involves COMPLEX MENTAL PROCESSING OF INFORMATION (store, retain, and retrieve info) -focuses on Mental Processes (NO BLACK BOX) - People are PROBLEM SOLVERS

Reaction to new products/brands

involves comparison with the existing schema

Selective attention

involves paying attention to only certain stimuli.

Selective exposure

involves screening out most stimuli and exposing oneself to only a small portion of stimuli.

Selective distortion

is a process by which consumers interpret information in ways that are biased by their previously held beliefs.

DEDUCTION INFERENCES

is the process of construing specific conclusions from general principles or assumptions Country/Brand Image -> Product Quality

Schema

portion of an associative network that represents a specific entity and thereby provides it with meaning

A Social Learning Theory MODELING

process through which an individual learns a behavior by observing the behavior of others and the consequences of this behavior Attention: focus on models behavior Retention: retains behavior in memory Production Processes: perform behavior Motivation : situations wherein the behavior is useful to the consumer Observational Learning: consumer acquires and performs the behavior earlier demonstrated by a model

Information Processing and Memory Stores RETRIEVAL

the last stage of our process, describes how we recover information. Situational cues are the most common reason to retrieve information.

Information Processing and Memory Stores RETENTION

though not shown on this process chart, describes what happens with the information in long-term storage. As it is retained, it is constantly organized and reorganized

Short Term Memory/ Working Memory

transmitted from sensory memory, info is first analyzed and assigned (less than a minute - 9. Four items plus or minus)

Dual Coding

two different sensory "traces" are available to remember something

Figure and Ground

The focal image of the message and its background (message characteristics)