Consumer Learning

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 Learning Objectives
1. To Understand the Process and Four Elements of
Consumer Learning.
2. To Study Behavioral Learning and Understand Its
Applications to Consumption Behavior.
3. To Study Information Processing and Cognitive
Learning and Understand Their Strategic
Applications to Consumer Behavior.
4. To Study Consumer Involvement and Passive
Learning and Understand Their Strategic Affects on
Consumer Behavior.
5. To Understand How Consumer Learning and Its
Results Are Measured.
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 Importance of Learning

• Marketers must teach consumers:

– where to buy
– how to use
– how to maintain
– how to dispose of products

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoGBzfrEg10

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 Baker’s Cookies
• Mohan had just started his business – Baker’s Cookies – a range of cookies
targeted at the young, affluent, coffee-drinking segment of the market.
• Like others, Mohan had noticed the significant lifestyle trend towards drinking
coffee. Therefore, he thought there could be an opportunity for a food item
that would go well with coffee. While he looked at various product concepts, in
the end, he decided that there was a gap in the market for a range of low-fat,
high quality cookies that people would purchase with their coffee.
• He had approached quite a number of independent coffee shops trying to sell
his product, but found only a few that were interested. The retailers that did try
his cookies, he had found that sales through these outlets were quite low at
this stage. This was mainly because the coffee shops didn’t really cross-sell his
cookies, as they also had other food items for sale.
• His ‘vision’ for his product was to have people ‘automatically’ order a coffee
AND a cookie – very much like ‘burgers and fries’, or ‘bacon and eggs’, or
‘movies and popcorn’.
• But the question was: What is the best way to educate consumers to make that
automatic purchase?
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 Learning
The process by which individuals acquire the
purchase and consumption knowledge and
experience that they apply to future related behavior
• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior
caused by experience
• it continually evolves and changes as a result of newly
acquired knowledge or from actual experience.
• Both newly acquired knowledge and personal experience
serve as feedback to the individual and provide the basis
for future behavior in similar situations.
• Incidental learning: casual, unintentional acquisition of
knowledge 5
 Learning
• Intentional v s . incidental
er us

learning
• Four elements:
– Motives
– Cues
– Responses
– Reinforcement
The reward (pleasure, enjoyment
and benefits) that the consumer
receives after buying and using a
product or service,

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 Two Major Learning Theories

Behavioral Learning Cognitive Learning

• Based on • Learning based on

observable mental
behaviors information
(responses) that processing
occur as the result • Often in response
of exposure to to problem solving
stimuli

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Types of Behavioral Learning Theories
Classical conditioning: a
stimulus that elicits a
response is paired with
another stimulus that
initially does not elicit a
response on its own.
Instrumental conditioning (also,
operant conditioning): the
individual learns to perform
behaviors that produce
positive outcomes and to
avoid those that yield negative
outcomes.

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 Models of Classical Conditioning

Before Conditioning
The unconditioned stimulus reflexively causes the unconditioned response.
The neutral/conditioned stimulus does not do anything.
During Conditioning
The neutral/conditioned stimulus is presented just before the unconditioned stimulus, building an association between the two.
After Conditioning
The neutral/conditioned stimulus will automatically cause the conditioned response (former unconditioned response).
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 Applications of Classical Conditioning
• Communications--advertising, public relations,
• Goal: identify powerful positive stimulus and
associate brand with it.
• Examples of powerful, emotion causing stimuli:
– beautiful, sexy people
– patriotic themes, religious symbols
– Music, beautiful scenes
– Also, negative stimuli can be associated with
competitors.
• Requires repetition to make the association stick
• Classical Conditioning enables marketers to build and nurture
brand associations with specific products.
Brand association-Dilemma of retaining or dissociating
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Surf Excel

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-jPrQzvE9E

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 Strategic Applications of
Classical Conditioning
• Increases the association between the
Basic Concepts conditioned and unconditioned
• Repetition stimulus (mere exposure effect, truth effect)
• Stimulus • Length and pattern of information
exposure during repetition (massed vs
generalization spaced advertising)

• Stimulus • Advertising wearout is a problem

(cosmetic variations or substantive
discrimination
variations)
• No. of exposures required

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Many organisations use this strategy to associate their
products with an emotion or action to help sell their
products or differentiate their brand.
-Metaphor, simile, analogy
Mental completion
Visual imagery
Ludicrous juxtaposition( placing two incongruent things
together)
What comes to mind when you see or hear these
slogans:

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 Strategic Applications of
Classical Conditioning
Basic Concepts • Having the same
response to slightly
• Repetition different stimuli
• Stimulus • Helps “me-too”
generalization products to succeed
• Useful in:
• Stimulus – product line extensions
discrimination – product form extensions
– family branding
– Licensing
Does family branding is a
good policy?
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 Strategic Applications of
Classical Conditioning
Basic Concepts
• Selection of a specific
• Repetition stimulus from similar
• Stimulus stimuli
generalization • Opposite of stimulus
generalization
• This discrimination is
the basis of positioning
which looks for unique
• Stimulus ways to fill needs
discrimination
He Deo

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 Instrumental Conditioning
• Learning occurs through trial and error process, with
habits formed as a result of rewards received for certain
behaviour.
• The stimulus that results in the most satisfactory
response is the one that is learned.
- an individual learns to perform behaviours that produce
positive outcomes and avoid those that yield negative
outcomes.
• In Classical theory, conditioning happens through reflex
and the person is affected without doing anything. With
instrumental the person must take an action that has a
consequence for the conditioning to occur.
• A favourable experience is the instrument of teaching
the individual to repeat specific action. 20
 Instrumental Conditioning
Positive reinforcement : rewards a particular behaviour and thus
strengthens the likelihood of a specific response
Negative reinforcement : is removal of an unpleasant or negative
outcome that also serves to encourage a specific behavior.
Punishment the learning that occurs when a response is followed by
unpleasant events
Extinction occurs when a learned response is no longer reinforced.

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Strategic Applications of Instrumental Conditioning
Companies attempt to provide their customers with products and services
that satisfy their needs and reward them to reinforce the probability of
repeat purchase.

• Customer Satisfaction (Reinforcement)

• Reinforcement Schedules- Total (continuous),
systematic (fixed ratio), variable (random)
• Shaping (reinforcement performed before the desired consumer
behaviour actually takes place). It increases the probability that certain
desired behaviour will take place. Loss leader pricing

• Massed versus Distributed Learning (should a

learning schedule be spread out over a period of time or
‘bunched up’ all at once)
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 Discussion Question

• Neutrogena, a company known for its

“dermatologist recommended” skin care
products, introduced a line of shaving
products for men. How can the company use
stimulus generalization to market these
products? Is instrumental conditioning
applicable to this marketing situation? If so,
how?

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 Observational Learning (modelling or
vicarious learning)
• A process by which individuals learn behavior
by observing the behavior of others and the
consequences of such behavior

• Model performs behaviour and experiences consequences

• Observer sees modelled behaviour and consequences
• Observer performance of modelled behaviour may increase or decrease,
depending on modelled consequences
• Developing New Responses Rapido
• Inhibiting Undesired ResponsesHong kong.avi
• Response Facilitation (not only to illustrate the uses of a product but also
to show what types of people use it and in what settings)

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Factors Influencing Modelling Effectiveness

• Model and modelled behaviour characteristics

• Observer characteristics and
• Characteristics of modelled consequences.
-Do you think that models used in ads and commercials have
negative effects on women’s body images?
-Do you think this causes problems like eating disorders and low
self-esteem?
-Do you think it is appropriate to use computer enhanced
models to sell fashions, exercise clothing and equipment and
cosmetic surgery?
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 Information Processing and
Cognitive Learning
Cognitive Learning
• Learning involves complex mental processing of
information
• Emphasizes the role of motivation and mental
processes in producing a desired response
• For marketers memory has been long relied on to
persuade the buying behaviour, use of cues to make
the consumer remember their past and experience a
level of nostalgia.
(Nostalgia and the 5 senses….How?)

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Information Processing and Memory
Stores

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 Hemispheric Lateralization-(split-
brain theory)

Source: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC

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 Theoretical Models of Cognitive
Learning

Decision- Innovation Innovation

Generic Promotional Tricompetent Making Adoption Decision
Framework Model Model Model Model Process
Knowledge Attention Cognitive Awareness Awareness
Knowledge Knowledge
Evaluation Interest Affective Interest
Desire Evaluation Evaluation Persuasion
Behavior Action Conative Purchase Trial Decision
Postpurchase Adoption Confirmation
Evaluation

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 Involvement
• Degree of personal relevance that the
product or purchase holds for that
customer.
• High involvement purchases are very
important to the consumer
• Low-involvement hold little relevance,
have little perceived risk, and have
limited information processing

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 Marketing Applications of
Involvement
• Ads in video games
• Avatars-animated, virtual reality graphical
figures representing people.
• Sensory appeals in ads to get more
attention
• Forging bonds and relationships with
consumers

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 Measures of Consumer Learning
• Recognition and recall tests
-aided and unaided recall
– Starch Readership Ad Studies evaluate the
effectiveness of magazine advertisements based on
three criteria:
• Noticing the ad
• Associating the ad with advertised brand
• Involvement with the ad (reading most ad text)
• Brand loyalty is the ultimate desired outcome of
consumer learning, and measures purchase
frequency, brand switching, and commitment to
buy the brand. 34