MK204x – Consumer Behaviour

Prof. S Ramesh Kumar

Week 5
Week 3
Clip 6: Types of Learning

Now, let me explain briefly about the different kinds of learning that could happen from the viewpoint
of the consumer mindset. These are kinds of learning that were advocated by psychologists long back,
and they still hold good in the digital age.

Let me start with Classical Conditioning as a learning theory. I'll explain more deeply about classical
conditioning subsequently in this module, but for the time being, it is learning by associations. When
we think of the British brand, Yardley, we think of English associations, we think of the British queen,
we think about several classical things that are associated with Yardley. The question is from where
we did we get these associations? When we think of BMW brand of car, several associations come to
our mind. It’s German. It's the ultimate driving machine. It signals the status yet a sporty fee; it is sexy.
The motorcycle of BMW was used in the James Bond movie. Where do these associations come from?

Essentially, consumer learns through associations, and that is to do with classical conditioning. Let's
go into operant or instrumental conditioning. Essentially, operant or instrumental conditioning is all
about learning by rewards. A simple example in the Indian context would be the petrol bunks which
are located in several parts of the city. There could be about five, six petrol bunks in a particular road
or that could be about two petrol bunks or there could be about five, six petrol bunks within a given
vicinity. Imagine a petrol bunk where the car or motorcycle is welcomed by the service personnel in a
highly receptive manner. It could be small things like wiping off the dust from the car. It could be two
people running to attend on the consumer. It could be somebody helping the consumer with opening
the petrol tank. Compare this with another petrol bunk where the service is indifferent. The car goes
and stops there. Nobody is worried about it. You wait for some time, call out to people, you need to
be very careful about how they handle your patrol cap. That tells you a lot about instrumental
conditioning. It could be with respect to the petrol bunk, it could be with respect to your brand of tea,
it could be with respect to even an airline. There are several airline brands, which are operating in the
country. Many consumers are particular about a specific Airline brand, why? Because they feel the
airline handles the flights on time. They feel the airline is courteous, the airline does many things which
are positive when the customer wanted to take the flight. This is known as apparent conditioning.

Cognitive learning, cognitive learning presumes that the consumer doesn't learn by association. He
doesn't learn by robot, but he learns through his approaches towards problem-solving. Very
interestingly, problem-solving can happen with respect to several of our everyday needs and
wants. We may get into problem-solving mode when we want to buy a new pair of shoes or when we
want to buy a new mobile phone. So essentially, this presumes that the consumer looks for
information in the environment and tries to solve the problems that are associated with his needs and
wants. Problem in the sense of selecting an offering that will fit into his needs, that's what his problem
all about or it could be the problem of a mobile phone breaking down and opting for a new one and
in the process, the consumer tries to have a problem-solving approach.

For example, urban youngster presuming that he's able to afford to buy a higher-priced mobile would
want to look at several features and trying to signal the status can only be one of them. He may be
interested in the Bluetooth interface. He may be interested in the video streaming. He may be
interested in knowing to what extent it can hold onto the apps. He may be interested in knowing how
screen-friendly the mobile is, he may be interested in how quickly the service problems could be
solved. So, as you can see, cognitive learning is associated with the problem-solving approach.

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 MK204x – Consumer Behaviour
Prof. S Ramesh Kumar
Week 5
Week 3
Last one is the observational learning. We do learn by observing other consumers. A typical example
from the Indian context is the advertisement for detergents. Again, culturally, it is very interesting to
note that there are traditional advertisements that are in tune with the cultural beliefs and a typical
conservative aspects and there are advertisements which are very progressive, which about women's
empowerment so on and so forth. Let's take the case of traditional ways in which detergents are
promoted in the Indian context. The advertisement shows a housewife who is engaged in the task of
cleaning the clothes. She uses a particular brand of detergent. Because of the brand’s effectiveness,
she's being appreciated by the family members; and since she's appreciated by the family members,
there is warmth and belongingness within the family. What I have described you is a typical traditional
ad for the detergent.

When the consumer sees the ad repeatedly, the consumer empathizes with the model in the ad. The
consumer empathizes with his own position in the family. A middle-class housewife who's generally
used to doing the household chores, where washing clothes is one of the household chores, is
delighted about impressing her family and keeping her family happy. The advertisement appeals to
her. This is known as observational learning. Observational learning can be used in a variety of
contexts. It need not necessarily be used only with detergent. It has been used with the pain relievers
where consumers observe the pain being released on consumption of a specific brand of tablet. So,
this gives you some idea about the various kinds of learning consumers go through. One point I would
like to emphasize is that many of these learnings happen simultaneously within the consumer's mind.
It's not that the consumer predominantly uses observational learning when observational learning is
used. Probably some aspects of classical conditioning are present when the consumers use the
detergent and finds it to be effective and simultaneously some aspect of instrumental conditioning
will be present playing its role too. When the consumer chooses the brand not necessarily because of
observational learning but because he also likes the efficacy of the product performance operant
conditioning takes place.

So, these are the different types through which learning can be imparted with respect to consumer's
mind.

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