MK204x – Consumer Behaviour

Prof. S Ramesh Kumar

Week 5
Week 3
Clip 9: Applications of Classical Conditioning

Since we have talked about creating associations and the mechanism of the creation of associations,
let's move on to certain important and interesting applications of classical conditioning. They are not
only interesting they are challenging as well for the brand manager. I'll try to relate the application of
classical conditioning to the extent possible to the real world by providing an example. One of the
important points to be noted with respect to learning of associations is that there are a number of
concepts which are intertwined together. These are not concepts that can be used sequentially. These
are not concepts that can be used in a linear manner. These are not concepts that can be used with
respect to a question and an answer. These are concepts that are holistic in nature, and they need to
be used in conjunction with one another depending on the situation and depending on the context.

Let's start with our developing associations which has to do with the strengths of associations. When
we talk about the strengths of associations, we need to make a reference to what is known as the
schema. When we make a reference to schema, we need to talk about nodes, which are a part of the
schema. We need to also talk about the consumer's psyche of encoding. We need to talk about brand
imprinting as well. So, please note, consumer mind is involved, the brand's association is involved. A
set of associations called as schema is involved. In between the set of associations there are
information nodes which are stored in the mind known as nodes. They are involved. Four or five
aspects are involved when we talk about how associations are deepened or strengthened and how
associations can be managed by a brand.

It is to be noted that today's brand is not a single entity in terms of its offering. The brand manages a
product line. The product line can consist of several variants of the brand. The product line consists of
several sub-brands. So, from the viewpoint of creating associations, and from the viewpoint of
sustaining associations, a brand manager has to be sensitive to the fact that associations need to be
created. They need to be strengthened, modified, and adapted to sub-brands. They need to be
updated over a period of time, and they need to appeal to specific respective target segments. So, one
can see the type of challenges that associations offer in terms of connecting the brand with the
consumer.

Let's just take the example of Colgate. Colgate is a multinational brand which is almost in every
household or which is well-known among several households. Colgate has been in the country for
several decades. The very mention of the Colgate brand sets off associations of trust, associations of
oral care, associations of gum care, associations of the doctor in a white coat, associations of children
using it, even at random we are able to get all of several associations. How are these associations
managed by the brand or how can they be managed? What are the lessons to be learned from the
brand? These are some of the things which we can discuss with the help of a few concepts.

One is the schema. Schema is a set of associations associated with the specific domain, the consumer's
mind or the individual's mind is so functioning that he carries sets of associations with respect to
different domains in his life. It could be with respect to your brand, it could be with respect to a
product category, it could be with respect to religion, it could be with respect to education, it could
be with respect to politics, it could be with respect to his lifestyle, it could be with respect to events,
it could be with respect to places. You can see the endless kinds of domains that are created in a
consumer's throughout his life. A schema, for the purpose of understanding, is a set of associations
concerning a domain. Again, as I told you, it can be very subjective, it depends on person to person, it
depends on a host of psychological mechanisms that operate with respect to the individual's mind. So,

© All Rights Reserved, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

 MK204x – Consumer Behaviour
Prof. S Ramesh Kumar
Week 5
Week 3
there's nothing generalized about the schema except that it's a set of associations that are associated
with the particular domain.

Let's explain what is nodes. A node is a point where some information is carried. As I told you, Colgate
can have the node of a user. The Colgate can have the node of toothpaste, a graphic. Colgate can have
the node of red because the packaging comes in red. Colgate can have the node of an elderly person.
The Colgate can have a node of a youngster because they have max fresh, which is a youngsters
brand. Colgate can also trigger off some associations of a multinational brand. The most interesting
point to be noted is that when an individual thinks of a node, it triggers some other node. When
somebody thinks of Colgate that can trigger the node of a child. When somebody thinks of the teeth
of a child that can trigger of Colgate. So, the triggering of associations between the nodes is something
to be taken care of.

Let me explain what Encoding is. Encoding is a process by which a consumer assigns a symbol or a
word to what he has been perceived. This becomes very interesting. The consumer assigns a symbol
or a word, for example, the swoosh symbol of Nike is strongly entrenched in the mind of the consumer.
So, he has assigned swoosh to represent Nike, to represent the Americanization, to represent youth,
to represent a positive attitude, to represent fitness, to represent aesthetic footwear, to represent
symbolism in footwear. You can see the swoosh brand could stand for a variety of things and the
stronger the encoding with respect to your focus the better it is. Should a consumer think of all
associations or should a consumer think of a swoosh?

And the beauty of the subject Consumer Behaviour is that there is no rule that every brand should
have a logo like a swoosh. It's all a question of how well the brand has managed target segment, the
thinking of target segment, so on and so forth. So, the consumer is able to encode something with
respect to a brand. If it is a Titan, it could be probably gifting. If it's Italy, it could be fashion. If it's going
to be France, it could be wine. France can also stand for fashion. If it's going to Germany, it's going to
be perfection. So, we can see that the encoding takes place in the mind of the consumer, but how it
takes place probably is partly within the grasp of the marketer. He has the challenge to ensure that
the consumer selects the proper encoding, a specific symbol or focus symbol at the same time. He
also has to ensure that the competitive associations do not get into the consumer's mind. For instance,
a brand of watch promoting gifting probably will make Titan stronger because Titan is strongly
associated with gifting.

The third aspect is imprinting. Brand imprinting is associated with the strengthening of association
between the brand and the information. We have already said that the each of the nodes carry some
information. For example, the link between NutriChoice from Britannia and Health is very strong when
we talk about brand imprinting of NuitriChoice from Britannia. The brand imprinting with respect to
the example which we have taken Colgate possibly could be oral care with trust. It could possibly be
the doctor's coat or the doctor appearing in a white coat.

So, one can very clearly see when brand associations are formed, nurtured, maintained, modified
schema of the consumer should be taken into account, nodes should be taken into account, the
symbol that is used for encoding from the consumers and needs to be taken into account, the strength
of association which is reflected with respect to brand imprinting needs to be taken into account
because the strength of association possibly has an impact on brand recall.

A brand recall is a very important and vital characteristic with respect to brand association. There may
be a number of other parameters. This example, which I have explained with the set of concepts

© All Rights Reserved, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

 MK204x – Consumer Behaviour
Prof. S Ramesh Kumar
Week 5
Week 3
should be able to give you an idea about the host of marketing research tools that are employed by
the marketeer to probe into the consumer's mind.

So, point number one: There are several concepts that need to be used simultaneously to probe to
the consumer's mind as far as associations are concerned.
Point number two: Associations need to take into account the long-term aspects of sustaining the
associations.

That's about brand imprinting, encoding, schema, nodes, and the strength of associations.

© All Rights Reserved, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore