UNIT 2-5

PERCEPTION -CONSUMER LEARNING & MEMORY

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 PERCEPTION
 Perception is the organization, identification, and
interpretation of sensory information.
 Perception relates to the understanding of presented
information or environment.
 All perception signals pass through the nervous system
 They result from physical or chemical stimulation of the
human sensory system.
 Perception is about the consumer’s subjective
understanding & not objective ‘wisdom’.
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 Changing this subjective ‘wisdom’ is difficult.

 An opinion of the qualities of a product it is difficult to change.
 Human beings are constantly bombarded with stimuli every moment.
 According to the principles of sensation, intensive sensation ‘bounces
off’ most individuals.
 Humans consciously block the heavy bombardment of stimuli.
 This is a mechanism to prevent disorientation / confusion that the stimuli
may cause.
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 This does not happen often since perception is not a function of

sensory inputs alone.
 Perception is the result of 2 different kinds of inputs .
 One input is the physical stimuli received from the outside
environment.
 The other input come from the individual’s expectataions,
motives, that have been learnt from previous experiences.
 These inputs interact to form personal pictures – the perception
 These are experienced by each individual- without exception.
 The combination of these inputs forms a very private picture &
personal picture of the world.
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 Because each person is an unique individual:

 He has unique experiences
 His needs & wants are unique.
 So are his desires &
 Expectations.
 As a consequence each person’s perceptions are unique.
 This is the reason that no two individuals see the world in the same way.
 Individuals are selective as to which stimuli they ‘recognise’ & don’t recognise.
 The stimuli they recognise are subconsciously ‘organised & interpreted in
accordance with their expectations & personal needs.
 They follow the sequence of: Selection, organisation & interpretation of
stimuli
 Elements of Perception
 Perception comprises three components, namely 
 The Perceiver,
 The Target (Stimulus) &
 The situation.
 The characteristics of each of these components influence the
perceptual processes of selection, organization, and interpretation.
 Attention happens when we notice a stimulus & the attention may be
voluntary or involuntary.
 Attention getting is a prerequisite to consumer’s perception.
 Here the products compete for consumer’ attention
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 Attention getting is a prerequisite to consumer’s
perception
 Attention allows you to “shut out" information, sensations,
and perceptions that are not relevant.
 It draws focus your energy on the information that's
important.
 ​Attention occurs when the stimulus makes a conscious
impression on the consumer - involuntary
 Voluntary-or the consumer allocates processing capacity to
it. 7
 Elements Of Consumer Learning
• Consumer learning is a process that evolves and changes as
consumers acquire :
• Knowledge from Experience , Observation and ,Interaction with
others.
• The newly acquired knowledge affects consumer behaviour.
• It ranges from simple & often relative responses to marketing stimuli like:
• Packaging, products colours & promotional messages &
• Learning abstract concepts & making complex purchase & expensive
decisions

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• Not all learning is deliberately sought.
• Most learning is intentional (acquires by search information)
• A great deal of learning is incidental, acquired by accident – without much
effort.
• Some ads may induce learning- like a new product under a familiar name.
• Cadbury Silk
• Other ads are sought out and deliberately read by consumes
• These consumers are contemplating major purchases .
• Learning comprises 4 elements
• Motives
• Cues
• Responses &
• Reinforcement.

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Motives
• Uncovering consumer motives is the primary objective of marketers.
• They seek to teach consumers how they can fulfill their needs by buying certain
products & brands.
• Unfulfilled needs lead to motivation , which spurs learning.
• e.g. people pursuing their hobbies.
• Individuals not interested in the hobby will ignore all information and have minimal
involvement.
• Cues
• Cues are stimuli that direct motivated behaviour.
• An ad for an exotic trip including biking may interest bike riders.
• Bike riding would be the cue for bikers.
• The ad is an cue that suggests a salient motive .
• In marketing price, styling, packaging ,advertising & store displays are cues designed to fulfill
needs of a specific audience.
  
Responses.
• In the context of learning, response is the individual’s reaction to
a drive or cue.
• Repetition of cues by an auto manufacturer may not always succeed in
stimulating a purchase.
• A response is not tied to a need in one to one situation.
• A need/ motive may evoke several responses.
• Exercise can have several variables- cycling , yoga.
• Cues provide some direction, other prevalent cues compete for
the consumer’s attention.
• The response will depend upon the consumer learning
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• Reinforcement
• Reinforcement is the rewards the consumer receives after
buying a product- the pleasure, enjoyment & benefits
• The challenge is to provide the consumers with ongoing quality
& positive service.
• This enforces future purchase.
• e.g. people visiting restaurants

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 Information Processing- Memory
• A lot of learning occurs through consumer thinking & problem
solving.
• Some purchase related decisions are instant, in others we
seek information.
• We carefully evaluate what we learn.
• This learning is called cognitive learning.
• Cognitive learning consists of mental processing of data rather
than instinctive responses to stimuli.

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 REHEARSAL ENCODING

Sensory SENSORY WORKING MEMORY LONG TERM

output STORE ( SHORT TIME STORE) STORE RETRIEVAL

FORGOTTEN :LOST FORGOTTEN :LOST FORGOTTEN :UNAVAILABLE

INFORMATION PROCESSING

• The human mind processes the information it receives.

• Consumers process information by
• Attributes
• Brands & brand comparisons,
• & a combination of these factors.
• Consumers with higher cognitive abilities acquire more
product information & consider mote product attributes
& alternatives , than consumers with lesser ability.
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 Storing Information
• The more the information that a consumer has on a product
category the greater the capacity to use it.
• Greater category information & familiarity also increases learning
during new product decisions.
○ The components of information are storing, retaining & retrieving
information.
○ The human mind is the center for information processing.
○ Information processing takes place in 3 sequential stages in storehouses.
○ The Sensory storehouse,
○ The Short Term storehouse &
○ The Long Term Storehouse
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• The sensory store.
• This is a space in the brain where sensory inputs last for a second or two.
• If not processed immediately it is lost.
• Data comes in though our senses, the senses do not carry images.
• Each sense receives a piece of information in parallel- smell , colour , shape
& feel.
• This information id transmitted to the brain.
• The perception of a single instant are synchronised & perceived as a single
image for a brief moment.
• It is easy to get the information to make a lasting impression.

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• The brain automatically tags the information with a value- positive or
negative.
• This evaluation along with the earlier perception in the first second
cognition, tends to remain unless further processed.
• These first impressions can be hazardous for marketers if a product is
launched prematurely in the marketplace.
• The Short-Term Store
• Here the information is processed and retained for a short period of
time.
• If the information goes through the process of rehearsal-
• A silent ,mental repetition of information , it gets transferred to the long
term store.
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• The transfer process takes 2-10 seconds.
• If the information is not rehearsed & transferred it is lost in 30 seconds or
less.
• A maximum of 4-5 items can be retained in the short term store.
• Long term-store
• Here the information is stored for extended periods of time.
• It is possible that information may be forgotten in a few minutes after
reaching the long-term storage.
• It is however common for data reaching the long term storage to last for
a few days, weeks or years.

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