CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

LECTURE 7
 SUBLIMINAL / PRIMING

Subliminal: a sensory stimuli below an individual's

threshold for conscious perception and affecting
someone's mind without being aware of it.
Priming: a phenomenon whereby exposure to one
stimulus influences a response to a subsequent
stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention.
 PERSUASION

How do we process persuasive messages?

1) Central / Systematic Route

A person who carefully considers the content of the message and
is influenced by the strength of the arguments.

2) Peripheral / Heuristic Route

A person who is influenced by superficial characteristics.
 FACTORS INFLUENCING
THE TYPE OF PROCESSING

What factors influence the route of persuasion

one uses?
1) Ability to Focus
2) Motivation to Focus
 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
PERSUASION

Three key factors influence the effectiveness of a

persuasive message:
1) The source who delivers the message.
2) The content of the message.
3) The audience who receives the message.
 THE SOURCE

Who delivers the message can persuade people

depending on the source’s following characteristics:
• Attractiveness
• Similarity
• “word of mouth”
• Credibility
• Sleeper effect: A message becomes more persuasive
over time.
 THE CONTENT

How the message is presented through the

persuasiveness of arguments becomes influential.
• Length
• Discrepancy
• Sexual Health Campaigns:
• “No sex, ever.” vs. “Always use a condom if you
have sex.”
 THE AUDIENCE

Who the receiver of the message is will determine the

persuasiveness of the message.
• Demographic factors
• Personality/Relatability
 SUBTLE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
PERSUASION

Two key subtle factors influence the effectiveness of a

persuasive message:
1) Subliminal Processing
2) Emotional Appeals
 EMOTIONAL APPEALS

To influence people’s attitudes and behavior is to create

messages that try to arouse particular emotions.
• Fear-based appeals: The use of negative emotion,
and particularly fear.
• The power of positive emotion: People who are in a
good mood are more easily persuaded. Why?
 RESISTING PERSUASION

How can people resist persuasive messages?

1. Forewarning: Making people aware that they will soon
receive a persuasive message.
2. Reactance: People react to threats to their freedom to
engage in a behavior by becoming more likely to engage in
that behavior.
• Boomerang Effect
3. Inoculation: Exposure to a weak version of a persuasive
message strengthens people’s ability to resist that message
later on.
4. Attitude importance: Attitudes that are important to us are
more resistant to persuasion.
 PRICING

How prices influence consumers:

• “Free”
• There is no such thing as ‘free’: Why?
• No $ Signs
• Expensive restaurants usually have minimalistic prices like “30”, which means
$30.00.
• 10 for $10
• "10 boxes of cookies for $10." Consumers often think they have to buy 10
items to get the deal - but sometimes it's just another way of advertising 1 for
$1.
• Left-Digit Effect
• Prices ending in 9, 99, or 95 are called 'charm prices’. They are perceived to be
cheaper: $7.99 vs. $8.00
• Fixed vs. Variable
• GrabTaxi (fixed) vs. Traditional Metered Taxi (variable)
 SENSATION ADAPTATION

Sensation Adaptation is a diminished sensitivity as a

consequence of constant stimulation.
Smell and touch (the magician’s trick)
Social media overrides this phenomenon by
modifying the stimulation through notifications.
 PERCEPTUAL SET

Perceptual Set is a mental predisposition to perceive

one thing for another.
Seeing is believing. Through experience we come to
expect certain results.
CONTEXT, MOTIVATION, EMOTION

Much of what we perceive comes not just from what’s

“out there”, but also what’s behind our eyes and
between our ears. Through top-down processing, our
experiences, assumptions, expectations along with
context, motivation, and emotions can shape and color
our view of reality.
 PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

Gestalt – “form” or ”whole” – an organized whole, our

tendency to integrate pieces of information into
meaningful wholes.
Grouping
1) Proximity: Group nearby objects together.
2) Continuity: Perceive smooth continuous patterns.
3) Closure: Fill in gaps to create a complete object.
 NONVISUAL SENSES

Hearing enables relationships and humanizes us, people

seem more thoughtful, competent, and likable when we
hear them than when we read their words.

“Touch is both the alpha and omega of affection.”

- William James (1890)
 NONVISUAL SENSES

Pain signals to us something is wrong. Women tend to be

more sensitive to pain than men as well as with smell and
hearing.
Socio-Cultural & Psychological Influences
Controlling Pain:
• Grit – Endorphins (natural painkiller)
• Placebos
• Distractions
• Hypnosis
 NONVISUAL SENSES

Taste has allowed us to seek energy/protein rich foods that

has enabled our survival.
Five taste sensations:
1) Sweet – Energy source
2) Salty – Sodium
3) Sour – Potentially toxic
4) Bitter – Potentially poisonous
5) Umami – Protein source
 NONVISUAL SENSES

Smell allows us to recognize long forgotten odors and

their associated memories.

Pheromones – sexual scents of attractions. Do humans

possess this ability?
• Menstrual cycle
 NONVISUAL SENSES

Embodied cognition is the influence of bodily sensations,

gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and
judgements.

Physical warmth may promote social warmth.

Social exclusion can literally feel cold.
Judgements of others may also mimic body sensations.
 HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

In pairs analyze an advertisement or economic / political / social

campaign you have seen recently.

Evaluate the advertisement’s or campaign’s source (who delivers

it), its content (message), and its audience (who receives it).
• Is it persuasive? Why or why not?
• Were emotional appeals, subliminal processing, and/or
framing used in the advertisement or campaign? Were there
any other concepts you thought made it persuasive?
• Could they have made it more persuasive to the audience, and
if so, how?