Customer behavior and marketing decisions

The individual consumer: Perception,

learning and attitude
Jeanne Srensen Bentzen
Assistant Professor, PhD
Department of Business and Management
jeas@business.aau.dk

Session topics
Perception
Perceptual distortion
Image perception
Memory
Attitude
ethnocentrism

Consumer information processing and

decoding of marketing messages
Individual characteristics and understanding
Demographic variables
Sociocultural characteristics
Lifestyle
Personality
Attitude
Learning
Perception (expectations, motivation, past experience)

Involvement and congruence

Mood
Barriers (selected exposure, psychological noice)

Perception

Reality

Consumer perception
Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes
or and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of
the world (Shiffman et al., 2008, p. 168)
Individuals see what they want to see and what they expect to see

(Individual) perception causes people to act or react

The individuals reality is an individual perception based on needs,
wants, values and personal experience
Perception is not always conscious.
Subliminal perception below consciousness, above absolute threshold

Marketers: Knowledge of the notion of perception and related

concepts enables marketers to develop advertisement that has a
better chance of being seen and remembered (attention and
memory) by their target customers

Perceptual selection
Nature of stimuli
Expectations (previous experience)
Motives
Selective perception (barriers)
Selective exposure
Selective attention
Perceptual defense
Perceptual blocking

Perceptual organization
People tend to organize stimuli into groups, which are
perceived as a unified whole
Figure and ground
Grouping
Closure

Perceptual distortions
Distortions that tend to influence perception:
Physical appearances
Stereotypes
First impressions
Jumping to conclusions
Halo effect

Example: Inclusion of healthy option on

a restaurant menu

Perceived images and risks

Product position and reposition
Distinctive brand image -> Symbolic value of brands

Price perception
Quality perception
Price/quality relationship
Risk perception
Variation
Handling risk

Brand perception

Sensory marketing
Sight
Smell
Taste
Sound
Touch

Example: The use of scent in

advertising

Example: the meaning of color

Consumer learning
Elements of learning:
Motivation cues response - reinforcement
Two schools:
Behavioral learning theory/stimulus-response theory
Observable behaviors in response to stimuli
Classical conditioning: Repetition, stimulus generalization, stimulus
discrimination
Instrumental conditioning: Trial-and-error process

Cognitive learning theory

Learning as a function of purely mental processes
Information processing memory
Involvement theory

Desired outcome of learning (marketers): Increased marked

shares and brand-loyal customers

Memory storing, rataining, retrieving

information

Sensory
input

Rehearsal
Sensory
Store

Working
memory
(short term
store)

Forgotten;
lost

Forgotten;
lost

Encoding

Longterm
store

Forgotten;
unavailable

Retrieval

Attitude
Attitude is learned
Experience with product
Experience with brand name (brand extension)
Experience with purchase and consumption of product

Word-of-mouth information
Mass-media advertising, internet, direct marketing
Personality need for cognition

Relatively consistent (if consumers are free to act they

will act according to their attitudes)

Attitude
Not necessarily permanent (can change)
Changing the consumers basic motivational function
Associating the product with a special group, event or cause
Resolving two conflicting attitudes
Altering components of the multi-attribute model
Changing consumer beliefs about competitors brand

Attitude is situation dependent

Satisfaction leads to positive attitude

Attitude models
Tricomponent attitude model
Cognition affect - conation

Multi-attribute attitude models

Attitude towards an object as a function of consumers perception and
assessment of key attributes or beliefs

Trying to consume
Extended attitude model to accommodate consumers goals
Outcome (purchase, possession, use or action) is uncertain
Three outcomes: 1)Trying and succeeding, 2) Trying and failing, 3) The
process of striving itself

Attitude towards the ads models

Critic:
In classical attitude theory, affect is more or less integrated as an
element in the central attitude variable.
The impact of affect is better accounted for by being represented
separately rather than as an aspect of attitude

Theory of reasoned action

Beliefs that the
behavior leads to
certain outcomes
Evaluation of
outcomes

Attitude toward
the behavior

Intention
Beliefs that specific
referents think I
should or should not
perform behavior
Motivation to comply
with the specific
referents

Subjective norms

Behavior

Ethnocentrism as an influence on
attitude
Beliefs held by consumers about the appropriateness and
morality of purchasing foreign-made products
Expressed through conscious preference for local product over
those imported from abroard or other regions within the
country -> even when that product has significant lower quality
Regional ethnocentrism is rooted in local patriotism and often
motivated by moral reasons
Positive attitude towards own product does not imply negative

attitude towards others.

Antecedents and effects of

ethnocentrism
Antecedents
Patriotism
Internationalism
Collectivism
Cultural openness
Socio-demographic factors
Nationalism
Conservatism

Effects of ethnocentrism
Product/brand preferences
Attitude towrds producer
Attitudes towards place of origin

National and regional ethnocentrism:

Beer consumers in Poland
Criteria for choice:
Taste
Price
Local patriotism

What makes a brand polish:

Physical connection with Poland (made in)
Using Polish ingrediences
Traditional (Polish) recipe

Attitude towards owner:

Male negative attitude. No transfer from company to products
Female positive attitude

Brand image more important than ownership

Managerial implications

Build brand on regional identity may help

to reinforce the connection to consumers
throughout the country.

Measuring ethnocentrism

Full 17 item scale see Schiffman et al