Learning objectives

Explain how memory works and its role in buyer behaviour

Week 6 Describe the concept of mental availability (brand salience)
Explain how mental availability is measured
Describe the process of a brand being stored into memory
Memory & Buying Behaviour
Explain the importance of cues in the process of brand retrieval

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Required readings Remember our new view of buyers

Romaniuk, J & Sharp, B Chapter 4 (2015) Habitual
Building Mental Availability How Brands Grow
Part 2, Oxford University Press All loyal to some extent

Other useful references:

Satisficing - not always seeking the best, but
good enough
Romaniuk, J & Sharp, B 2004, Conceptualizing and
measuring brand salience, Marketing Theory, vol. 4, Busy
no. 4, pp. 327-342.
Sharp B, Chapter 12 (2010) "Mental and Physical
With some brands more thought of or
Availability How Brands Grow: What Marketers noticed than other brands
Don't Know, Oxford University Press

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In this lecture..

2 main sections:
Memory & Mental Availability
1. Background on human memory ...What,
how and why
2. Role of memory in buying behaviour

The mind works in mysterious ways

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 How many black dots can you see?

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The Brain Rational vs. Emotional

We still dont know a lot about how it
works
A lot of what we do know comes from
studying when things go wrong - this has
provided some insight
This is now changing with techniques that
help us study the normal working brain

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 Buying decisions are What is memory?

multiple components constructed around

a distributed network of neurons Goldman-Rakic
in Scientific American Book of the Brain (1999)

20% emotional All over the brain - not in any one area
rational 80%
A combination of neurons and chemicals -
all interacting

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3 Areas of Storage Sensory Memory

1. Sensory
Sight, Sound, Smell, Touch & Taste
2. Short-term Passes in and out of consciousness quickly
Takes less than a second to process
3. Long-term Hard to verbally describe
Can be trained

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A game... Short-term memory

I went to the market and bought a...
Closely related to working memory
Responsible for storing information
temporarily
Passive process
Storage capacity - 5-9 items (7 +/-2)
Can be enhanced by chunking (86552342
versus 86 55 23 42)

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 Short term memory
Discovered during study of recovery of memory
after blows to the head
After such a blow, the last moments seem to be
irretrievably lost
Suggests that memory of immediate events must
be "stored" in the brain in a more vulnerable form
than other info.
Cultural differences..??
Psychologists tested the longest sequence
of random digits remembered by people
from different countries.
Chinese-speakers could remember the
most, then English speakers, then Welsh-
speakers... But the Chinese had the
shortest words for digits

Clinical conditions and age make our short term This is why the Chinese could remember
memory less efficient more of them.

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Long term memory

Thought to be (relatively) permanent -
Nothing is forgotten, only the means of
retrieval is lost
Usually the things we can retrieve from
long term memory are events rather than
every day things

Think of your earliest memory - How old Turn your lecture slides over onto a blank page.
were you? What happened?

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Exercise Memory is..

Thought to be associative (observed as far back
as Aristotle)
Four basic principles:
Word lists...
1. Information stored as nodes
2. Nodes can be linked together associated
3. These links are bi-directional
4. Links give a chance at retrieval

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 Memory is Long Term Memory

Explicit Implicit
(with conscious (without conscious
recall)
recall)

Fickle (well more likely probabilistic)

Prone to error and efforts to fill in gaps Episodic Semantic Priming Procedural

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3 memory processes Encoding

Putting information into storage
Form links with information already in
memory or reinforce existing knowledge
Can be conscious or unconscious
We filter out a lot of info and have selective
attention (At a party - always hear our own name
- regardless of the noise)

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Encoding
Look at the picture
and try to describe
the creature to me
How deeply you encode something has a greater
effect on future retrieval than how long you spend Observe which words,
encoding. associations you are
using and why
Craik and Tulving (1975)

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 Storage
Look at the picture
and try to describe
the creature to me Maintenance of memory
The way we keep information in memory
Observe which words,
associations you are
Rehearsal can be just repeating the information
over and over
using and why
BUT elaborative rehearsal - with exercises such
as linking new information to other items
seems to work better
Reinforcement role

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Cued retrieval - Soft drinks example

Retrieval

Cue based
Linked info can be retrieved and used or acts
as a retrieval cue for further information
Great on a
warm day
Treat myself

Factors such as mood can also effect retrieval

Not everything linked will be retrieved - we
dont have the mental capacity or inclination

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Forgetting - Retrieval failure

Why do we forget? Memory and Buying

1. Ineffective initial encoding
2. Decay: memory fades with time Behaviour
3. Interference: competition from other
information
4. Different context cues

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 Think about.. Question..
The last thing you bought Why do buyers store information about brands in
their memory?
How much did you think about buying?
It is USEFUL
Why/ Why not? It makes it easier to buy the next time - dont
have to learn from scratch
Learning is hard work - no one wants to do it
all the time

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Encoding Brand Information Buyers notice the familiar

Buyers filter out most of what they are

% Non-users % Users Difference
Aussie Homeloans 21 51 30
exposed to Commonwealth Bank
Suncorp
30
3
49
42
19
39

But they do notice things that are:

Suncorp Metway 7 35 28
Westpac 9 27 28
Heritage Credit Union 2 25 23
Useful/important National Aust Bank
ANZ
9
7
17
17
8
10
Unusual Bank of Queensland
Average
1
10
9
30
8
21
Frequently used (e.g. users more likely to
recall exposure to advertising than non- Non-users vs users recall of brands in advertising
users) Aust Financial services 1999-2001

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Ad-recognition among
brand users and non-users. Buyers dont want to think about brands
CPG brand % Non-users %Users Difference
Australia Consumption is typically more important
Pantene
Kelloggs
14
15
25
22
11
7 than buying
Yoplait 12 20 8
M&Ms
Colgate
10
14
19
17
9
3 Breaking through the filtering process and
Kleenex
Average
11
13
17
20
6
7
gaining attention is crucial
UK
Charity brand
Thats why likeable, engaging ads work - ads
RSPCA
British Red Cross
20
19
41
36
21
17
that evoke arousal they make you laugh or
Cancer Research UK
Average
19
19
25
34
6
15
cry - more likely to be watched again

Even for very big brands, across different categories and markets
users are more likely to recall the ad than non-users.
Deeper processing = better retrieval
Nguyen 2016

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 WHOS THIS?
Buyers dont want to think about brands

Marketers need to make it easy for buyers to

know who is advertising
Have prominent, distinctive, consistent,
branding - can be done through colour,
symbols, slogan, style
Just do it!
Aim is to create or reinforce links in memory -
knowing the brand name is crucial for this

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Storage of Brand Information Retrieval of Brand Information

What brand information do we store in our
memories?
Brand names
Anything encountered in the same context as
the brand get stored in the memory.
Brand attributes (direct links to the brand in
memory)
E.g. brand attributes such as: brand elements - yellow
package or consumers thoughts - tastes good, healthy)
How do we retrieve brands from our memory?
By the use of cues
Cues can be:
a wide range of brand attributes (sweet, keeps
me awake, tasty)
I feel like something sweet...
a product category (ice cream, soft drink)
I feel like a soft drink...

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Retrieval Cues
Something to cool me down..?
Cues can
retrieve brand
names but can Tastes great Tastes great Tastes great
be anything
(linked) that Cool
Good with
food
can satisfy the down

need

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 Brand Attributes role
Evaluation: Brand attributes are typically
thought of as characteristics to help select
between brands - Which brand offers good
value, excellent service, etc.
vs.
Retrieval: However, this is not the first role
of brand attributes in buying - buyers need
to first think of options to buy
Mental Availability
Also called Brand Salience
The propensity of the brand to be thought
of or noticed in buying situations
This is reflected in the quantity (how many)
and the quality (how fresh and relevant) of
the network of brand information in
memory

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The Real Challenge of growing a brand is to create

Mental Availability AVAILABILITY:

The more CEPs/cues that the brand is

linked to, the more likely it will be linked to
the cues the customer is likely to come
across in buying situations

Mental Availability Physical Availability

The most important thing that marketing
managers need to be concerned about

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Brands Mental Availability Measuring Brands

differs from: Mental Availability
Brand attitude
Where the focus is on evaluation of the 1. It should contain a range of Category Entry
brand rather than the quantity and quality Points (CEPs)/ cues used to think of brands
of the memory links to the brand within the relevant category.
Top of Mind Awareness 2. CEPs are:
The first brand recalled when prompted
with the product category cue
pathways to the brand
Mental Availability considers multiple entry
distribution outlets in the mind of consumers
points (cues) to retrieve the brand from
memory, not just evaluative attributes or the
building blocks to mental availability
product category cue.

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 Category Entry Points

CEPs can be:

purchase situations (at the coffee shop),
consumption situations (take to a party),
the environment the buyer is in (at the beach),
who else is present (with the kids),
needs (to cool me down)
core benefits the category can offer (filling snack)

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Measuring Brands Measuring Brands

Mental Availability Mental Availability
Three important factors for any brand salience
measure: 3. It should measure recall relative to
competitors rather than for a single brand
1. It should contain a range of CEPs/ cues used independently
to think of brands
2. It should focus on retrieval rather than Retrieval is a competitive activity
evaluations of a brand Replicates the actual buyer experience
Either the brand is retrieved or not when more closely
prompted with a cue (eg tasty) rather than
the extent on a rating scale to which it

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CATEGORY = DOG APPAREL

Mental Availability Metrics

Three key metrics:
FIVE RESPONDENTS
Mental Market Share
Share of CEP associations as a % of total CEP associations Kelly Byron Nicole Jenni Katherine

Mental penetration
% of people giving at least one CEP association
LIST OF CEPs
Network Size Spots
Wardrobe
Is on trend (T)
No. of CEP associations given by those people with at Pawsome Durable fabrics (D)
least one CEP association
Has a wide selection (WS)
TopDog Is affordable (A)
Using an attribute to brand, pick any approach to For special occasions (SO)
capture CEP associations. THREE BRANDS
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 SO
SO
D
Which of these dog apparel brands, if any, do you associate with: T
T
D
WS
T SO WS T WS
A A
A WS A
Is on trend WS
A A
SO
T T
WS WS WS
Spots
Pawsome TopDog Kelly Byron Nicole Jenni Katherine
Wardrobe
3 8 2 7 6

What do our respondents think of dog apparel brands ?

26 Total CEP associations

62 Spots Pawsome TopDog

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SO SO
SO D SO D
T D T D
SO WS T WS SO WS T WS
T T WS T T WS
A A A A
A WS A A WS A

WS WS
A A A A
SO SO
T T T T
WS WS WS WS WS WS

Kelly Byron Nicole Jenni Katherine Kelly Byron Nicole Jenni Katherine

Mental Market Share Associative Penetration

= Share of CEP associations as a % of total CEP associations 26 = % people giving at least one CEP association

Spots Spots
Pawsome TopDog Pawsome TopDog
Wardrobe Wardrobe
14 8 4
14/26 assoc 8/26 assoc 4/26 assoc 4/5 people 3/5 people 2/5 people
=54% =31% =15% ? =80% =60% =40% ?
63 Spots Pawsome TopDog 64 Spots Pawsome TopDog

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SO
SO
D
Double jeopardy pattern
T D
SO WS T WS
T T WS
A A
A WS A

WS Mental Network
A A Pen. %
SO Share % Size
T T
WS WS WS
Spots Wardrobe 54 80 3.5
Kelly Byron Nicole Jenni Katherine
Pawsome 31 60 2.7

Network size*
= No. of CEP associations given by those people with at least one CEP association TopDog 15 40 2.0

Brands with higher mental share have more people linking them to more CEPs.
Spots Just like the Law of Double Jeopardy for brand buying.
Pawsome TopDog
Wardrobe
14 8 4
14 assoc/4 people 8 assoc/3 people 4 assoc/2 people
=3.5 =2.7 =2.0 ?
Spots Pawsome TopDog
65 *Note: This measure is restricted to people with at least one attribute link for the brand COMMERCIAL
COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE
COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE
CONFIDENCE

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 Implications for Marketing Competition Implications
Retrieval from memory is cue based, cues come
from the external environment and our internal
thoughts (sometimes at the same time) Just because your brand is thought of for one
cue, doesnt mean it will be for other cues
Marketers need to understand the cues buyers
use when they think of options to buy Competition is in the eye of the beholder.
View competitors from a buyers eyes rather
Marketers need to build brands mental than just companies that offer similar products
availability, so there are many cues, prominent
and fresh cues that link to the brand. And realise this competitive set may vary by
situation, over time etc
If the brand is not thought of in a buying
situation it cant be bought

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The Cognitive Miser

The biggest choice
for most buyers is to
buy from the
category
After that brand choice is trivial

Buyers have lives -

and each individual
brand is just one
(very) little part of it

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