Introduction to Consumer Behavior

 Need, scope, overview of consumer decision process, Consumer buying process

Consumer Motivation
 Classification of Motives -Theories of Motivation
 Techniques of Motivational Research.
Personality and Consumer Behavior
 Theories of Personality-The Concept of Self and self-image
Consumer personality vs brand personality
Perception
 Process of Perception.
 Consumer Imagery
 Perceived risk.
Learning
 Behavioral Learning Theories
 Cognitive Learning Theories
 Brand Loyalty and consumer learning-
 Measures of consumer learning
Consumer Attitude
 Models of attitude -Formation of Attitudes
 Attitude change strategies
Influence of culture and society
 Culture and social class
 Family & household influences,
 Group influence
Consumer decision making
 Models of consumer decision making: Consumer and organizational buying
behavior.
 Diffusion of innovation
 Post purchase behavior
Contemporary topics
 Impact of social media on consumer behavior.
 Consumer behavior in services
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND INSIGHTS

INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Though similar, consumers are unique in themselves; they have needs and wants which are
varied and diverse from one another; and they have different consumption patterns and
consumption behavior. The marketer helps satisfy these needs and wants through product and
service offerings. For a firm to survive, compete and grow, it is essential that the marketer
identifies these needs and wants, and provides product offerings more effectively and
efficiently than other competitors. A comprehensive yet meticulous knowledge of consumers
and their consumption behavior is essential for a firm to succeed. Herein, lies the essence of
Consumer Behavior, an interdisciplinary subject, that emerged as a separate field of study in
the 1960s.

DEFINING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:

Consumer Behavior may be defined as “the interplay of forces that takes place during a
consumption process, within a consumers’ self and his/her environment. - this interaction takes
place between three elements viz. knowledge, affect and behavior; - it continues through pre-
purchase activity to the post purchase experience; - it includes the stages of evaluating,
acquiring, using and disposing of goods and services”.

The “consumer” includes both personal consumers and business/industrial/organizational

consumers.

The behavior that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and
disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs.”

- Schiffman and Kanuk

“Those actions directly involved in obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and
services including the decision processes that precede and follow these actions”.

-Engel, Blackwell, Miniard

“the dynamic interaction of effect and cognition, behavior and the environment by which
human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives”

-American Marketing Association

CONSUMER DECISION AND ACTION

Cognition: This includes within its ambit the “knowledge, information processing and
thinking” part; It includes the mental processes involved in processing of
information, thinking and interpretation of stimuli (people, objects, things,
places and events). In our case, stimuli would be product or service offering;
it could be a brand or even anything to do with the 4Ps.

Affect: This is the “ feelings” part. It includes the favorable or unfavorable feelings
and corresponding emotions towards a stimuli (eg. towards a product or
service offering or a brand). These vary in direction, intensity and
persistence.

Behavior: This is the “visible” part. In our case, this could be the purchase activity: to
buy or not a buy (again specific to a product or service offering, a brand or
even related to any of the 4 Ps).

SCOPE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

The study of consumer behavior deals with understanding consumption patterns and behavior.
It includes within its ambit the answers to the following: - ‘What’ the consumers buy: goods
and services

- ‘Why’ they buy it: need and want

- ‘When’ do they buy it: time: day, week, month, year, occasions etc.

- ‘Where’ they buy it: place

- ‘How often they buy’ it: time interval

- ‘How often they use’ it: frequency of use

The scope of consumer behavior includes not only the actual buyer but also the various roles
played by him/ different individuals.
THE BUYING PROCESS

Figure 1.1: The Buying Process

Actual Buyer vis a vis other users.

There are five buying roles, viz.,
Initiator, Influencer, Decider, User,
Buyer. The initiator is the person
who identifies that there exists a
need or want; the influencer is the
one who influences the purchase
decision, the actual purchase activity and/or the use of the product or service; the decider is
the one who decides whether to buy, what to buy, when to buy, from where to buy, and how
to buy; the buyer is the one who makes the actual purchase; and, the user is the person (s)
who use the product or service. These five roles may be played by one person or by different
persons. A person may assume one or more of these roles. This would depend on the product
or service in question.

Example 1:

A child goes to a kindergarten school. She comes back home and asks her parents to buy her
a set of color pencils and crayons. Now the roles played are:

1. Initiator: the child in nursery school

2. Influencer: a fellow classmate

3. Decider: the father or the mother

4. Buyer: the father or the mother

5. User: the child

 CONSUMER MOTIVATION

CLASSIFICATION OF MOTIVES -THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory:

The Heirarchy of Needs Theory, proposed by Abraham Maslow, a clinical psychologist in

1943, is regarded as one of the most important contributions to the field of motivational
research. Maslow proposed that human needs could be classified into five basic levels, viz.,
basic /primary needs, safety/security needs, social/affiliation needs, ego/esteem needs and
self actualization needs. Each of the needs could be ranked in order of importance from the
lowest to the highest through a pyramidical structure starting from basic /primary needs to the
safety/security needs to the social/affiliation needs to the ego/esteem needs, to finally the self
actualization needs. The first two needs, viz. basic /primary needs and safety/security needs
were biogenic in nature and were regarded as lower-order needs; while the rest of the three,
viz., social/affiliation needs, ego/esteem needs and self actualization needs were psychogenic
in nature and were regarded as higher-order needs. According to the theory, these needs are
hierarchical and an individual will go level by level, starting first with the fulfillment of the
lower-order needs and gradually move towards the fulfillment of the higher-order needs. A
person cannot move to the second level unless the first level is satisfied. Once a level is
satisfied, it ceases to be a motivator and the moves to the next. The theory was indeed a
pioneering piece of work and has been versatile enough to be applied across social science
disciplines. Consumer behaviorists have found the versatility of the theory highly useful
while testing consumer motivation. The five needs and the terminology has been universally
used and tested across disciplines. The need classification is generic enough to include needs
that individuals possess. However, critics argue that the pyramidical structure fails the test of
real life situations and practical testing. Even consumer behavior researchers have pointed out
its limitation especially in terms of consumers moving hierarchically across needs from lower
levels to higher levels. Consumers experience multiplicity of needs and wants and often
satisfy them simultaneously rather than looking at their relativity. Consumers also often
sacrifice one need for another.
Figure 2.1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

IMPLICATIONS FOR MARKETING MANAGERS

1. The five-need classification clearly spells out the various reasons for which people get
motivated towards product/service offerings: - food, water, houses: basic /primary/
physiological needs - life insurance policies, savings and current accounts in banks:
safety/security needs - membership to clubs, buying houses in residential societies:
social/affiliation needs - cars, pent houses, jewellery, membership to premium clubs
and societies: ego/esteem needs - admission to professional courses: self actualization
needs.
2. The theory could help marketers understand consumer behavior and needs. Based on
the needs and the corresponding motives for purchase and consumption of
product/service offerings, the marketer can identify vital clues for segmentation and
positioning. Keeping in mind the particular need-motive pattern, the marketer can
identify the segment that would be most lucrative for his product/service offerings.
This could help him devise his marketing mix (4 Ps) to suit the needs of that segment,
and then position accordingly.
Example 1: Maggi 2 Minute Noodles: Need: Hunger Motive: Quick Snack, Easy to Cook
Major Segment: Children and Teenagers. The mix: Small packs, attractive colour and
packaging, fun and social appeal in advertisements.

Example 2: Close up Gel Toothpaste Motive: Prevents bad breath. Major Segment:
Teenagers and Youth. The mix: 3 varieties, red (regular), blue (crystal) and green (natural
and menthol), attractive colour, packaging in various sizes, social appeal in advertisements.

3. The marketer could also benefit from the versatility of the theory where varied
appeals for a product/service offering can be developed through the five levels of
needs. Marketing promotion can be designed to appeal to one or more of the needs.

Mc Clelland’s Trio of Needs Theory:

Another psychologist, Mc Clelland proposed a theory of Motivation that has come to be

known as the Three Need Theory or the Trio of Needs Theory or the Learned Needs Theory.
According to him, an individual’s needs are acquired over time and are learned and
accordingly shaped by ones’ life experiences. These needs can be classified into three
categories, and thus constitute the Trio, viz., Needs for power (nPow), affiliation (nAff) and
achievement (NAch).

a) Needs for power (nPow): this refers to a desire within a person to control others (like
people, situations, objects etc).
b) Need for affiliation (nAff): this refers to a desire for friendship, belongingness and
social acceptance.
c) Need for achievement (nAch): this refers to a desire and pride for accomplishment and
success.

This need theory shows similarity and also overlaps with Maslow’s Need Theory. For
example, Mc Clelland’s need for power, closely relates with safety and esteem need; the
need for affiliation relates to social needs and the need for achievement relates to the esteem
and self-actualization needs. Nevertheless, the theory holds a place for itself and has
implications for social researchers and practitioners.
Implication for Marketers:

a) The trio of needs theory could explain why people get motivated towards purchase and
consumption patterns of certain product/service offerings: i) Needs for power (nPow):

Examples:

- People get attracted towards fast cars, motorcycles with greater horsepower. Such
automobiles depict masculinity.
-They also desire for positions in the government and its machinery etc so as to be able to
make policy decisions and control others.

ii) Need for affiliation (nAff):

Examples:

- People like to buy products and services that relate to their culture, social class and
lifetstyle. They prefer a social approval from people from their social class. Food items,
clothing and apparel and even hobbies and interest relate to one’s social class.
- People desire partying and celebrating together, and on such occasions, snacks and
beverages are common products.
- People like holidaying together as family or friends etc. Holiday packages are prepared
by the tours and travel companies.

Sheth's Consumer Motives:

Professor Jagdish N. Sheth, proposed a classification of needs more pertinent to marketing

management. While he primarily researched in the area of travel industry, the findings are
equally applicable across most products and services. Sheth classified motives into five
dimensions, viz., functional motives, aesthetic/emotional motives, social motives, situational
motives and curiosity motives. According to him, each of these is oriented to the achievement
of specific goals. a) Functional motives: this refers to the utility of a product/service, the
utility and the function that is performed. b) Aesthetic/emotional motives: this refers to the
attractiveness in terms of appearance and looks of the product/service. c) Social motives: this
is the esteem value attached to the product/service. d) Situational motives: this refers to the
unanticipated and unexpected benefits attached to a product/service, like discounts and
allowances. e) Curiosity motives: this is the interest aroused by a product/service.

IMPLICATIONS FOR MARKETING MANAGERS

The marketer could benefit from the versatility of the theory where these varied motives,
each oriented to the achievement specific goals can be better explained. Example: A person,
in sub-urban Mumbai, turns successful as a s businessman. He now desires to migrate to the
posh Juhu area of Mumbai and purchases a bungalow in the posh locality, next to seaside.

TECHNIQUES OF MOTIVATIONAL RESEARCH

Consumer behaviorist and researchers use multiple tools and techniques for measurement of
consumer motives. These include consumer surveys and projective tests to study underlying
motives, and observations of consumers at store to study direct behavior. These tools are
useful if used in conjunction with each other; they complement each other and help facilitate
drawing up of valid and reliable findings. Motivational research attempts to identify
underlying motives, desires and feelings concerning consumption of product/service offerings
and corresponding consumption patterns. Its understanding has relevance and applicability
for marketing managers who could benefit from such research for reasons that are many. A
few of them are listed as follows:

1. Motivational research helps discover and identify the forces/needs/desires, urges/drives

and resultant behavior in the marketplace. In other words, it helps explain the actual reasons
underlying consumer behavior. A product and service offering helps meet a multitude of
needs; as has been explained in the examples above, the purchase of a microwave helps meet
various needs; the purchase of a bungalow in Juhu meets several motives; a product/service
offering could meet one or few or all of these needs. Thus, a product/service offering meets
many needs and motives across people and situations. Each one of us attaches a level of
priority to these needs/motives. Nevertheless, an in-depth study across a sample drawn from
the segment to whom the product/service offering is made, can help make generalization and
thereby, help understand consumer decision making, resultant behavior and consumption
patterns. He could take decisions related to segmentation and positioning. The
product/service offering could be fin tuned with the most important need/motive of the
majority of the segment and positioned accordingly in the minds of the consumer. For
example, for a person who has suddenly become rich and wants to possess a house in Juhu,
the esteem and achievement need (Maslow) and the aesthetic, social and curiosity motives
(Sheth) hold priority.

2. The marketer could use findings from motivational research to influence consumer
decision making to his favor. With a particular product/service offering meeting many needs
and motives, the consumer is pulled and influenced towards varied brand offerings, each of
which is positioned on different needs/motives. For example, a couple wants to buy a
refrigerator. The joint decision making gets complicated when the husband looks at the
cooling function and the compressor (functional motive), while the wife gives priority to the
good looks and color (aesthetic motive). Such a conflict could also occur at an intra
individual level in case of a single person making a decision, in the form of approach-
approach, approach-avoidance and avoidance-avoidance conflict. Thus the consumer faces a
dilemma due to the strength and weakness of different motives and the corresponding brands.
The marketer could use such a conflict situation to his favor, when he is able to understand
the underlying motive, and push his brand offering if he is aware of the underlying motive.
He can relate his brand offering to the benefits that the consumer segment seeks. For the
above example, if he feels that the decision would end up as a male dominated decision, he
would stress on functional benefits and utility of his brand, and help resolve a conflict
situation.

3. Knowledge of consumer motivation can help a marketer trigger off motives to his
advantage. Once a need/motive is activated, it leads to an urge/desire to act. So marketers can
trigger off needs/motives by presenting desirable/required stimuli, so that they can experience
desirable consumption behavior. a) The marketer can help the consumer identify such needs
and wants that exist in the sub-conscious, i.e. he could trigger subconscious motivation. Once
he does that and brings them to the surface level, he can translate the need into a want, and
take advantage of the product/service offering and his brand. For example, need to smell
good and deodorants. b) He could also induce the process through need-benefit segmentation
and offer products and services that meet the needs of the target segment. He could segment
the market on motivational needs. c) The marketer can also try to lead the consumer from an
actual state to a desired state by luring him towards improvised versions of existing products.
The marketer could highlight product/service features in the improvised versions and attract
the consumers to buy their brands. For example, mobile phones.

4. Drawing on from knowledge of consumer motivation, the marketers could also gain
insights into consumers’ reactions any or all of the 4Ps, as also towards changes that are
brought upon in the mix. This could also include reactions towards other changes in the
marketing mix. He could use motivational needs to design product/service offerings,
determine his pricing strategy based on rational/emotional motives that the majority of the
segment has, develop promotional messages to appeal to customers etc.

CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT

Another component that closely relates to motivation is involvement. Involvement is defined

as a psychological state that motivates people to be more aware and careful about
persons/objects/situations. It also indicates a level of personal importance that the person
attaches to such persons/objects/situations. Thus, there are (a) high and low-involvement
consumers; (b) high and low-involvement purchases.

Table 1: High and Low Involvement Products vis a viz Consumer Decision Making

High Involvement ↔ Low Involvement

EPS LPS RPS
1. Problem recognition Actual state type Actual state type Actual state type
to Desired State to Desired State
2. Information search Extensive Limited Minimum
a) Number of brands Internal and Mostly internal Restricted to
considered external sources sources internal sources
b) Number of sellers Many Several only.
considered Many Several One
One/Few
3. Evaluation of alternatives Complex Moderate Simple (if at all)
Number of product/service Many Moderate One/None
attributes evaluated
4. Purchase Gradual after a Not so gradual Immediate
cognitive process
5. Post purchase processes Cognitive Cognitive Brand loyalty.
dissonance is dissonance Repeat purchase.
high. would be rare
Brand loyalty if
satisfied
6. Time spent in purchase Large Moderate/Little Small/Minimal
 7. Types of goods Specialty goods Mixed Convenience

Noteworthy here is the fact that depending on the level of involvement, high or low,
the process varies in terms of the sequence of how the three components of cognition, attitude
and behavior are arranged (Hierarchies of effects for low and high involvement decisions,
Assael, 1992).
a) Cognition: this refers to the knowledge, information and resulting beliefs about brands.
b) Attitude: this is the positive/negative feeling about the brands desirability/undesirability that
results from evaluation of beliefs.
c) Behavior: this is the overt reaction in terms of purchasing or nor purchasing, or purchasing
brand X over Y as it seems more desirable.
In terms of high involvement, there is cognition (knowledge component: information
gathering and processing), followed by attitude (feeling component: like or dislike), followed
by behavior (conative component: buy or not to buy); Cognition􀃆 Attitude􀃆 Behavior. For
example, while purchasing a refrigerator, a consumer would first collect information about the
various brands and evaluate them, he would then prioritize his preferences and finally go in for
purchase of brand X over Y.
On the other hand, in terms of low involvement, there is cognition (knowledge
component: information gathering and processing), followed by behavior (conative
component: buy or not to buy), finally followed by attitude (feeling component: like or dislike);
Cognition􀃆 Behavior􀃆 Attitude. For example, while trying out a new flavor of potato wafers,
the consumer may first collect information on the brand, purchase it and consume it, and finally
form an attitude of like or dislike. This would have a bearing on his purchase of wafers in
future, whether he continues with this brand X or goes for a change to Y.

Types of Consumer Involvement:

Depending on whether the involvement is short term or long term, consumer involvement could
be of two types, viz., situational and enduring.
1. Situational involvement: This is a state of arousal directed towards attaching relevance to
a person/object/situation for a short term. As an affective state, it creates a level of involvement
when a person thinks about a particular person/object/situation. It is specific to a situation and
is thus temporary in nature. It could vary from low to high, depending upon the situational
factors.
 For example, a middle aged lady suddenly decides to gift a laptop to her son on his
birthday. She is not techno savvy and has little interest with the product category. She goes to
the electronics mall and visits the various stores that sell computers and laptops. She collects
information on the product features, prices, etc and finally takes the help of her middle aged
neighbor to reach a final decision. Her involvement with the purchase activity would be
regarded as a situational involvement.
2. Enduring involvement: When the level of involvement towards the product/service
category extends over a period of time across situations, it is referred to as enduring
involvement. The person shows a high-level of interest in the product category and spends time
collecting and processing information and integrating it within his memory.
For example, a person desires to buy a laptop for his son to be gifted to him when he
goes to college, which would be three years later. The father plans well in advance, tries to
collect information through advertisements, brochures, trade journals, visits to dealers, and
word of mouth from peers and colleagues. Within this period he gets involved with the product
category and after three years is in a position to take a decision based on the facts that he has
collected. This is referred to as enduring involvement.
Enduring involvement with a product category often gives birth to an opinion leader. An
opinion leader is a person who holds interest in a particular product/service category, and
becomes a specialist; he makes efforts to gather all information about the category, the brand
offering etc.; he talks about and spreads the information and the knowledge that he possesses.
When a person wants to make a purchase, he seeks the advice and guidance of such an
opinion leader who helps him make a decision. Opinion leaders are product specific. In the
example above, if the lady approaches her neighbour and takes his advice/guidance because
the neighbour is young, techno savvy and knows a lot about electronics and in particular
laptops, she would actually be taking help of what is known as an “opinion leader”.
CONSUMER PERCEPTION

DEFINITION AND MEANING OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION:

The term “perception” can be defined as the ability to derive meaning. Derived from the word
“perceive”, it refers to the ability of giving meaning to whatever is sensed by our sense
organs. It is the process through which an individual interprets ones’ sensory impressions to
give meaning to them. Schiffman defines it as “the process by which an individual selects,
organizes, and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.”

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND SENSATION:

There is a difference between perception and sensation. Sensation is the ability of our five
sense organs to sense a stimulus. It is an auto reflex mechanism (direct and immediate) of our
sense organs, i.e. eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin towards a stimulus in the environment.
This stimulus could be anything, a person, object, situation or thing. In terms of marketing, it
could be a product, a brand name, an advertisement or even a store. Thus sensation is the
reaction or response of a sense organ or a sensory receptor towards a stimuli. Perception is
much broader in scope. It is complex process by which a person organizes facts around the
stimuli and gives meaning to it. The perceptual process depicts a complex and dynamic
interplay of three processes, viz., selection, organization and interpretation. The person
selects the stimuli and organizes and interprets the input received from the sense organs, so as
to give a meaning to the stimuli. Thus, for example, as a person is caught by a new packaging
of a familiar brand, he picks up other stimuli on the package through his senses, as well as
organizes other facts from internal (memory) and external sources (dealer, packaging) etc, so
as to conclude that the package is new but the brand is old and familiar. This is perception.
While the sense organs report a change in the form of flashy colours on the packaging, the
human mind works cognitively and organizes other information around it to give a meaning
and arrive at a conclusion. This is referred to as perception. Thus while sensation is
physiological, perception is broader and includes not only the physiological component but
also the sociological and psychological component. While perception starts with sensation, it
ends up when meaning is given to the stimuli, through cognitive processes. While sensation
picks up bits and pieces as stimuli, the cognitive processes involved in perception can add
to/delete/modify the diverse sensations and information. Also, while each one of us would be
similar in sensing a stimulus, the way we interpret it would be different. In other words,
sensation is similar but perception is not. This is because as far as our sense organs are
concerned, we are similar, but when it comes top the human mind and the cognitive
processes, we are all different. We have varying cognitive capacities and capabilities; our
backgrounds are diverse and psychological processes (needs, motivation, learning, attitudes,
values, etc) and sociological factors (culture, sub-culture, social class, etc) different. So while
sensation is an objective process, perception is highly subjective.

THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS AND THE MECHANISM:

The perceptual process starts when a person is exposed to a stimulus and the sensory
receptors report the same to the human body. While the senses may be exposed to various
stimuli, the human senses select only some of these at a point of time. This is because the
sense organs have a limited capacity at a particular point of time. After the sense organs,
report a few stimuli, the perceptual process takes over. Of the stimuli that have been detected,
few are selected, organized and interpreted for meaning. This is known as perception. During
this process of selection, organization and interpretation, the human being is assisted by the
memory bank or the information that is stored in his long term memory. This is known as the
schema. The scheme acts as a filtering mechanism and helps select some of the stimuli, and
then interpret and organize them. The selection, organization and interpretation by the human
mind is done on the basis of i) characteristics of the perceiver, and ii) characteristics of the
situation. The characteristics of the perceiver include learning and experiences, knowledge
and beliefs, motivation, need and involvement, attitude, personality, social class, culture etc.
All these constructs act as the bases of the schema, and put together affect the perceptual
process. The characteristics of the situation include the time and location. People perceive
things differently because of their characteristics and backgrounds, and because of the
different perceptual mechanisms that take place. Although we may differ in such processes,
universally speaking, the perceptual process comprises four components, viz., input,
perceptual mechanism, output and behavior. Let us have a discussion on these.

I. Input: The input to the perceptual process refers to the various stimuli that
surround an individual and exist in his environment. It could assume various
forms, for example, it could be another person, object, thing, or situation. The
perceptual process begins when the sensory receptors detect a stimulus in the
environment, which acts as an input to the perceptual mechanism.
II. Perceptual mechanism: The perceptual mechanism consists of three sub-
processes, viz., selection, organization and interpretation. Once the sense organs
detect a stimulus in the environment, a person selects, organizes and interprets it
 through perceptual selectivity, perceptual organization and perceptual
interpretation. Put together, these are known as perceptual mechanisms.

- Perceptual selection or perceptual selectivity refers to a tendency within a person to select

one or a few out of the many stimuli present in the environment; this selectivity is based on
one’s demographic, socio-cultural and psychographic factors. A person would tend to select
those stimuli that appear relevant and attractive to him.

- Perceptual organization refers to the process of organizing the various stimuli with other
cues around so that a whole picture can be created. In other words, the various stimuli are
organized and given a form. It is the process of organizing inputs into a definite, coherent and
interpretable structure. - Perceptual interpretation refers to the process of drawing in
inferences out of the organized whole (of stimuli), and giving meaning to it.II

III. Output: Once the input has been interpreted, it results in an output. This output
towards the stimuli assumes various forms, for example, in the formation of
emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as attitudes and beliefs. iv
Behavior: The resultant behavior is an outcome of the output. Based on his
emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as attitudes and beliefs, a
person would enact out a behavior. This behavior is a function of and will be
reflective of such emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as attitudes
and belief.
IV. Behavior: The resultant behavior is an outcome of the output. Based on his
emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as attitudes and beliefs, a
person would enact out a behavior. This behavior is a function of and will be
reflective of such emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as attitudes
and belief.

NATURE OF PERCEPTION:

1. Perception is a complex process. After a stimulus is detected by the sense organs, the
perception process comes into play and involves the interplay of three processes, viz., selection,
organization and interpretation. It is a dynamic process.

2. It is also an intellectual process; it involves a lot of cognitive effort. Once sensation takes
place, the perception process involves the selection, organization and interpretation of data.
3. Perception is broad in nature; it includes a physiological component (through sensation), as
well as sociological and psychological components.

4. Perception is a subjective process as two people may perceive the same stimuli differently.
While two persons may be exposed to the same stimuli, the manner in which they select them,
organize and interpret them is different. This is because the two are impacted by their
background, learning and experiences, motivation, personality, cultures, values and lifestyles,
social class effects etc which may be different from each other.

Perceptual Selection
Depends on two major factors
• Consumers’ previous experience
• Consumers’ motives
Learn more about selective perception from examples.

Example of Selective Perception

Mira is an avid runner and a self-proclaimed health nut. She spends two hours each day at the
gym, eats only healthy, low-fat meals, and is a member of several online fitness groups. Mira is
also a cigarette smoker. Though she knows about the health risks of smoking, Mira believes that
she will not have any adverse health risks as long as she exercises, eats well, and smokes less
than one pack a day.
While looking through a fitness magazine, Mira came across two advertisements. One was for a
book about weightlifting for women, and the other was an advertisement about the dangers of
smoking tobacco products. After reading the advertisements, Mira went online and purchased
the weightlifting book. However, she paid no attention to the smoking advertisement and forgot
about it before she made it to the last page of the magazine.
Selective perception refers to the process by which we select, categorize, and analyze stimuli
from our environment to create meaningful experiences while blocking out stimuli that contradicts
our beliefs or expectations. That is, we focus on certain aspects in our environment while
excluding others. In our example, Mira focused her attention on the weightlifting advertisement
while completely ignoring the smoking ad, which contradicted her beliefs about smoking.
Concepts Concerning Selective Perception
• Selective Exposure
• Selective Attention
• Perceptual Defense
• Perceptual Blocking
Influences of Perceptual Distortion
• Physical Appearances
• Stereotypes
 • First Impressions
• Jumping to Conclusions
• Halo Effect
Perceptual Mapping
• A research technique that enables marketers to plot graphically consumers’
perceptions concerning product attributes of specific brands.

CONSUMER LEARNING

Meaning and Definition

Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in the behavior that occurs as a result of
experience of self or others. There occurs an enhancement of knowledge, skills and expertise
which are relatively permanent. Consumer learning is defined as a process by which people
gather and interpret information about products and services and use this
information/knowledge in buying patterns and consumption behavior. As Schiffman has put
it “consumer learning can be thought of as the process by which individuals acquire the
purchase and consumption knowledge and experience that they apply to future related
behavior”. Consumer learning may be intentional, where learning is an outcome of a careful
search for information; learning can also be incidental, where learning occurs as a matter of
chance, by accident or without much effort.

Elements of Learning: The learning process comprises certain elements/ components, viz.,
motivation, cues, response and reinforcement

a) Motivation: As has been explained in the earlier session, consumer motives lie at the
very heart of consumer behavior. When a consumer is faced with a need/want
situation, there occurs an urge within him to act towards fulfillment of the need/want
through the problem solving/decision making process. So he is motivated to search
for information, either internally from his memory or externally through commercial,
non commercial and public sources or through experience of self and others. This
desire to search for knowledge and information about the product/service gets
intensified with the degree of relevance or involvement. The marketer can play an
important role by (i) identifying or helping the consumer identify the sub-conscious
and hidden motives; (ii) triggering off motives and desires; In both these ways, the
consumer would be motivated to search for information, in so far as that
product/service would help satisfy the need/want. b) Cues: A cue may be defined as a
weak stimulus that gives strength and direction to the motives; All the 4Ps could act
as cues and give direction to motives; eg. the packaging of the product (colorful
design; easy to carry; reusable containers), price (discounts, sales), place (store
display, store layout, window dressing) and promotion (advertisement). c) Response:
The behavior of a person constitutes the response; i.e. how a person reacts to a drive
or a stimulus, reflects a response. This response could take various forms: - It may be
overt and lead to an action; the consumer may decide to purchase the product/brand.
Or, - The response may just be learning for the future, i.e. the purchase is postponed
for future; he decides to buy at a later date. Or, - A favorable image about the product
 and the brand may get created; the consumer develops an intention to buy; as and
when the consumer decides to make the purchase, he would consider that brand.
d) Reinforcement: An action always has a reaction; based on the reaction, the behavior
gets reinforced. In other words, if the action (behavior) is followed by a reaction that is
positive or pleasant or rewarding, the action (behavior) gets positively reinforced; the
likelihood of repetition of that action (behavior) increases. The same holds true vive versa. If
the action (behavior) is followed by a reaction that is negative or unpleasant or unrewarding,
the action (behavior) gets negatively reinforced; and the likelihood of repetition of that action
(behavior) decreases. In terms of consumer learning, if a person buys a particular
product/brand, and the purchase leads to satisfaction and delight, and lives up to expectations,
the consumer would feel that he has got value for money. Through a positive reinforcement,
learning would take place, and the consumer would prefer to buy the same product/brand in
future. On the other hand, if he feels dissatisfied, again learning would take place and he
would learn not to buy the same product/brand in future. In fact, positive reinforcement could
develop brand loyalty.
Nature of Learning
Learning may be specific/intentional, ongoing and incidental. - Consumer learning is
specific/intentional when it is directed to a specific need and problem solving; it is deliberate
in nature and specific to the situation, where the person intends making an immediate
purchase. Example: student enters college and needs to buy a laptop so that he can work on
his assignments. So he searches for information, talks to dealers, friends etc. and obtain
knowledge. - Ongoing learning is long drawn; the consumer intends making the purchase
sometime in the future, and is searching for information and adding up to his associated
network. Example: the same student, has been thinking of purchasing the laptop since the
past five years, and over these past 5-6 years, he has been gathering information specific to
the laptop as a product category and also about the various brands available. - In incidental
learning, learning occurs incidentally as a byproduct of something else; It is not deliberately
sought and is totally unintentional; it is acquired by accident or without much effort.
Example: the student goes to a mall; he has gone there to help his mother buy a microwave
oven; there in the store, he attends a demonstration of a new laptop that is being launched.
APPROACHES TO LEARNING:
There are two approaches to the study of learning, viz., the behavioral theories of learning,
and the cognitive theories of learning. While the theories underlying these two approaches
are dealt within the next session, they are briefly explained here. a) Behavioral theories of
learning: According to this approach, learning within an individual takes place in response to
events/happenings/stimlui in a person’s external environment. They explain learning in terms
of observable responses to external stimuli or as a relationship between stimulus and
response. The main proponents of this approach were: - Ivan Pavlov, who conducted the
famous experiments on the dog; His theory came to be known as the Theory of Classical
Conditioning.
- Burrhus Frederic Skinner, who conducted his experiments with rats and pigeons; His theory
came to be known as the Theory of Operant Conditioning or Instrumental Conditioning. In
order to illustrate the two approaches in terms of consumer behavior, let us take an example.
A new detergent + starch combination gel is launched by Hindustan Uniliver Ltd. It is
specially developed for cotton clothes, and the USP of the product is that it does not only
clean them but also applies starch on them, making them clean and crisp after application.
Classical Conditioning: A person who is loyal to HUL and buys many of their brands as he
finds them to be of quality, would also buy this new product (stimulus generalization).
Operant Conditioning: HUL decides to give free samples in small 25 gm pouches, with
products like Lux, Peposodent etc. The person who buy a Lux or a Pepsodent, would get a
sachet of this new product free; he would try it and if he finds it satisfying, he would desire
buying a larger quantity pack to be used regularly (positive reinforcement). b) Cognitive
theories of learning: Theorists of this approach believe that learning takes place as a result of
a person’s conscious and deliberate information processing and storage activity, often in
response to problem solving. Thus, learning is a function of mental processing. One of the
main proponents of this theory is Edward Tolman, who experimented on rats. In terms of
consumer learning, any kind of extensive problem solving, on the part of the consumer, is
cognitive and would be included under this approach. This would include gathering,
processing and interpreting information; storing it in memory; and final retrieval when
required.