Chapter 7

Consumer Learning
 Consumer Learning

Is a process that is it continually

evolves and changes as a result of
new acquired knowledge or from
actual experience.
 Elements of Learning

Motivation - Internal and external factors that

stimulate desire and energy in people to be
continually interested and committed to make
an effort to attain a goal.

Cues it is the stimuli that direct the motives of

one person.
Response it is how individuals react to a
drive or cue.

Reinforcement - intended to reassure

customers that they have made the right
choice.
 Two general categories of learning
theory

Behavioral Learning referred to as

stimulus-response learning to specific
external stimuli signal that learning has
taken place.

Cognitive Learning learning that is

concerned with acquisition of problem-
solving abilities and with intelligence and
conscious thought.
 Two forms of behavioral learning

Classical Conditioning (also known

as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning)
refers to learning procedure in which a
biologically potent stimulus is paired with a
previously neutral stimulus.
Instrumental Conditioning learning
occurs through a trial and error process, with
habits formed as a result of rewards received
for certain responses or behaviors.
 Strategic applications of Classical
Conditioning

Repetition increases the strength of the

association between a conditioning stimulus
and an unconditioned stimulus and slow the
process of forgetting.

Stimulus Generalization making the same

response to slightly different stimuli. Product
line, form, and category extensions are
principle of generalization
Product line extensions - use of an established
product brand name for a new item in the same
product category.
Product form extensions launched in a
different form usually means line extension rather
than brand extension.
Product category extensions - is a marketing
strategy in which a firm marketing a product with
a well-developed image uses the same brand
name in a different product category.
Family Branding the practice of marketing a
whole line of company products under the same
brand name.
Licensing allowing a well-known brand name
to be affixed to products of another manufacturer.
The names of designers, manufacturers,
celebrities, corporations are attached for a fee to
a variety of products enabling the licensees to
achieve instant recognition and implied quality for
the licensed products.
Stimulus Discrimination is the opposite of
stimulus generalization and results in the
selection of a specific from among similar
stimuli.

Product Differentiation designed to

distinguish a product or brand from that of
competitors on the basis of an attribute that is
relevant, meaningful, valuable to consumers.
 Two types of Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement consists of events

that strengthen the likelihood of a specific
response.

Negative Reinforcement is an unpleasant

or negative outcome that also serves to
encourage a specific behavior.
 Extinction and Forgetting

A learned response is no longer reinforced, it

diminishes to the point of extinction that is to the
point at which the link between the stimulus and
the expected reward is eliminated. Forgetting is
often related to the passage of time this is known
as the process of decay.
 Strategies Applications of Instrumental
Conditioning

Reinforcement the objective of all marketing

efforts should be to maximize customer
satisfaction.
Relationship Marketing developing a close
personalized relationship with customers.
Reinforcement Schedule product quality
must be consistently high and provide satisfaction
to the customer with each use for desired
consumer behavior to continue.
 Three types of reinforcement schedule

Total or continuous - occurs when

reinforcement is delivered after every single
target behavior whereas an intermittent schedule
of reinforcement.
Fixed ratio or systematic - provides
reinforcement every nth time the product or
service is purchased.
Variable Ratio or random rewards consumers
on a random basis or on an average frequency
basis.( such as every third or tenth transaction.
Shaping it is the reinforcement performed
before the desired consumer behavior actually
takes place.
Modeling or Observational Learning (
vicarious learning ) - it is consumers often
observe how others behave in response to
certain situations and the ensuing results that
occur and they imitate the positively reinforced
behavior when faced with similar situations.
Modeling is the process through which
individuals learn behavior by observing the
behavior of others and the consequences of such
behavior.
Information Processing Consumers process
product information by attributes, brands,
comparison between brands, or a combination of
these factors.
Sensory Store all data come to us through our
senses each sense receives a piece of information
and transmit it to the brain.
Short-term Store Known as working memory
is the stage of real memory in which information
is processed and held just for a brief period.
Long-term Store in contrast to short term
store where information lasts only a few seconds
and retain information for relatively extended
period of time.
Rehearsal the amount of information
available for delivery from short-term storage
to long-term storage.
Encoding the process by which we select a
word or visual image to represent a perceived
object.
Information overload when consumers
are presented with too much information they
encounter difficulty in encoding and storing it
all.
Retention the condition of keeping
something.
Chunking consumers recode what they have
already encoded to include larger amounts of
information.
Retrieval is the process by which we recover
information from long-term storage. It is most
often triggered by situational cues.
Interference effects are caused by confusion
with competing ads, and make information
retrieval difficult.
Consumer Involvement is focused on the
degree of personal relevance that the product or
purchase holds for that consumer.
High-involvement purchases are those that
are very important to the consumer and thus
provoke extensive problem solving and
information processing.
Low-involvement purchases are that are very
important to the consumer hold little relevance
and have little perceived risk and thus provoked
very limited information processing.
Central route to persuasion requires
considered thought and cognitive processing.
Peripheral route to persuasion less
motivated to exert cognitive effort.
 Hemispheric Lateralization or split brain theory
it is said that the human brain is divided into two
distinct cerebral hemispheres that operate together
but "specialize" in the kinds of cognition they
process.
Left hemisphere is the center of human
language, it is the linear side of the brain and
primarily responsible for reading speaking and
attributional information processing. Left side of the
brain is rational, active, and realistic`
Right hemisphere is the home spatial
perception and nonverbal concepts, it is nonlinear
and the source of imagination and pleasure. Right
side of the brain are emotional, metaphoric,
impulsive and intuitive.
 Passive learning occurs through repeated
exposures to a TV commercial and produces
changes in consumer behavior prior to changes
in the consumer's attitude toward the product.
Recognition test are based on aided recall
whereas recall test use unaided recall.
Recognition test the consumer shoan an ads
and asked whether he or she remember seeing
it and can remember any of its salient points.
Recall test consumer is asked whether he or
she has read a specific magazine or watched
specific television and can he or she recall any
ads or commercial seen and any salient points
about the product.
Brand Loyalty the ultimate desired
outcome learning.
Attitudinal Measure are concerned with
consumers overall feelings about the product
and the brand and their purchase intentions.
Behavioral Measure based on observable,
factual behaviors regarding the brand such as
quantity purchase, purchase frequency, and
repeated buying.
Behavioral scientist who favor the theory
of instrumental conditioning believe that
brand loyalty results from an initial product
trial that is reinforced through satisfaction.
Conceptual framework views for consumer
loyalty

Personal degree of risk aversion or variety

seeking
The brand's reputation and availability of
substitute brands
Social group influences and peers
recommendations
 Four types of Loyalty

No loyalty no purchase at all and no cognitive

attachment to the brand.
Covetous loyalty no purchase but strong
attachment and predisposition toward the
brand that was developed from the person's
social environment
Inertia loyalty purchasing the brand because
of habit and convenience but without any
emotional attachment to the brand.
Premium loyalty High attachment to the brand
and high repeat purchase.
Brand equity refers to the value inherent
in a well-known brand name.
Co-branding also known as double
branding it is a new relatively strategy among
sme marketers.