6
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski

Memory and learning
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At the end of this session, you should understand:
The nature of consumer learning
The main learning theories and their relevance to consumer behaviour
The concepts of conditioning and reinforcement
The functions of short-term and long-term memory
Some marketing implications of learning and memory
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-2

Why did you do that?
• Your last purchase:
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What was it?
How much thinking did you do before making the purchase?
How did you feel about the purchase at the time?
How did past experience with the product, brand or situation influence the purchase or how you felt afterwards?
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-3

Learning – some definitions
• A process that consumers go through to develop knowledge that will help them in their decision making
• A change in the content or organisation of a person’s long-term memory
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-4

Marketers and learning
• Marketers influence consumer decision making by
‘educating’ consumers
• Marketers want consumers to learn that their product/service offerings are desirable, to buy or use them, and to keep coming back for more
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-5

The learning process
Learning occurs through the processing of internal and external stimuli which leads to a change in longterm memory and potentially the behaviour or belief about the marketer’s offerings to the consumer
Stimuli:
•Internal
•External
Information processing
Learning Memory
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-6

Brain functions
• Are you better at art and craft or at setting up the
DVD player?
It could be that your left or right brain predominates
LEFT BRAIN
Creative, visual, random, intuitive, integrative, the big picture
RIGHT BRAIN
Factual, ordered, analytical, one thing at a time, numerical, logical, sequential, objective
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-7

Left and right brain functions
• The left and right sides of the brain may be opposite but they are also complementary
• The left brain assists in recalling information, while the right brain organises the information to give a holistic picture
• Marketers tend to appeal to the right brain as it sees all the information provided, rather than focusing on just ‘bits’ of a message
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-8

Learning theories
• Behavioural learning theories:
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Classical conditioning (a stimulus-response theory focusing on reflex behaviour)
Operant or instrumental conditioning (focusing on reinforcement of behaviour)
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Cognitive theories - learning is a result of thinking and mental analysis:
Iconic rote learning
Vicarious learning/modelling
Reasoning
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-9

Major approaches to learning
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-10

Classical conditioning
• A stimulus (food) (UCS) is observed to lead to a response (salivating) (UCR)
• A new stimulus (bell ringing) (CS) is introduced at the same time as the old stimulus and this is repeated until eventually the second stimulus will achieve the same response (CR) without the original stimulus
UCS Unconditioned stimulus UCR Unconditioned response
CS Conditioned stimulus CR Conditioned response
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-11

Marketing with classical conditioning
• Applied in low involvement situations
• Simplistic, relying on feelings or emotions for learning
• Emotions about music, humour, celebrity image and lifestyle can be contrived to create new associations with that emotion for product/services
• Repetition is important
• Message/stimulus must be relevant to consumer
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-12

How is conditioning being achieved with this advertisement?
See EXHIBIT 6.1 Humour is used to create an
emotional response in this advertisement, page
170.
PowerPoint slides supplied on the Instructor
Resource CD to accompany Consumer Behaviour include advertisement images.
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-13

•
Operant (instrumental) conditioning
Learning occurs through rewarding or punishing behaviour
– Shaping behaviour
• Should aim to achieve consumer trial
• Reward
– Shop with supermarket and earn discount on fuel purchases
• Punishment
– Cheaper product purchased, product is inferior, or fine for speeding
• Negative reinforcement
– Avoiding negative consequences by purchasing product
(e.g. mouthwash to prevent bad breath)
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-14

Marketing and operant conditioning
• Determine what motivates the consumer
• Use of shaping providing or removing the reinforcement
• May need to entice consumer to try product/service
(i.e. use of in-store trial, sales promotion, personal selling, promise of loyalty program)
• Attempt to minimise ‘punishment’ (i.e. maintain quality, offer ‘no questions’ refunds)
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-15

What is the use of operant conditioning in these messages?
See EXHIBIT 6.2 and EXHIBIT 6.3, page 173.
PowerPoint slides supplied on the Instructor
Resource CD to accompany Consumer Behaviour include advertisement images.
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-16

Cognitive theories – rote learning
• Human beings think, reason and problem solve in order to learn
– Rote learning
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Low involvement situations
Repetition of concepts such as ‘buy Australian’ lead to purchase of products that repeatedly promote themselves as ‘Australian owned’
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-17

Cognitive theories – modelling/vicarious learning
• Modelling/vicarious learning is learning through observing and copying the behaviour of others
• Consumers seek products/services that their friends or role models consume
– Modelling/vicarious learning
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Using people in ads that consumers aspire to be like and want to copy, such as celebrities or sports heroes
Using people similar to you and your friends in ads
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-18

Cognitive theories - reasoning
• Complex process of absorbing new information, relating it to existing knowledge and drawing new conclusions
• This may involve quite changed thinking for consumers
– Reasoning
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Using logical and informative ads
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-19

Cognitive learning and advertising messages
See EXHIBIT 6.5 This informational advertisement for PhysiCAL milk relies on a
cognitive learning processes, page 175.
PowerPoint slides supplied on the Instructor
Resource CD to accompany Consumer
Behaviour include advertisement images.
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-20

Memory
• The total accumulation of prior learning experiences
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-21

Three main stages of memory
Stimulus information
SENSORY
MEMORY
Information ignored attention SHORT-
TERM
MEMORY encoding retrieval rehearsal
Forgetting
LONG-
TERM
MEMORY
Extinction forgetting
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-22

Schematic memory
• Interpreting and understanding messages based on previous experiences, known as traces, which are chemical elements stored in the brain
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-23

Schematic memory
My place
Local club
Restaurant
Where?
Budget
What drinks?
GRADUATION
PARTY
Who to invite?
What food?
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-24

Sensory memory
• Receives the incoming stimuli
• This is the working memory
• Can only hold a small amount of information at a time
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-25

Short-term and long-term memory
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Short-term memory
Information is rehearsed
Processing occurs
Information is either forgotten or passed on
Long-term memory
– Almost unlimited storage potential
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It is what is remembered some time after the stimuli has occurred
Information is stored in clusters and linked by other information already in the store
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-26

Forgetting and extinction
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If a conditioned response no longer occurs when the conditioned stimulus is present, it is known as the disappearance of a memory trace, extinction
Forgetting
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The information does not pass into the short-term memory
It is not sent on to long-term memory
Retrieval information cannot be recalled
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Information that is important to the consumer is more likely to be recalled
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-27

Semantic/episodic memory
• Semantic memory
– Idea of linking products with episodes in consumer’s life
– Marketers achieve mental repetition of their message through the consumer’s association of the words in the messages and their meanings
• Episodic memory
– Recall of an actual situation or event
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-28

Applying memory to advertising
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Appeal to senses - attract initial attention
– e.g. colours, sounds, size, words, freebies, product samples
Ensure immediate rehearsal – short-term memory
Assist with transfer to long-term memory:
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Word associations
Ask questions
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Images that are familiar to the target audience
Use reinforcement
Same logo and slogans on all promotions, packaging, etc.
Use links between words and images
Retrieval - use techniques to aid retrieval
– e.g. Overall theme of ads match in-store promotions
Copyright

2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
6-29