How should marketing campaigns be structured
to enhance consumer learning and memory?
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What we know, think and feel about brands
comes from the process of learning
What we think and feel are precursors to
purchase and consumption
So, how does learning take place?
What can marketers do to promote positive
learning about brands?
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Motivation – the arousal function that energises
behaviour necessary to engage in learning
Stimuli – compete for attention and provide
direction to motivated activity
Response – mental or physical reaction to a
stimulus situation
Reinforcement – anything that follows a
response and increases the likelihood of the
response being repeated in a similar situation
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“a relatively permanent change in behaviour
due to past experience” (Coon, 1983)
“the process by which relatively permanent
changes occur in behavioural potential as a
result of experience”(Anderson, 1995)
Anderson’s definition recognises importance
of potential as distinct from performance ie
all the behaviours of which we are capable
but not performing at the moment
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How does information get from the external
communication environment into long-term
memory where it is used in consumer
decision making?
What’s the role of the promotional elements
of the marketing mix in this process?
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Knowledge of learning principles can help us to
understand how consumer behaviour develops
and how to influence it
How consumers develop habitual purchase
patterns for things and strong loyalty to brands
Various theories have been developed to
explain different aspects of learning
Understanding consumer learning may help us
shape consumer behaviour
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Learning theories
Stimulus response
Cognitive
Classical conditioning
Instrumental conditioning
Learning involves development of SR connections
With varying importance of reinforcement
Rote learning
Vicarious learning
Problem solving
Insight
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BEFORE CONDITIONING
Bike alone
- No arousal
Sexy girl
generates
physiological
arousal
DURING CONDITIONING
AFTER CONDITIONING
Bike and girl together generates
Physiological arousal
Bike alone generates physiological
arousal
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Happy situation
(US) family gathering
Xmas
General emotional response
Relaxation, nostalgia, excitement
(UR)
(CR)
Brand
(CS)
Conditioned response is general emotional
response in presence of brand which may
facilitate brand purchase
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If the brand and it’s packaging
are the conditioned stimulus for
the conditioned response (ie
evoke the general emotional
response)
Will changing the stimulus
drastically lead to extinction
of the CR ?
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The process of altering the probability of a
behaviour by changing the consequences of a
behaviour
Events or consequences increase the likelihood
of a given behaviour being repeated
Reward increases the probability of behaviour
being repeated = positive reinforcement
Performance of behaviour removes aversive
stimuli = negative reinforcement
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A desired behaviour to a conditioned stimulus
is rewarded by a positive reinforcer
Over a number of reinforced trials a connection
between stimulus and response is learned such
that the learned behaviour is repeated in the
presence of the stimulus
Unlike classical conditioning the learner has to
discover which response produces the reward –
the response is dependent on the learners
actions
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Continuous reinforcement schedule: reward
every occurrence of the desired behaviour
Fixed ratio reinforcement schedule: reward
every nth occurrence (eg every 4th)
Variable ratio: reward based on an average 4th
occurrence (eg 3rd and 5th, 1st and 7th)
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Favourable product/service experience
strengthens the SR link increasing the
likelihood of repeat behaviour
The building blocks of sales promotion
techniques are built around the principles of
instrumental conditioning
Partial reinforcement schedules have
implications for sales promotion, brand
orientation and attitude change
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Rewarding customers
with frequent flyer miles
is an effective way to
reinforce their behaviour
and build brand loyalty
Solomon 2006
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Continuous reinforcement produces rapid
learning whilst partial reinforcement
produces slower learning that is longer
lasting
Implications for rewarding loyalty?
Couponing frequency
Attitude change
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Before Clubcard Tesco was stuck as the UK’s
second ranking supermarket
Today Tesco is by far the UK’s largest grocer
(>30% market share)
Tesco.com is the world’s largest grocery
etailer
UK’s largest employer
Europe’s fastest growing financial services
company
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“Contrary to popular belief, Tesco’s
most significant competitive advantage
in the UK is not it’s scale. We believe
Clubcard, which conveys an array of
material benefits across virtually every
discipline of it’s business, is Tesco’s
most potent weapon in the ongoing
battle for market share. Tesco is big
because it is good, not vice versa.”
JP Morgan Cazenove
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Reward the behaviour you seek (increase
frequency of visits, shop new departments,
trial new lines, use new services)
Desired behaviours can be developed and
maintained with small and infrequent
rewards)
Establish priorities and measures for the
behaviour changes you want to see
You can’t achieve every behaviour change at
once
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Each quarterly mailing gives customers the
cash value of their points plus coupons based
on how Tesco seeks to shape their behaviour
TOTAL
SALES
UPLIFT
60%
40%
Money-off coupons to reinforce existing behaviours
and encourage new trials based on known profiles
Customers redeeming vouchers in areas where Tesco
encouraged them to shop and increasing spend for
that visit
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Learning is a behavioural change arising from
experience
In classical conditioning a learned association
elicits a naturally occurring response. Positive
associations with products/brands are created
through such stimulus pairings.
In instrumental conditioning behaviour is
shaped by rewarding the desired response
Marketers must create positive associations
with their brands and build recognition and
recall
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Learning
Motivation
Stimulus
Responce
Reinforcement
UCS
UCR
CS
CR
Classical
conditioning
Instrumental
conditioning
Reinforcement
schedule
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Retrieval:
Information
is recovered
from
memory
when
needed
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Memory processes are important because
consumers act on the basis of cognitions which
are stored in memory and influence how
incoming stimuli are interpreted
The challenge for marketers is to have
consumers remember your name and brand in
preference to those of competitors
The fastest rate of forgetting occurs soon after
learning has occurred – how do advertisers
counter that?
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Temporary storage of
sensory information –
less then 1 second
Information
Sensory
memory
Brief storage of information
currently being used. Limited
Capacity. Less then 20 seconds
Maintenance
Rehearsal
loop
Short term
memory
Long term
memory
Elaborative rehearsal
Forgotten material
Long term/
Permanent.
Unlimited
capacity
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Sensory memory stores after images which are
lost quickly through decay unless capturing
sufficient attention and further processing
Short term memory temporarily stores and
processes information to comprehend
meaning – it is limited by both time and
space. Information not rehearsed is lost
through decay
Long term memory is the long term store for
information which is coded in a variety of
different ways
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Semantic encoding – an object is not directly
represented in memory but rather in terms of its
meaning for the individual (networks of knowledge
eg Nike shoes = cushioned, Swoosh, lightweight)
Scripts – represent series of actions based on
previous events which influence future actions
when a similar situation occurs (enter store, go
straight ahead to fruit and veg, turn left to milk)
Visual encoding – using mental images to store
information often leads to strong long term
memory for material (eg Wonderbra, Calvin Klein,
Benetton)
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Messages with unique aspects are more likely to be
remembered (Guinness)
The beginning and end of messages are more likely
to be remembered (“Washes whiter” at beginning
and end)
Messages that encourage immediate rehearsal of
material stimulate it’s retention (jingles – “that’s
ASDA price”)
If material lends itself to “chunking” more
information can be processed and retained (“New
action ball tabs from Vanish – 1 chunk – Give
power of whitening in your wash – 1 chunk – So
stains vanish – 1 chunk.)
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Memory is cue dependent (characteristics of
the learning situation)and presentation of
relevant cues will stimulate recall
Material that is meaningful to the individual is
learned more quickly and more likely to be
remembered
Visual content is frequently more memorable
than verbal content
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Meaningful and
relevant
Content is largely visual
Cue dependency
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The pink bunny from
the TV commercial is
added to the packaging
to aid brand recall at
point of purchase
Solomon 2006
Illustrates cue dependency – the
stimulus was present in the learning
environment
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Familiarity with an iconic
symbol enhances brand
recall. Jolly Green Giant has
appeared in ads and
packaging for
30 years...yo ho ho!
Important in creating and
Solomon 2006 awareness
maintaining
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The “mere exposure effect”: customers
prefer similarity
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Learned information is stored in memory
Retrieval is the process whereby stored
information is accessed
A variety of factors influence likelihood of
recall including mood, familiarity, salience
and format (pictorial vs verbal)
Memory for product information can be
measured through recognition or recall
techniques
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