5
PERCEPTION AND
INFORMATION
PROCESSING
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
Perception and information
processing
At the end of this session, you should understand:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The nature of perception and its role in consumer behaviour
The concepts of exposure, attention, interpretation, memory
and their role in the interpretation of marketing information
The information processing process as it relates to consumer
behaviour
The communication processes involved in perception
The relevance of gestalt theory to consumer theory
The concept of semiotics and its relevance to consumer
perception
The role of risk and risk reduction strategies
The nature of positioning and consumer behaviour
The importance of brands in consumer marketing
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-2
What do you see?
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-3
What do you see now?
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-4
What colour comes to mind?
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-5
So….what then is perception?
•
How we interpret stimuli from
the environment
•
Perception is how we organise
and give meaning to new
information from the
environment
•
A sensation is the immediate
experience generated by an
incoming stimulus from our
sensory receptors
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-6
Information processing
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-7
Exposure
• Exposure occurs when our sensory receptors
detect a stimulus
• Implication for marketers:
–
–
–
Consumers must be exposed to your marketing efforts
for them to perceive anything
Ad placement - being in the right place at the right time!!
Road blocking - catch them at every corner:


Ads on competing channels
Use multiple media
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-8
Attention
•
•
Attention occurs when
information is transferred from
the sensory receptors to the
brain for further processing
Attention-getting techniques
could include the use of:
See EXHIBIT 5.1 Unicef uses a striking
statement to gain attention, page 124.
PowerPoint slides supplied on the
Instructor Resource CD to accompany
Consumer Behaviour include
advertisement images.
–
Colour, size, intensity,
contract, novelty, humour
– Salience - we tend to pay
attention to things that we
think are important to us make the ad seem important!
– Repetition
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-9
Physiological measures of attention
•
•
•
•
•
Eye pupil dilatation
Eye tracing
Tachistoscopic tests
Theatre tests
Brain-wave analysis
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-10
Interpretation
• Interpretation occurs when consumers give
meaning to the incoming stimulus information
• Information is subject to:
–
–
Cognitive interpretation - the process of adding meaning
from existing knowledge
Affective interpretation - the processing of information
and adding meaning based on feelings
• Influences on interpretation:
–
–
–
–
Individual characteristics
Stimulus factors
Situational factors
The way the information is presented
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-11
Memory
• Memory is the information storage facility in the
brain.
–
See Chapter 6 for more information
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-12
Perception theories that guide
marketing decisions
• Absolute threshold
–
Lowest point that we perceive stimuli
–
Adaption - the process of flipping through the pages and
‘ignoring’ the advertisements
–
Marketers need to break through the clutter
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-13
Perception theories that guide
marketing decisions
• Weber’s concept of Just Noticeable Difference
(JND)
–
–
–
–
Just Noticeable Difference - the minimum level of change
to a stimulus that is required in order for the change
to be noticed
Weber’s law states: ‘the stronger the initial stimulus,
the greater the change required for the stimulus to be
seen as different’
Some things you want your customers to notice e.g. specials, improvements
Others you don’t - changes in packaging, size
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-14
Perception theories that guide
marketing decisions
• Selective exposure
We don’t notice everything!
– We filter out unwanted information
–
• Selective distortion
–
We add preconceived ideas or attitudes to interpret new
information that enters the sensory store of the memory
• Selective retention
–
We remember information that we find meaningful and
interesting
• Selective attention
We don’t take in all the information around us
– Marketers need to identify what their customers will notice
and pay attention to
–
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-15
Perception theories that guide
marketing decisions
• Stimulus generalisation
–
–
When a conditioned response occurs to stimuli that are
similar to the conditioned stimulus
When you find it hard to tell the difference between two
stimuli - e.g. ‘me-too’ products
• Stimulus discrimination
–
–
Ability to see a distinct difference between stimuli
What marketers want to achieve from their products
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-16
Perception theories that guide
marketing decisions
• The influence of colour on perception
–
Colours have different meanings, which can vary from culture
to culture
– What do these colours mean to you?




–
Blue
Red
White
Green
Choose colours carefully for advertising, signage and packaging
as it can influence what they mean to your target audience
• The influence of semantics on perception
–
Words can have double meanings - choose them carefully
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-17
Perception theories that guide
marketing decisions
• Perceptual categorisation
–
Personal constructs - we categorise related information
into sets in our mind
–
Applications for marketers

Family branding
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-18
Communication process
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-19
Gestalt theory
• Gestalt is about patterns or configurations
• Individuals categorise incoming stimuli into
patterns that are meaningful to them
–
e.g. a setting with two adults and children picnicking
in the park may be perceived as a traditional family
• The view is of the whole rather than the parts of a
message
• Categorisation occurs at the interpretation stage of
information processing
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-20
Figure and ground perception
•
Figure and ground perception
–
The way in which we
distinguish between a figure
and its background
See EXHIBIT 5.4 This advertisement
demonstrates figure and ground perception,
page 140.
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
5-21
Grouping
•
Grouping stimuli to make
sense of messages
–
Similarity

Use of family branding
–
Proximity
–
Closure

Taking existing
information from our
memory and relating it to
new information to make
sense of incomplete
messages
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-22
‘Copycats trip over spitting images’ Activity
• Case in point 5.1
–
‘Big brands, after a landmark court win, have a new
weapon against imitators - the gestalt factor’
• Read the above case study and discuss the
associated questions
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-23
Semiotics
• Use of symbols or signs to establish an image
and convey 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
5-24
Perceived value
• Three types of consumer value:
–
Extrinsic vs. intrinsic

Extrinsic – consumption satisfies some further goal
• e.g. mobile phone in order to communicate

Intrinsic – consumption for its own sake
• e.g. CD for pleasure
–
–
Self orientated vs. others oriented
Active vs. reactive


Active – doing something with a product, such as eating
a meal
Reactive – responding to a product, such as the pleasure
of visiting an art gallery
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-25
Perceived risk
• The fear that products or services purchased may
result in disappointment or unpleasant
consequences
• For services, perceived risk can be diminished by:
–
–
–
–
Advertising to make intangible aspects tangible
Demonstrating the service
Encouraging word of mouth communication about the
service
Aiming for brand building
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-26
Types of risk
• Financial risk
• Physical risk
• Social risk
• Ego risk
• Opportunity risk
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-27
Strategies to reduce risk
• ‘Try before you buy’ techniques
• Extended warranty and money back guarantee
• Building a strong brand image
• Extensive advertising and promotion using
respected spokespeople
• Providing rewards for reinforcement of purchase
• Providing back up customer service and technical
support
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-28
Reducing risk
See EXHIBIT 5.6 Reducing perceived
financial risk and EXHIBIT 5.7 Another risk
reduction promise, page 145.
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
5-29
Positioning
• How your offering or organisation is perceived
in the mind of the consumer
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-30
Positioning maps
•
A graphical representation
of the market according to
consumer perceptions
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-31
Positioning strategies
•
Positioning:
–
In relation to competitors
– On the basis of product
attributes and benefits
– On the basis of usage
occasion (e.g. Emporio
biscuits)
•
See EXHIBIT 5.8 Arnott’s Emporio are
positioned for a usage situation, page 149.
PowerPoint slides supplied on the Instructor
Resource CD to accompany Consumer
Behaviour include advertisement images.
Repositioning brands
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-32
Brands
•
•
A brand is a mix of tangible and intangible elements that
make up an identifying name, mark or symbol
Important to differentiate products that are essentially the
same
–
e.g. to create feelings, emotions, loyalty
– Aaker’s brand identity model, a brand is a person
•
•
A brand is ‘a link between the organisation’s marketing
activities and consumer perceptions’
Brand evaluation
–
•
Brand equity
–
•
•
Functional and feature orientated, or abstract and intangible
The value customers attribute to the brand itself
Brand names
Line and brand extension
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-33
The means end chain theory
• A way of determining consumer behaviour,
based on perception of brand attributes, benefits
and customer values
• Links the tangible attributes of a product with the
individual and social needs (benefits and values)
of customers
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-34
Positioning and brand building in the
pharmaceutical industry
• Case in point 5.4
–
‘Bringing healthcare brands to life’
• Read the above case study and discuss the
associated questions
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour by Karen Webb
Slides prepared by Sarah Fletcher and Morena Dobrowolski
5-35