MKTG 371 LEARNING, MEMORY, AND POSITIONING Lars Perner, Instructor 1 CONSUMER KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, AND UNDERSTANDING l Learning--what is it? –Operant conditioning

MKTG 371 LEARNING, MEMORY, AND POSITIONING Lars Perner, Instructor 1

CONSUMER KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, AND

UNDERSTANDING Learning--what is it?

– Operant conditioning– Classical conditioning– Brand loyalty

Perception– Characteristics of the senses– Accuracy– Ability to detect change– Attention Most useful for

vicarious learning!

One form oflearning...


CLASSICAL AND INSTRUMENTAL (OPERANT)

CONDITIONING Consumers (often

unconsciously) link objects to past experience

Consequences of behavior tend to influence subsequent behavior


Another Typology

Learning

LowInvolvement

HighInvolvement


Classical Conditioning

Pavlov’s dogs Objects (stimuli)

associated with a response may bring about the response

Credit card studies Stimuli and

responses


NOTE: UR and CR represent the same

behavior, but causesdiffer

Classical ConditioningUS ----> UR(Unconditioned stimulus) (Unconditioned response)

US + CS -----> UR (Conditioned stimulus)

CS ------> CR (CS alone is now (Conditioned response) able to bring

E.g.: CR)

SUGAR -------> insulin release

SUGAR + Cola Taste -------> insulin release

Cola taste -------> insulin release


Consumer Examples

Advertising: pairing product with images of desired affect

Product: Evoke image of object associated with positive affect (e.g., Mustang; Coke Bottle)


Making Classical Conditioning Work

Appropriate symbols (for the population in question) to elicit emotion

NOTE: Test stimuli for desired effect!

Repetition


INSTRUMENTAL (OPERANT) CONDITIONING

BEHAVIOR

REINFORCEMENT

NEGATIVEREINFORCEMENT

PUNISHMENT

LIKELIHOODOF

BEHAVIOR

LIKELIHOODOF

BEHAVIOR

{NOT thesame thing!


Reinforcement: An Example

You eat a cake (behavior) ----> good taste (reward) ----> more likely to eat

cake on another occasion


Negative Reinforcement(not the same as punishment!)

Aversive stimulus exists

Behavior ----> termination of aversive stimulus

----> repetition of behavior during aversive stimulus


Negative Reinforcement: An Example

Headache (aversive stimulus)

Aspirin (behavior) ---> Headache

cessation

----> Likely to consume aspirin during future headaches


PUNISHMENT

Behavior ----> Negative consequences

-----> Behavior less likely to be repeated when punishment is anticipated (mostly)


Punishment: Examples

Parking meters Gas taxes Restocking fees Fees for non-ATM

banking transactions

Over-base rate utility charges


More Punishment Examples

Voidance of warranty if product is serviced by competitor

Social ostracism for failure to wear deodorant


Reinforcement Effectiveness

Temporal proximity--conditioning is more effective if consequences immediately follow behavior (delayed reinforcement is much less effective)

Recognition of relationship between behavior and consequences

Schedules of reinforcement--variable ratio is most effective


Strength of Learning

Importance Involvement

– Product – Message—e.g.,

AFLAC Insurance Energizer Bunny

Mood– Mixed research results

More elaboration and associations during positive mood if the association is pleasurable

Happy people may seek to avoid thinking to avoid spoiling the good mood

Individuals will tend to be more critical of claims under bad mood


Extinction

Behavior which is not reinforced tends to become extinct gradually


Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed interval Fixed ratio Variable ratio <------ Most

resistant Variable interval to

extinction


Shaping

Behavior approximatingdesired kind level ------> Reward e.g., buying new

product on sale

Increased requirements,when met -------> Reward e.g., magnitude of sale

gradually decreased


Shaping: Possible Examples

Introduction of fruit flavored soft drinks in Indonesia prior to Coca Cola

New products given premium shelf space in the beginning

Premium given with purchase of new product

In-store demonstrations of new products

Note that marketers’ power tends to belimited


Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning In Practice

Marketers typically do not have the power to significantly reward or punish people greatly-- typically have little power to directly influence people’s experience

Note that many rewards and punishments are significantly delayed

Better able to influence vicarious learning


Brand Loyalty vs. Habit

Habit: consumer picks product without much thought; may be due to convenience

Loyalty: consumer actively seeks out product


Loyalty...

Multibrand loyalty How strong?

...or lack of it.


Stimulus Generalization

“Rub off” effect A slightly different stimulus may not be

discriminated Both discrimination and generalization

are evolutionarily adaptive– Categorizing of like objects (e.g., lions,

alphabet letters)– Distinction between dangerous and safe

entities


Developing Brand Loyalty: Tricks and Traps

Product quality ---> satisfaction

Sales promotions Stealing loyal

consumers away from others--is it worth it?

Price– value– exclusiveness


Memory Level of conscious intent

– Explicit memory Deliberate attempt to

retrieve information– Implicit memory

Information automatically recalled

– E.g., associations– E.g., routine

information (social security and phone numbers, web site addresses)

Associative Network of Knowledge– Pieces of experience and

information (nodes) are tired together

– “Activating” one node will tend to activate others which in turn will activate still more nodes

E.g., – Thinking of marketing

class may activate name of a soft drink always consumed by the instructor

– The soft drink may have more “competing” links and may not activate the professor


Memory Short term (compare to RAM --->

volatile)– mnemonic devices (e.g., 1-800-

FLOWERS) Long term (compare to hard disk

---> longer in duration but imperfect--”I remember it well…”)

STM REHEARSAL LTM

DECAY


Turning STM into LTM

“Rehearsal””—repetition of information– By consumer (e.g., phone number)– By advertisement

Elaborative activities—thinking of the object to strengthen its association with other nodes and maintenance

Extinction from long term memory– E.g., old phone numbers; how to use an old

computer program; loss language skills


Scripts: The Way to Do Things

Procedure for doing various things learned over time

E.g., restaurant script:– make reservation– travel to restaurant– await seating– order drinks– study menu– order– have dessert and/or coffee– pay check and leave tip


Implications of Scripts

Check car odometer If more than 3,000 miles,

– go to Joe’s garage or– look in yellow pages for garages

Ask mechanic for oil change When asked which brand of oil

– select Pennzoil or– think about which brand to use

If you wereJoe orPennzoil, whichscript would you prefer?


Positioning and Repositioning

Working with existing perceptions Research to identify perception

and associations of products—Perceptual Maps

Repositioning– Very difficult—may be more cost

effective to develop a new brand


Brand Equity and Leverage

Consumer associations with product are valuable

Brand leverage (brand extensions, brand “family,” “umbrella” branding)– Use of appropriate associations– May involve brand style rather than

product similarity– Concept testing is important

Documents

MKTG 371 LEARNING, MEMORY, AND POSITIONING Lars Perner, Instructor 1 CONSUMER KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, AND UNDERSTANDING l Learning--what is it? –Operant conditioning