UNDERSTANDING LEARNING:Intentional and Incidental Learning, Implications for Marketers

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

LESSON 31

UNDERSTANDING LEARNING

CHAPTER 5: INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Understanding:

· The elements of Consumer Learning

· Motivation

· Cues

· Reinforcement

· Behavioral Learning theory

· Classical Conditioning

Learning

Marketers are concerned with how individuals learn because they want to teach them in their roles as consumers

about products; product attributes how to maintain products, what are products' potential benefits, where to buy

them, how to buy them, how to maintain them and how to dispose of them.

Marketers' vital interest lies in teaching consumers effectively to prefer their brands and differentiate their products

from the competitive offerings.

Marketing strategies are based on communicating with consumers:

Directly :through advertisements

Indirectly: through product appearance and packaging, product distribution channels and, pricing

Marketers want their communication to be noted, believed, remembered and recalled by the target potential

consumers segments.

Learning about Learning

Not all theorists agree on how learning takes place it is difficult to come up with a generally accepted definition of

learning, however, Consumer Learning can be thought of as:The process by which individuals acquire the purchase

and consumption knowledge and experience that they apply to future related behavior

Consumer learning is a process that continually evolves, and changes. The change is because of the newly acquired

knowledge (gained from reading, discussion, observation and thinking or factual experience). Newly acquired

knowledge and personal experience serve as feedback. Feedback provides basis for the future behavior in similar

situations

Intentional and Incidental Learning

Intentional Learning is acquired as the result of careful search for information. Incidental Learning is acquired by

accident without much effort. For example some ads may induce learning e.g. new products under familiar brand

names, even the consumers attention may be on a magazine article rather than advertisement on the facing page.

Other ads are sought out and carefully read by consumers contemplating a major purchase decision.

Range of Learning

The term learning encompasses the total range of learning from simple almost reflexive responses to learning

abstract concepts and complex problem solving. All theorists agree that for learning to occur certain basic

elements must be present. These include:

Motivation

Cues

Response

Reinforcement

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

1. Motivation

Motivation is the drive that impels and individual to action. Motivation is based on needs and goals. It acts as spur

of learning.

Involvement Theory

Men an women who want to take up bicycle riding for fitness and recreation are motivated to learn all they can

about bike riding and practice often. Conversely individuals who are not interested in bike riding are likely to

ignore all information about bike riding. The degree of relevance or Involvement determines consumer's level of

motivation to search for knowledge and or information about the product or service. This is called the

Involvement Theory.

Implications for Marketers

Uncovering the consumer motivation is one of the prime tasks of marketers, who try to teach motivated consumer

segments why and how their products will fulfill consumer needs

2. Cues

If motives serve to stimulate learning, cues are the stimuli that give direction to these motives. An exotic trip that

includes bike riding may serve as a cue for bike riders who may suddenly recognize that they need a vacation. The

ad is the cue or stimulus that suggests a specific way to satisfy a salient motive. In the market styling, packaging

and store display all serve as cues to help consumers to fulfill their needs in product specific ways.

3. Responses

How individuals react to a drive or a cue how they behave- constitute their response is important. Equally

important, however, is that learning can occur even when responses are not overt.

Need or motive may evoke a whole variety of responses. Cues provide some direction but there are so many cues

competing for the consumer's attention. Which response the consumer makes depends heavily upon previous

learning that in turn depends upon how the previous response has been reinforced.

4. Reinforcement

Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a particular response will occur in the future as the result of particular

cues or stimuli. A product that fulfills the basic need will reinforce the purchase behavior and the consumer will

most likely purchase it again.

Behavioral Learning Theories

Behavior Learning Theories are sometimes referred to as "Stimulus Response Theories". These are based upon the

premise that observable responses to specific external stimuli signal learning. A child who relaxes at the image of

his uncle has learnt the attachment with uncle. Behavior theories are concerned with inputs and outputs of

learning. There are two types of behavioral learning theories popular with the marketers.

Types of Behavioral Learning Theories

Generally, there are two types of behavioral learning theories:

Classical Conditioning

Instrumental (Operant Conditioning)

Conditioning means response to a situation built up through repeated exposure. Ivan Pavlov a Russian

Psychologist was the first to describe conditioning and to propose it as a general model of how learning occurs.

Pavlovian Experiment

Pavlov conducted his famous conditioning experiments in the following three stages:

Stage 1: Unconditioned Stimulus and Unconditioned Response

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

Stage 2: Repeated Trials of combining conditioned stimulus with Unconditioned Stimulus conditioned

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

Overview of the Experiment

Implications for Marketers

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

Three Strategic Applications of Classical Conditioning

Three strategic applications of Classical conditioning include:

Repetition

Stimulus Generalization

Stimulus Discrimination

1. Repetition

Repetition increases the strength of association between a conditioned stimulus and a conditioned response.

Researchers suggest there is a limit to repetition to aid retention. Some scholars believe that just three exposures to

an advertisement are needed. This is called, Three Hit Theory

The three exposures to an advertisement pertain to:

1. Make consumer aware of the product

2. Show consumer the relevance of the products

3. Remind them of product benefits

Others think It may take 11 to 12 hits. Effectiveness of repetition may also be dependent upon the competitive

advertising to which consumer is exposed. The higher the level of competitive advertising, greater is the likelihood

that Interference will take place, causing consumers to forget previous information.

At some point individual can become satiated with numerous exposures. The effect is known as Advertisement

Wear Out. To deal with this phenomenon following measures are usually used:

Cosmetic Variations: Using different backgrounds, different print types and different spokespersons while

keeping the theme same

Substantive Variations: Changes in advertisement content across different variations of ads e.g. two ads that

stress two different attributes of the same product

2. Stimulus Generalization

Classical conditioning theorists believe that learning also depends upon Stimulus Generalization

that means making the same response to somewhat similar stimuli as the conditioned stimulus

Dog could learn to salivate not only to the conditioned stimulus of bell but also to the jangling of keys

Implications for Marketers

Me-Too products are the cheap copies of some established brand of a product. Some times Me-too products

succeed because of the stimulus generalization. Consumers confuse them with original products they have seen

before. Many Cola drinkers can't differentiate between different brands

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3. Stimulus Discrimination

Stimulus Discrimination is the opposite of Stimulus Generalization and results in the selection of specific stimulus

from amongst the similar stimuli. The consumers' ability to choose from amongst the similar stimuli is the basis of

positioning.

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