`MODULE-4

Information Processing

Perception is “how we see the world around us”. Different individuals may be exposed to the
same stimuli under the same conditions but how each individual recognizes the stimuli,
selects them, organizes them and interprets them is unique in case of each person and
depends on his needs, wants, values, beliefs, personal experiences, moods and expectations.
Perception is also influenced by the characteristics of the stimuli, such as size, color and
intensity, etc. and the context in which it is seen or heard.

Schiffman and Kanuk have defined Perception as “The process by which an individual
selects, organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world”.

The stimuli includes brand names, advertisements, colors, sounds and packages, etc.

Sensation (Exposure to Stimuli) –

 Direct response of sense organs to simple stimuli such as an advertisement, a brand

name, or a package, etc.
 For example, a person is exposed to a commercial (stimulus) if she/ he were in the
room when the commercial was shown, even when the person paid no attention to it
or noticed it.
 Sensory receptors are human sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin) involved
in receiving sensory inputs.

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  Sensitivity to stimuli varies among individuals and depends on the quality of sensory
receptors. For example, some people have more acute hearing or sharper eyesight than
some others.

Absolute Threshold –

 Absolute threshold refers to the lowest level at which an individual can experience a
sensation.
 At this point, an individual can detect a difference between “something” and
“nothing” and this point would be that individual’s absolute threshold for that
stimulus.
 For example, if someone drives for half an hour through a corridor of billboards, it is
doubtful than any particular billboard will register an impression.
 This is known as ‘adaptation’ and refers to “getting used to” certain sensations.

Differential Threshold –

 Differential Threshold is the smallest detectable difference between two values of the
same stimulus.
 This is also referred to as j.n.d (just noticeable difference). A German scientist of the
nineteenth century, Ernst Weber discovered that the just noticeable difference
between two stimuli was an amount relative to the intensity of the initial stimulus.
Weber’s Law (after the name of the scientist) states that stronger the initial stimulus,
greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as
different.
 For example, if a producer raises the price of its car by four hundred rupees, probably
it would not be noticed because the increase would fall below j.n.d.
 The difference in price may become noticeable if the increase were to be one
thousand rupees or more.

Subliminal Perception –

 People can also perceive stimuli, which are below their level of conscious awareness.
In this situation, the stimuli which are otherwise too weak or brief to be consciously
seen or heard prove strong enough to be perceived.
 When the stimulus is below the threshold of awareness and is perceived, the process
is called subliminal perception.
 There was revival of interest in subliminal perception during the mid-70s when
advertisers were charged of using embeds in their print ads to motivate consumers to
buy their advertised products.
 Disguised stimuli, not readily recognized by consumers are called ‘embeds’.
 These embeds are believed to be planted in print advertisement to influence
consumers purchase behavior.

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Attention –

 Attention occurs when one or more stimuli activate one or more sensory receptor
nerves and the resulting sensations reach the brain for further processing.
 Perception is the outcome of interactions of physical stimuli from external
environment and an individual’s expectations, motives and learning based on earlier
experiences.

Perceptual Selection –

 Human beings, subconsciously, are quite selective in their perception. Every day we
look at so many things, ignore others and do not even notice many others.
 We really perceive only a very small fraction of stimuli to which we are exposed.
 The selectivity of the stimuli depends on the consumer’s previous experience and
motives, besides the nature of stimulus itself.

Stimulus Factor –

 There are numerous marketing related stimuli that affect consumer’s perception, such
a type of product, physical characterizes, packaging, color, brand name,
advertisement, claims, endorser, size of the ad, position of the ad or time of
commercial, etc.
 The product and its components such as package, contents and physical properties, etc
are primary or intrinsic stimuli while marketing communications developed to
influence consumer behavior are secondary or extrinsic situations.

Expectations –

 Consumers often perceive products and product attributes according to their

expectations.
 It is also true that in many instances stimuli that are in sharp contrast to expectations
attract more attention than those that meet our expectations.
 For instance, an ad showing a man wearing a hat, tie and an underwear but no shirt
and pants is more likely to attract attention than a properly dressed man.

Motives –

 Consumers tend to perceive those things that are topmost in their need or want list.
They are highly perceptive of stimuli that are relevant to their needs and interests.
 Thus, stronger the felt need, greater is the tendency to notice motive-related things
and ignore unrelated stimuli in the environment.
 For example, a person who is contemplating buying a computer is more likely to
notice ads of computers and ignore other ads irrelevant to felt needs or interests.

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Selective Exposure –

Consumers are attentive to stimuli that are relevant, pleasant, or towards which they may be
sympathetic and ignore unpleasant and painful ones. Tobacco users avoid message that link it
with cancer. Consumers readily expose themselves to ads of products they prefer to admire.

Selective Attention –

They would readily notice ads of products that they need or want. Some consumers are price
sensitive, for some quality is more important and accordingly they pay attention to such ad
messages.

Adaptation –

An air-conditioned picture theatre feels quiet cool in the beginning but a short time later we
adapt to temperatures ad become less aware of it. Consumers become adapted to advertising
messages over time due to boredom or familiarity. They reduce their attention level to
frequently repeated advertisements and eventually fail to notice them. Because of this reason
marketers introduce attention-getting features in their ad campaigns and change their
advertising.

Perceptual Vigilance and Defence –

Even when consumers are exposed to stimuli they do not want to see or hear, they
unconsciously ignore such undesirable stimuli. Perceptual defence is more likely in anxiety-
producing situations. When intense fear appeals are used in selling any product, they may
become threatening to a point that consumers use perceptual defence for the entire message,

Perceptual Blocking –

They produce themselves from being overwhelmed and overburdened by blocking such
numerous stimuli from their conscious awareness. For instance, consumers screen out
enormous amounts of TV advertising by ‘turning out’.

Perceptual Organisation –

Perceptual organization are sometimes referred as Gestalt psychology Gestalt s a German

word and means “pattern” or “configuration”. Three most basic principles of perceptual
organization focus on ‘figure and ground’ relationships, ‘grouping’ and ‘closure’.

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Figure & Ground –

People have a tendency to organize their perceptions into figure and ground relationship. In
order to be noticed, stimuli must contrast with their environment. We notice black against
white and do not notice white in white. Similarly, a sound must be louder or softer to be
noticed. The ads must be planned carefully to ensure that the figure and ground are perceived
the way the advertiser intended. For example, in many print ads the background is kept white
so that the intended product feature can be clearly perceived, Advertisers, in some cases,
deliberately blur the figure and ground so that consumers search for the advertised products,
which is usually cleverly hidden in the ad.

Grouping –

Soft drinks are usually shown being enjoyed in active and fun loving settings. An ad for tea,
coffee, or some other beverage may show a young women and man sipping the beverage in a
beautifully furnished and decorated living [Link] overall impression and mood implied by
the grouping of stimuli helps the consumer to associate the drinking of beverage with
comfortable living and romance.

Closure –

According to James T. Heimbach and Jacob Jacoby, people rememeber incomplete tasks
better than completed tasks because a person who begins a task develops the need to
complete it and this gets manifested in improved memory. For instance, hearing the
beginning of a jingle or message develops a need to hear the remaining part of it. If the TV
Commercials of Nirma or Lifebuoy leave the jingle incomplete, familiar listeners complete it
in the memory because of the conditioning effect and need for closure.

Interpretation of Stimuli –

A number of factors influence individuals that may distort their perceptions, such as physical
appearances, stereotyping stimuli, irrelevant stimuli, first impressions, jumping to
conclusions and halo effect, etc.

1. Physical Appearances – Attractive looking men are perceived as more successful in

business than average looking men, Attractive models in ads and commercials prove
more persuasive and have a more positive impact on consumer attitudes and behavior
than average looking models. This has important implications in selecting the models
for ads or commercials, as it may be the key factor in their ability to be persuasive.
2. Stereotyping Stimuli – This stereotyping the stimuli helps them develop expectations
about how people carry the “picture” of politicians or police behaviors in their minds.
3. Irrelevant Stimuli – They may consider the color of the washing machine in making
the final purchase decision. In case of expensive cars, consumers often give

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 importance to the shape of the headlamps, or leather upholstery rather than technical
features.
4. First Impression – The word “imported” was enough for a large number of consumers
to form favorable impressions about many products such as wristwatches, shoes,
clothes and many other different products.
5. Jumping to Conclusions – They seem to be impatient about examining all the relevant
evidence, which may be necessary to draw a balanced conclusion. This is often the
reason that strong arguments about a product or service are presented first in ads.
6. Halo Effect – Tendency to evaluate one attribute or aspect of stimulus to distort
reactions to its other attributes or properties. This is frequently seen in case of brand
or line extensions when the marketers take advantage of a brands reputation. For
example, Dettol Soap, Lux Shampoo and Ponds Soap.

Images are Important to Consumers –

According to Russell W Belk, Consumers attempt to enhance or preserve their self-image and
avoid buying products that do not fit their self images.

Price Perception –

For example, seeing the explosive growth of cheap ballpoint pens, Parker Pen repositioned its
pens based on price during the 1980s and offered low-priced pens. The results were nothing
but disastrous because the Parker’s image was inconsistent with its price. The company in
1989 reverted back to its strength of high priced pens and became profitable again.

 Consumers have certain expectations of what the price is or should be of a product or

service.
 Their expectations may or may not reflect the actual price of the product or service.
 Consumers often associate the price of a product or service with quality.

Consumers’ Risk Perception –

Whenever consumers make decisions to purchase any new brands, there is an element of
uncertainty about the consequences and a perception of risk is involved in most such
purchases, Risk perceptions can be defined as ‘the consumers’ perception of uncertainty that
they face when they are unable to foresee various consequences of their purchase decisions.

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 Consumer Learning, Memory & Involvement
Behavior has two aspects, observable behavior as well as non-observable behavior, cognitive
activity. This means that learning can also occur without any change in the observable
behavior as may happen when a consumer’s attitudes change as a result of new learning.
Except for incentives behavior (such as sucking in infants), or the ability to walk, which is
largely based on physical maturity, all the observable behavior as well as non-observable
behavior for consumers is a result of learning. Learning is a concept and no one has ever seen
learning, it is a continuous process and gets modified or changed as a result of exposure to
new information and personal experiences and often become the basis for future observable
behavior. For example, as a consumer are exposed to advertising, gain experience in
purchasing and consuming products and services, they learn about features, attributes and
form opinions about brands and their future behavior is based on past knowledge and
experience.

Four components seen to be fundamental to almost all the learning situations, motivation,
cues, response and reinforcement.

1. Motivation – Motivation is the driving force that impels individuals to action and is
the result of unfulfilled needs. For example, student who wants to pursue a course in
computer application would be motivated to seek information concerning the course
offered by different institutes and possibility the quality of faculty and lab faculty.
2. Cues – Cues are relatively weak stimuli, not strong enough to arouse consumers but
have potential of providing direction to motivated activity. For example, an ad about a
computer course is a cue that suggests a way to satisfy the motives of learning
computer application. Consumers are exposed to various cues almost every day such
as advertising, display, packaging and price and etc.
3. Response – The way an individual reacts to a cue or stimulus is the response and
could be physical or mental in nature, leading to learning. For example, a computer
marketer keeps on providing cues to a student through the promotional activities and
may not be successful in eliciting the final purchase behavior for a variety of reasons,
though the student is motivated to buy. It is also that the student forms the favorable
image about a particular module, has enough resources to buy the computer.
4. Reinforcement – Most scholars agree to reinforcement of a specific response
increases the likelihood for the response to reoccur. Reinforcement can be anything
that both increases the strength of response and tends to induce repetition of a
behavior that proceeded the reinforcement.

Since reinforced behavior increase the likelihood of repition, consumers often learn to
develop behaviors appropriate to respond to their needs. For example, if a consumer learns
that an advertised remedy for common cold helped to get relief from painful symptoms,
she/he is more likely to buy the advertised brand again, if needed in future because the
remedy lived up to expectations (reinforcement of behavior because the remedy alleviated the

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painful symptoms). Had the advertised brand failed the first time to provide the leap, they
individual would be less likely to buy that brand again.

Behavior Learning Theories –

Two important behavior theories, classical conditioning (also called correspondent

conditioning) an instrumental conditioning ( also called Operant conditioning) are of great
relevance to marketing.

Classical Conditioning –

In everyday life, we think of conditioning as an automatic response to something as a result

of a period exposure to it. For example, if a child gets every time he/she thinks of going to
Mc. D the reaction may be a condition from many pleasant visits to the restaurant. From the
classical conditioning merge the three basic concepts important for understanding consumer
behavior : Repetition, stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination.

Repetition –

People have a tendency to forget and one proven method of increasing retention of learning is
repetition. Repetition is believed to work by strengthening the bond association and thus
slowing the process of forgetting. It is due to this reason that a brand name is often repeated a
number of times with just one advertisement.

Stimulus Generalisation –

This principle states that a new but similar stimulus situation will produce a response that is a
same or similar as that produced by the original stimulus, product line extension is a strategy
of introducing variations of the same product, this variation may be simply off color,
packaging size, or flavor, etc. But the core product value remains the same. For example,
Palmolive soap is available in pink, white and light bluish pack, Maggi noodles are available
in different flavors.

Product Form Extention –

Means that the same product is available in different physical forms such as Dettol Soap cake
and Dettol Liquid Soap. Many drugs are available as tablets forms, syrup, injection or
inhalers.

Product Category Extention –

Is diversifying into producing products in different categories and using the same established
brand. For example, Maggie Noodles and Maggie Tomato Chilly Sauce. Similarly there is
Lux toilet soap and Lux Shampoo, Ponds talcum powder and Ponds soap, etc.

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Family Branding –

Refers to the practice of marketing the entire product mix of a company under the same
family brand name. The aim of the company is to take advantage of consumers’ tendency to
generalize favorable brand associations from one successful product to the next. For example,
Lakme, Ponds, Pepsi Co, Coca-Cola, Tata, Sony, Nikon, Canon, Epson, Microtek and
Hewlett Packard, etc. produce different products under the same family brand name.

Stimulus Discrimination –

Unlike reaction to similarity of stimuli, discrimination is a reaction to differences among

similar stimuli. The ability of humans to discriminate among stimuli is learned. For example,
the entire ad campaign of maggi Hot and Sweet Tomato Chilli Sauce focused on convinving
consumers for stimulus discrimination.

Instrumental Conditioning (Operant Conditioning) –

Instrumental conditioning also involves developing association between stimulus and

response but requires the subject to discover a correct response that will be reinforced.
Learning occurs because the consequence of a repeated behavior is rewarding.

Reinforcement –

Reinforcement is anything that increases the strength of response and tends to induce
repetitions of the behavior that preceded it. Reinforcement can be of two types: positive
reinforcement and negative reinforcement.

Positive Reinforcement – Consists of events that strengthen and increase the likelihood of
specific behaviors by the presentation of a desirable consequence. For example, using a cold
remedy that relieves the painful symptoms is likely to result in repeat purchase in future, if
there is need.

Negative Reinforcement - Is an undesirable or unpleasant outcome the strengthens and

encourages like likelihood of a specific behavior by the termination or withdrawal of an
undesirable consequence. For example, Colgate toothpaste commercial shows the
consequence of bad breath and encourages consumers to buy Colgate toothpaste.

Punishment – Is applied to discourage behaviors. For example, fines for driving under the
effect of alcohol are a form of punishment to discourage motorists from diving after
consuming liquor.

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Cognitive Learning Theory –

Where choices are made deliberately such as consumers’ purchase of a product or service, the
consequences could result in positive or negative reinforcement. Premiums, discounts and
showing satisfied customers are attempts to reinforce consumers’ purchase behaviors of
particular products.

Memory –

Memory represents the information that an individual retains and stores and that she/ he can
recall for future use. A general belief is that there are three separate ‘storehouses’ for sensor
memory, short-term memory and long-term memory.

Sensory Memory –

Input in the form of sensation is first produced by sense. For example, if we close our eyes
just after observing an object, or viewing an image on TV, we can ‘see’ the ‘after-image’ in
our ‘mind’s eye’ for just a fraction of a second. If the image of sensory input is not processed,
it is lost immediately.

Short-Term Memory –

Brand names, and symbols etc can serve as chunking devices to organize information in
short-term memory. Information in the short-term memory store undergoes a process called
Rehearsal. There are two types of rehearsal processes in short-term memory.

a) Elaborative Rehearsal – Occurs in short-term memory and involves using previously

shares experiences, values, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings to interpret and evaluate
information and add meaningful previously stored information.
b) Maintenance Rehearsal – Also occurs in short-term memory and refers to silent,
mental repetition of a piece of information to bold it in short-term memory to solve a
problem or transfer it to long-term memory store.

Long-Term Memory –

The system of long-term memory can be viewed as a relatively permanent place of storage
for information that has undergone elaborative rehearsal.

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Involvement theory –

Consumer involvement is as an important variable that can help explain how they process
information and how this information might influence their purchase or consumption related
behavior. Degree of involvement has a very significant effect on consumer behavior.

Involvement construct that includes three antecedents –

a) Traits of person, such as needs, importance, interest, values and unique experiences.
b) The characteristics of the stimulus, such as differentiation of alternatives,
communications media and message content.
c) Situational factors, such as purchase or use occasion for a particular product.

High involvement purchases are those that are considered very important to consumers such
as complex, expensive, risky, or ego-intensive products and require extensive information
processing. Conversely, low-involvement purchases are not really important to consumers,
have little relevance and evoke very limited information processing.

The concept of hemispheric lateralization (also called split-brain theory) distinguishes

between alpha activity (degree of brain activation) in the left and right side of the brain.
According to Fleming Hansen, the left hemisphere of the brain is primarily responsible for
cognitive activities such as speaking, reading, writing, reasoning and other rational activities
and the right hemisphere of brain is concerned with non-verbal, pictorial, intuitive and
holistic information. In other words the left-brain is logical, rational, realistic and responsible
for recognition; the right brain is emotional, impulsive, intuitive, metaphoric and responsible
for recall.

Concept of Involvement has evolved from the split-brain theory. Herbert Krugman Observed
that ads on television cannot be slowed down or stopped as per the viewers’ convenience and
for this reason there is little opportunity to think deeply about the,. He hypothesized that TV
is a low-involvement medium because it is primarily pictorial, allowing viewers’ passive and
holistic processing of information 9right-brain activity, concerned with non-verbal, pictorial
material). It was believed that passive learning occurred through repeated exposures to a
commercial, leading to change in consumer behaviors. This change in behaviors preceded the
change in consumer’s attitude towards the advertised product or service.

Print media such as newspaper and magazines are believed to be high-involvement media
because information is processed cognitively, leading to attitude formation and finally
behaviors. High-involvement processing refers to the knowledge and beliefs about the
product and services consumers collect from evaluating information. Active search and
attention to information (left-brain activity) brings about learning concerning advertisements
and other relevant product information.

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Brand Loyalty and Brand Equity –

Brand loyalty is believed to offer certain advantages such as reduced marketing costs, more
new customers and favorable trade leverage. It also helps generate favorable word-of-mouth
and increased resistance among loyal customers to competitive moves.

Brand loyalty refers to a strongly favorable attitude towards a brand resulting in intentional
and consistent purchase over time. Such devotion to a brand is the outcome of consumers
learning that a particular brand can satisfy their specific needs.

K. L Keller defines brand equity: “the value consumers assign to a brand above and beyond
the functional characteristics of the product”. For example, many consumers are prepared to
pay a higher price from Crocin (a branded acetaminophen) than its generic equivalents. Brand
equity is nearly synonymous with reputation of the brand.

Attitudes
Gordon W. Allport definition of attitudes. “Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to
an object or class of objects in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way”.

D. Krech and R. Crutchfield says, “An attitude is an enduring organization of motivational,

emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect to some aspect of
our environment. This definition views attitudes as being composed of cognitive
(knowledge), effective (emotional) and conative (behavioral) components.

Functions of Attitude –

Attitudes perform four important functions for individuals –

a) Utilitarian function
b) Value-expressive function
c) Ego-defensive function
d) Knowledge function

Utilitarian Function –

This attitude function serves consumers in achieving desired benefits. For example, a
consumer who considers quick relief as the most important criteria in selecting an anti-cold
remedy will be directed to the brand that offers this benefit.

Value Expressive Function –

Attitudes reflect the consumer’s self-image, values and outlook, particularly in a high-
involvement product. For example, the self-image of a young man buying a motorcycle may
be of a mancho, domineering person who likes to gain an upper hand.

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Ego-Defensive Function –

Attitudes formed to protect the ego, or self-image,from anxieties and threats help fulfil this
function. Ads for many personal care products such as mouthwashes, toothpastes, deodorants,
anti-pimple creams and cosmetics, etc. serve as a good example.

Knowledge Function –

Individuals generally have a strong need for knowledge and seek consistency, stability and
understanding. To fulfil this need, attitudes help people organize the considerable amount of
information to which they are exposed every day. The knowledge function also reduces
uncertainty and confusion. Advertising is a means of acquiring information about products
and services.

Attitudes consist of three main components –

a) Cognitive component (knowledge, beliefs)

b) Affective component (emotions, feelings)
c) Conative components (behavioral aspects)

The Cognitive Component –

These beliefs are based on a combination of the knowledge, experience and perceptions about
the attitude object. For most attitudes objects, consumers have a number of beliefs and that a
specific behaviors will result in specific outcomes. For example, an individual may believe
that ThumsUp.

a) Is popular with younger consumers

b) Is moderately sweet
c) Contains a lot of caffeine
d) Is competitively priced
e) Is marketed by a large multinational company.

The Affective Component –

Consumers’ feelings and emotional reactions to an object represent the effective component
of an attitude. The consumer who says, “I like ThumsUp,” or “ThumsUp is no good,” is
expressing the results of an effective evaluation. The evaluation can either be ‘good’ or ‘bad’,
‘favorable’ or ‘unfavorable’. Emotionally charged evaluation can also be expressed as
happiness, elation, sadness, shame, or anger, etc.

Conative Component –

Behavioral (conative) component is the likelihood or tendency of an individual to respond in

a certain manner towards an attitude object. For example, a sharp reduction in price or a
special deal offer may work as powerful inducement for consumer to try a less-favored brand.

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Changing Attitudes –

Reinforcement attitudes are comparatively easier than changing attitudes. Most advertising
for well-known brands attempts to maintain and reinforce positive attitudes. “Taste of India,”
“Hamarabajaj,” “Believe in the best,” and “Just Do It,” are some of the long-running
campaigns attempting to reinforce consumer attitudes.

a) It is easier to change beliefs than desired benefits.

b) It is easier to change attitudes for low-involvement products.
c) It is easier to change attitudes of consumers who have less confidence in their brand
evaluations.

On the basis of Fishbein’s Multi-attributes model. Four strategies can be considered to

change attitudes –

a) By changing the values consumers place on product attributes (component in the

model)
b) By changing consumers’ brand beliefs (component in the model)
c) By changing brand evaluations (Attitude component)
d) By changing behavioral intensions (Attitude)

1) Changing values Placed on product Attributes – Marketers often try to convince

consumers about the superiority or importance of those attributes on which the brands
are relatively strong. For example, Apple computers do not have a floppy drive and
convince consumers that floppies are not reliable for storing data.
2) Changing Consumers’ Beliefs –A common and effective approach adopted by most
marketers to changing attitudes is to focus on the cognitive component. The strategy
of changing beliefs focuses on shifting beliefs about the performance of brand on one
or more attributes. Nizoral Shampoo ads convince consumers that Ketoconazole
ingredient gives better protection against dandruff.
3) Changing Brand Evaluation – This strategy focuses on influencing consumers’
overall brand attributes without any reference to specific attributes. Some brands
make a claim that it is the largest selling brand, or the others are trying to imitate.
4) Changing Behavior – Consumers’ purchase or use behavior may precede that
development of cognition and effect. For example, a detergent is offered at a discount
price and the consumer, after using it, realizes that there is hardly any difference in
the performance of the new brand and the regular brand. The consumer decides to
continue using the new brand and stays with it even when the price returns to normal
list price.

Compiled by Dr. Veenu Joy