1.
Learning & Perception
Learning → Change in behavior resulting from interaction with a stimulus.
Perception → Consumer’s awareness & interpretation of reality.
Value & perception → Consumers change behavior based on what they perceive
(subjective reality), which may differ from objective reality.
Two ways consumers learn:
o Intentional learning → actively seeking information (deliberate).
o Unintentional learning → incidental learning through exposure.
Key Terms:
Exposure → Bringing a stimulus within proximity so senses can detect it.
Sensation → Immediate autonomic response to a stimulus.
Sensory marketing → Marketing designed to engage the five senses.
Attention → Purposeful allocation of processing capacity.
Comprehension → Deriving meaning from information received.
2. Consumer Perception Process
Three phases: Sensing → Organizing → Reacting
Sensing → Immediate response to sensory input.
o Grounded cognition: bodily sensations influence thoughts/meaning.
Organizing → Brain assembles sensory evidence into recognizable patterns (cognitive
organization).
o If categorization fails, consumers may avoid the stimulus.
Reacting → Final step; physical or mental responses to stimuli.
Applications:
Anthropomorphism → Giving human-like traits to objects (e.g., cars with “faces”).
Selective Perception:
Selective exposure → Seek some stimuli, avoid others.
Selective attention → Pay attention only to certain stimuli.
Selective distortion → Interpret information to fit existing beliefs.
Subliminal Processing:
Brain deals with low-strength stimuli below conscious awareness.
Absolute threshold → Minimum stimulus strength detectable.
Subliminal persuasion → Attempt to influence behavior below awareness (generally
ineffective).
3. Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
JND → Smallest change in stimulus intensity that can be detected.
Weber’s Law → As stimulus intensity increases, bigger differences are required to be
noticed.
Marketing Implications:
Positive changes (improved quality, packaging) → must be noticeable.
Negative changes (reduced size, increased price) → best done incrementally to avoid
detection.
Just Meaningful Difference (JMD) → Smallest change that would actually affect
consumer choice.
4. Implicit & Explicit Memory
Explicit memory → Conscious recall from deliberate effort.
Implicit memory → Subconscious recall; occurs without effort.
Effects & Applications:
Preattentive effects → Learning without focused attention.
Mere exposure effect → Consumers prefer familiar stimuli even without conscious
processing.
Mere association effect → Meaning transfers between unrelated stimuli due to co-
occurrence.
Product placement → Brands embedded into entertainment content (movies, games,
etc.).
Attention Types:
Involuntary attention → Automatic reaction (e.g., to something threatening).
Orientation reflex → Natural reflexive attention shift.
5. Intentional vs. Unintentional Learning
Unintentional learning → System 1 (intuitive, automatic).
Intentional learning → System 2 (deliberative, effortful).
Behaviorism vs. Cognitive Learning
Behaviorist approach → Focus on behavioral changes via association (no concern for
mental processes).
Cognitive approach → Focus on comprehension, processing, and mental models.
Classical Conditioning (unintentional learning)
Unconditioned stimulus (US) → Stimulus naturally causing a response.
Conditioned stimulus (CS) → Neutral stimulus paired with US to trigger response.
Unconditioned response (UR) → Natural response to US.
Conditioned response (CR) → Learned response to CS.
Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning
Behavior shaped by rewards & punishments.
Positive reinforcer → reward strengthens behavior.
Punishers → discourage behavior.
Discriminative stimuli → signals that reinforcement will follow behavior (e.g., brand
name).
Shaping → Reinforcing small steps toward desired behavior.
Extinction → Behavior stops when reinforcement is removed.
6. Nudge Marketing
Nudge marketing → Subtle influences on consumer behavior through intuitive (system
1) processes, without removing choice.
Rejects the assumption of purely rational decision making.
Pseudo-set framing → Tendency to want to complete a “set” (real or imagined).
Ethical considerations → Does it limit consumer sovereignty?
Learning & Perception
Learning → A change in behavior resulting from interaction with a stimulus.
Perception → A consumer’s awareness and interpretation of reality; how people make
sense of the world around them.
Exposure → When a stimulus is brought close enough to a consumer so one of the five
senses can detect it.
Sensation → The immediate, automatic response of the sensory organs to a stimulus.
Sensory marketing → Marketing strategy that appeals to the five senses to create
stronger consumer experiences.
Attention → The purposeful focus of mental processing capacity on a stimulus.
Comprehension → The process of deriving meaning from information received.
Perception Process
Sensing → Immediate response when stimuli make contact with senses.
Grounded cognition → Theory that bodily sensations (like touch or temperature) can
influence thoughts and meanings without effortful thinking.
Organizing → The brain’s process of assembling sensory input into something
recognizable.
Cognitive organization → Mental process of structuring and interpreting sensory
information.
Reacting → Physical or mental responses following perception.
Anthropomorphism → Attributing human-like qualities to non-human objects (e.g., a
car “smiling”).
Selective Perception
Selective exposure → Consumers screen out some stimuli while deliberately seeking
others.
Selective attention → Focusing only on specific stimuli while ignoring others.
Selective distortion → Interpreting information in ways biased by preexisting beliefs or
attitudes.
Subliminal Processing
Subliminal processing → Brain’s reaction to very weak stimuli below conscious
awareness.
Absolute threshold → Minimum stimulus intensity needed for detection.
Subliminal persuasion → Behavior change resulting from subliminal processing
(research suggests it’s ineffective).
Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
JND (Just Noticeable Difference) → The smallest change in a stimulus that a consumer
can detect.
Weber’s Law → As stimulus intensity increases, bigger differences are required to be
noticed.
JMD (Just Meaningful Difference) → The smallest change in a stimulus that would
actually influence consumer behavior or decisions.
Memory & Learning
Explicit memory → Memory formed from deliberate attention and effort to recall.
Implicit memory → Unconscious memory of stimuli experienced without intentional
effort.
Preattentive effects → Learning that occurs without active attention.
Mere exposure effect → Tendency to prefer stimuli simply because they are familiar.
Mere association effect → Transfer of meaning between unrelated stimuli that occur
together.
Product placement → Embedding branded products into media content (movies, shows,
games).
Attention Types:
Involuntary attention → Automatic, beyond conscious control (e.g., to a loud noise).
Orientation reflex → Natural, instinctive shift of attention toward something new or
threatening.
Learning Theories
Intentional learning → Effortful learning where consumers deliberately seek and
process information (System 2 processing).
Unintentional learning → Learning that occurs automatically, without effortful thinking
(System 1 processing).
Behaviorist approach → Focus on observable behavior changes from associations,
without concern for thought processes.
Cognitive approach → Focus on mental processes like comprehension and memory in
learning.
Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (US) → Naturally produces a response (e.g., food →
salivation).
Unconditioned response (UR) → Natural reaction to the unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus (CS) → Neutral stimulus paired with the US to trigger a response
(e.g., brand logo with pleasant music).
Conditioned response (CR) → Learned response to the conditioned stimulus.
Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning
Instrumental conditioning → Learning through consequences of behavior (rewards or
punishments).
Positive reinforcer → A reward that strengthens behavior.
Punishers → Negative consequences that reduce the likelihood of a behavior.
Discriminative stimuli → Signals that certain behaviors will lead to rewards (e.g., a
trusted brand logo).
Shaping → Gradual reinforcement of steps toward a desired behavior.
Extinction → Decline of behavior when reinforcement is no longer provided.
Nudge Marketing
Nudge marketing → Subtle cues that influence consumer decisions without restricting
freedom of choice.
Pseudo-set framing → Psychological tendency to want to “complete a set,” motivating
behavior even if the set is artificial.