MOTIVATION •People who achieve their goals set new and
Needs and Motivation
•Needs are the essence of the marketing
concept.
–Marketers do not create needs but can make
consumers aware of needs.
•Motivation:
–is the driving force within individuals that
impels them to action
–refers to the processes that lead people to
behave as they do (occurs when a need is
aroused that the consume wishes to satisfy)
–refers to an activated state within a person
that leads to goal-oriented behavior; consists of
drives, urges, wishes, or desires that initiate the
sequence of events leading to a behavior
–“what gets you going…and what keeps you
going”
Types of Needs
•Innate Needs Physiological (or biogenic) needs •Cognitive School
that are considered primary needs or motives
•Acquired Needs Learned in response to our
culture or environment. Are generally
psychological and considered secondary needs
Goals. The sought-after results of motivated
behavior
•Generic goals are general categories of goals
that consumers see as a way to fulfill their
needs
•Product-specific goals are specifically branded
products or services that consumers select as
their goals
The Selection of Goals
•The goals selected by an individual depend on
their:
–Personal experiences
–Physical capacity
–Prevailing cultural norms and values
–Goal’s accessibility in the physical and social
environment
Motivations and Goals
Positive
•Motivation. A driving force TOWARD some
object or condition
•Approach Goal. A positive goal toward which
behavior is directed
Negative
•Motivation A driving force AWAY from some
object or condition
•Avoidance Goal. A negative goal from which
behavior is directed away
Rational versus Emotional Motives
•Rationality implies that consumers select goals
based on totally objective criteria such as size,
weight, price, or miles per gallon
•Emotional motives imply the selection of goals
according to personal or subjective criteria
The Dynamic Nature of Motivation
•Needs are never fully satisfied
•New needs emerge as old needs are satisfied
• Construction – building or creating
higher goals for themselves
Substitute Goals
•Are used when a consumer cannot attain a
specific goal he/she anticipates will satisfy a
need
•The substitute goal will dispel tension
•Substitute goals may actually replace the
primary goal over time
Philosophies Concerned with Arousal of
Motives
•Behaviorist School
–Behavior is response to stimulus
–Elements of conscious thoughts are to be
ignored
–Consumer does not act, but reacts
–Behavior is directed at goal achievement
–Needs and past experiences are reasoned,
categorized, and transformed into attitudes and
beliefs
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
5. Self-Actualization (self-fulfillment)
4. Ego Needs (prestige, status, self-esteem)
3. Social Needs (affection,friendship, belonging)
4. Safety and Security Needs (Protection, Order)
5. Physiological Needs (food, water, air)
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air,
food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements,
security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.
3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group,
family, affection, relationships, etc.
4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement,
mastery, independence, status, dominance,
prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.
5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal
potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal
growth and peak experiences
1970’s Adapted Hierarchy of Needs
1. Biological and Physiological needs
2. Safety needs -
3. Belongingness and Love needs
4. Esteem needs -
5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc.
6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for
beauty, balance, form, etc.
7. Self-Actualization needs
1990’s Adapted Hierarchy of Needs
1. Biological and Physiological needs
2. Safety needs
3. Belongingness and Love needs
4. Esteem needs
5. Cognitive needs
6. Aesthetic needs
7. Self-Actualization needs
8. Transcendence needs - helping others to
achieve self actualization.
Henry Murray’s List of Psychogenic Needs
Needs Associated with Inanimate Objects:
• Acquisition/Conservancy – obtaining
things/possessions
• Order – making things neat and
organized; arranging,
organizing and being precise
• Retention – keeping things
things
Needs Reflecting Ambition, Power,
Accomplishment, and Prestige:
• Superiority – being above others
• Achievement – success,
accomplishment and overcoming
obstacles
• Recognition – displaying
achievements, gaining approval
and social status
• Exhibition – shocking or thrilling other
people; attracting
attention
• Infavoidance – avoiding failure,
shame, humiliation,
ridicule or concealing a weakness
• Defendance – defensive attitude;
justifying actions
• Counteraction – counteractive
attitude; defending honor
Needs Connected with Human Power:
• Dominance – controlling and leading
others
• Deference – obeying and cooperating
with others; following
a superior, serving
• Similance – empathizing with others;
suggestible attitude
• Autonomy – independence and
resistance; resisting others
and standing strong
• Contrariance – being unique; acting
differently from others
Sado-Masochistic Needs :
• Aggression – injuring others
• Abasement – confessing and
apologizing; surrendering and
accepting punishment
Needs Concerned with Affection between
People:
• Affiliation – spending time with other
people; making
associations and friendships
• Rejection – rejecting other people;
excluding another
• Nurturance – taking care of another
person; nourishing,
aiding, or protecting the helpless
• Succorance – being helped or
protected by others; seeking
aid, protection or sympathy
• Play – having fun with others
Needs Concerned with Social Intercourse:
• Cognizance – seeking knowledge and
asking questions; Inquiring attitude
• Exposition – educating others,
providing information; expositive
attitude
A Trio of Needs
(Developed by David McClelland)
•Need for Power (nPow)
–individual’s desire to control environment
(other persons, various objects)
–the desire to obtain and exercise control over
others; the goal is to influence, direct and
possibly dominate other people
–can have 2 directions: positive (resulting in
persuasive and inspirational power), or negative
(resulting in the desire to dominate and obtain
submission from others)
•Need for Affiliation (nAff)
–need for friendship, acceptance, and belonging variable that interacts with the consumer
–similar to Maslow’s belongingness needs
–what motivates people to make friends, join
groups and associate with others
–rank the desire to be with others ahead of the
need to succeed
•Need for Achievement (nAch)
–need for personal accomplishment
–closely related to egoistic and self-
actualization needs
–seek to get ahead, strive for success, and take
responsibility for solving problems
PERSONALITY
What Is Personality?
•The (enduring) inner psychological
characteristics that both determine and reflect
how a person responds to his/her environment
–Inner characteristics: specific qualities,
attributes, traits, factors, mannerisms that
distinguish one individual from other
individuals
–Likely to influence product choices, response
to marketers’ promotional efforts, and
when/where/how they consume particular
products/services
•A person’s unique psychological makeup and
how it consistently influences the way a person
responds to his/her environment
The Nature of Personality
•Personality reflects individual differences
–No 2 individuals are exactly alike; many
individuals may be similar in a single personality – Unconscious needs or drives are at the heart
characteristic but not in others
–Enables marketers to categorize customers
into different groups on the basis of one or
several traits
•Personality is consistent and enduring
–Essential to explain/predict consumer behavior Trait theory
in terms of personality
–Marketers cannot change consumers’
personalities to conform to their products but
can attempt to appeal to the relevant traits
(those influencing consumer responses) inherent Freudian Theory
in their target market/consumers
–Consumption behavior varies due to
psychological, socio-cultural, environmental,
situational factors [Personality is only 1 of a
combination of factors that influence behavior] human motivation and personality
•Personality can change
–By major life events
–By a gradual maturing process
–Personality stereotypes may change over time
Aspects of Personality
•Behavior shows consistency
•Behaviors distinguish one person from another
•Behaviors interact with the situation
•Single measures of personality cannot predict
specific behaviors, such as what brand a
consumer will purchase
* Moral: Behavior must be measured on multiple
occasions to assess personality-behavior
relationships accurately
Focus: 4th Aspect of Personality
•Single measures of personality cannot predict
specific behaviors
–Moderates the effects of advertising messages
and marketing situations on consumer behavior
–Moderating variable: an individual-difference
situation and/or type of message being
communicated
–Consumer situation: temporary environmental
factors that form the context within which a
consumer activity occurs
EXAMPLE: the social context in which
purchases take place
Researchers have found that consumers act
differently when other people are observing
their purchase behavior than when they
believe they are unobserved.
– This situational variable may interact with
a personality characteristic that
distinguishes individuals on their tendency
to conform to social pressures when making
–
purchases
The ATSCI (attention to social comparison
information) scale has been developed to
measure this disposition to conform
– Findings:
• A person who has a low tendency to
conform will tend to make her desired
purchases whether she is shopping
alone or with a group
• Someone with a high tendency to
conform will make many more changes
in purchase plans when shopping with
a group than when shopping alone
Thus, the personality variable ATSCI
moderates the impact of the situation on
consumer behavior.
Theories of Personality
• Freudian theory
of human motivation
• Neo-Freudian personality theory
– Social relationships are fundamental to the
formation and development of personality
•
– Quantitative approach to personality as a set
of psychological traits
•Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of
personality was built on the premise that
unconscious needs or drives, especially sexual
and other biological drives, are at the heart of
–Human personality results from a dynamic
struggle between inner physiological drives (e.g.
hunger, sex, aggression) and social pressures to
follow laws, rules and moral codes.
Id
– Warehouse of primitive or instinctual needs
for which individual seeks immediate
satisfaction
– Entirely oriented toward immediate
gratification
– The “party animal” of the mind
– Operates according to the pleasure
principle
Superego
– Individual’s internal expression of society’s
moral and ethical codes of conduct
– Counterweight of the id
– The person’s conscience
Ego
–
3. Social character. Ranges on a continuum:
Individual’s conscious control that balances –
the demands of the id and superego
– System that mediates between the id and
the superego
– Referee in the fight between temptation
and virtue
– Balances opposing forces according to the
reality principle
Freudian Theory and
Consumer Behavior
•Consumer researchers using Freud’s personality
theory see consumer purchases and/or
consumption situations as a reflection and
extension of the consumer’s own personality
–A person channels his/her unacceptable desire
into acceptable outlets by using products that
signify these underlying desires. This is the
connection between symbolism and motivaton:
The product stands for or represents a
consumer’s true goal. By acquiring the product,
the person is able to vicariously experience the
“forbidden fruit”.
Neo-Freudian Personality Theory
•We seek goals to overcome feelings of
inferiority
•We continually attempt to establish
relationships with others to reduce tensions
•Karen Horney was interested in child-parent
relationships and desires to conquer feelings of
anxiety. Proposed three personality groups
–Compliant move toward others, they desire to
be loved, wanted, and appreciated
–Aggressive move against others,
competes with others
–Detached move away from others,
desires independence, self-sufficiency,
and freedom from obligations
Trait Theory
•Personality theory with a focus on
psychological characteristics
–Primarily a quantitative/empirical approach
with the use of personality tests
•Trait - any distinguishing, relatively enduring
way in which one individual differs from another
•Personality is linked to how consumers make
their choices or to consumption of a broad
product category - not a specific brand
Trait Theory
•Innovativeness
•Dogmatism
•Social character
•Need for uniqueness
•Optimum stimulation level
•Variety-novelty seeking
1. Innovativeness. The degree to which
consumers are receptive to new products, new
services, or new practices
2. Dogmatism. Reflects the degree of rigidity a
person displays toward the unfamiliar and
toward information that is contrary to his/her
own established beliefs
– If low in dogmatism (open-minded): likely
to prefer innovative products
– If high in dogmatism: more receptive to ads
for new products that contain an appeal
from an authoritative figure
Inner-directedness
• rely on own values when evaluating
products
• consumer innovators
 • prefer ads that stress product
features/personal benefits
– Other-directedness
• look to others
• less likely to be innovators
• prefer ads that feature an approving
social environment or social acceptance
4. Need for uniqueness. Consumers who avoid
appearing to conform to expectations or
standards of others
5.Optimum stimulation level. Measures the
level or amount of novelty or complexity that
individuals seek in their personal experiences
– Reflects a person’s level of lifestyle
stimulation
• High OSL consumers tend to accept risky
and novel/new products more readily than
low OSL consumers.
6. Variety Novel-Seeking. Measures a
consumer’s degree of variety seeking:
– Exploratory Purchase Behavior (brand
switching)
– Use Innovativeness (using an already
adopted product in a new/novel way)
– Vicarious Exploration (obtaining
information about new and different
alterna-tives, then contemplating/
daydreaming about the option)
Specific Traits Related to Consumer Behavior
•Innovativeness:
–The degree to which a person likes to try new
things
•Materialism:
–Amount of emphasis placed on acquiring/
owning products
–Regarding possessions as essential to identities
and lives
•Self-Consciousness:
–The degree to which a person deliberately
monitors and controls the image of the self that
is projected to others
•Need for Cognition:
–Degree to which a person likes to think about
things and expands the necessary effort to
process brand information
•Frugality:
–Deny short-term purchasing whims, choosing to
resourcefully use what they already own
VALS
(Values and Lifestyle System)
•The original VALS system was built by consumer
futurist Arnold Mitchell to explain changing U.S. 7 Mindsets of the Filipino Consumer*
values and lifestyles in the 1970s.
•A marketing and consulting tool that helps
businesses worldwide develop and execute more Relationship-Centered: “My relationships,
effective strategies.
–The system identifies current and future
opportunities by segmenting the consumer
marketplace on the basis of the personality
traits that drive consumer behavior.
•The basic tenet of VALS is that people express
their personalities through their behaviors. VALS
specifically defines consumer segments on the
basis of those personality traits that affect
behavior in the marketplace.
–Rather than looking at what people do and
segregating people with like activities, VALS uses
psychology to segment people according to their
distinct personality traits.
–The personality traits are the motivation—the
cause. Buying behavior becomes the effect—the
observable, external behavior prompted by an
internal driver.
VALS reflects a real-world pattern that explains
the relationship between personality traits and
consumer behavior. VALS uses psychology to
analyze the dynamics underlying consumer
preferences and choices. VALS not only
distinguishes differences in motivation, it also
captures the psychological and material
constraints on consumer behavior.
VALS is based on current personality research
into specific components of social behavior. VALS
asserts that people express their personalities
through their behaviors. People with different
personalities engage in different behaviors or
exhibit similar behaviors for different reasons.
The Big 5 Dimensions*
•The Big Five encompasses trait distinctions in
most cultures:
–Surgency/Extraversion
–Agreeableness
–Conscientiousness
–Emotional Stability
–Intellect
Passive Survivors: “Life is a series of ups and
downs over which I have little control”
particularly with my family, matter to me more
than anything else in the world”
Advisers: “I work to realize my full potential,
contribute to society, and, in so doing, find
more meaning in my life.”
Achievers: “I am success-oriented and confident
in all that I do”
Happy Adventurers: “I am fun-loving. I
constantly seek new and exciting experiences.”
Approval-Seekers: “I want to be accepted and to
belong. I fear failure and losing face.”
Control Seekers: “I am orderly and organized in
everything I do. I am focused and directed in all
the tasks I do.”
Cognitive Personality Factors
•Need for cognition (NC)
–A person’s craving for or enjoyment of thinking
–Individual with high NC more likely to respond
to ads rich in product-related information of
description
•More responsive to cool colors
–If low NC, more likely to be attracted to the
background or peripheral aspects of an ad
•Spend more time on print content,
have much stronger brand recall
– Plays a role in an individual’s use of the
Internet
•
Visualizers versus verbalizers
–A person’s preference for information
presented visually or verbally
–Visualizers prefer visual information and
products that stress the visual
–Verbalizers prefer written/verbal information
and products that stress the verbal over graphics
and images
•This distinction helps marketers know
whether to stress visual or written
elements in their ads
From Consumer Materialism to Compulsive
Consumption
•Consumer materialism
–The extent to which a person is considered
“materialistic”
–A trait of people who feel their possessions
are essential to their identity
–Value acquiring and showing off possessions;
self-centered and selfish; seek lifestyles full of
possessions and their possessions do not give
them greater happiness
–Often linked to advertising
•Fixated consumption behavior
–Consumers fixated on certain products or
categories of products but still in the realm of
normal and socially acceptable behavior
–Characterized by:
•Deep/passionate interest in a particular
object/product category
•Willing to go to considerable lengths to obtain
more of the desired object/product
•Dedicate considerable time and money to
searching for the object/product
–Includes collectors or hobbyists
•Compulsive consumption behavior
–“Addicted” or “out-of-control” consumers
–Their actions may have damaging
consequences to them and those around them
–In the realm of abnormal behavior
Brand Personality
•Personality-like traits associated with brands
•Examples
–Freshness
–Athlete
–Performance driven
–Dependable
•Can either be functional or symbolic
•Brand personality which is strong and favorable •Makeup of the self-image
will strengthen a brand but not necessarily
demand a price premium
Brand Personification
•Recasts consumers’ perception of the
attributes of a product/service into the form of
a “human-like character”
•Consumers can express their inner feelings
about products or brands in terms of
associations with a known personality
–Identifying consumers’ current brand
personality link or creating one for new products 2.Makeup of self-image.
are important marketing tasks
Product Personality Issues
•Gender
–A product personality/persona often means
that the product/brand has a “gender”
–Some products perceived as masculine while
others as feminine (i.e. they have a “gender-
being”)
•Knowing the perceived gender of a product or position their products as symbols for such self-
specific brand, marketers are in a better
position to select visual and copy-text for
various marketing messages
•Geography
–Certain products, in the minds of consumers,
possess a strong geographical association
•Using the geographical association can create a
geographical equity
–Actual locations or fictitious names of places
are used
•Color
–Consumers tend to associate personality
factors with specific colors
•Blue appeals particularly to female consumers
•Yellow is associated with novelty
•Black connote sophistication
•Bright colors like red, yellow and blue used by
fast-food restaurants = associated with fast
service and inexpensive food
•Fine dining restaurants use sophisticated colors
like gray, white, shades of tan or other
pale/muted color to reflect fine leisurely service
–Color combinations in packaging and products
denotes personality
Red
Green
Black
Gray
Blue
Purple
Brown
Yellow
Self and Self-Image
Consumers use self-altering products to express
•Extended self individualism or uniqueness by
–Creating new self
•Altering the self- image
–Maintaining the existing self
1.One or multiple selves. –Extending the self
A single consumer will act differently in –Conforming to/taking on the appearance of a
particular type of person
different situations or with different people
•We have a variety of social roles Marketing Implications
of Self-Concept
•Marketers can target products to a particular
“self”
•For marketers it is important to know that
consumers make purchase decisions to support
their self concept.
Contains traits, skills, habits, possessions,
relationships and ways of behavior •Using research techniques to identify how
customers view themselves may give marketers
•Developed through background, experience, insight into products and promotion options that
and interaction with others (unique) are not readily apparent.
•Consumers select products congruent with this
image –For example, when examining consumers a
marketer may initially build marketing strategy
–Marketers can segment their markets on the
around more obvious clues to consumption
basis of relevant consumer self-images, and
behavior, such as consumer’s demographic
images indicators (e.g., age, occupation, income).
–However, in-depth research may yield
information that shows consumers are
Different Self-Images
purchasing products to fulfill self-concept
objectives that have little to do with the
demographic category they fall into (e.g., senior
citizen may be making purchases that make
them feel younger).
Actual Self- Ideal Self- •Appealing to the consumer’s self concept needs
Image Image could expand the market to which the product is
targeted.
How consumers How consumers
see themselves would like to see PERCEPTION
themselves Perception
•The process by which an individual selects,
organizes, and interprets stimuli into a
Ideal
Social
Social Self-
meaningful and coherent picture of the world
Self-Image
Image –Has strategy implications for marketers
because consumers make decisions based on
what they perceive than on the basis of
How consumers would objective reality
How consumers feel
like others to see them
others see them •How we see the world around us
Sensation
•The immediate and direct response of the
Expected “Ought-to”
sensory organs to stimuli
Self-Image Self
•A stimulus is any unit of input to any of the
senses
How consumers expect
Traits/characteristics
–advertisement, product, package, brand name
to see themselves at
some specified future consumers believe it is •Sensory receptors are the human organs (eyes,
time their duty or obligation ears, nose , mouth, skin) that receive sensory
to possess inputs, sight, sound, smell, taste or touch

•Consumers have a variety of enduring images
of themselves (“self-image” or “perceptions of
self”)
•These images are associated with personality
in that individuals’ consumption relates to self-
image
–Tend to buy products or services and patronize
retailers with images/”personalities” that
closely correspond to their own self images
The Marketing Concept
•One or multiple selves
3. Extended Self. Possessions can extend self in
a number of ways:
–Actually:
•allowing the person to do things that is difficult of intensity of the stimuli to which he/she is
to accomplish
–Symbolically:
•Making the person feel better/bigger
–Conferring status or rank
–Bestowing feelings of immortality
–Endowing with magical powers
4. Altering the Self-image.
•
Human sensitivity refers to the experience of
sensation:
–Sensitivity to stimuli varies with the quality of
an individual’s sensory receptors and the amount
exposed
–Sensation itself depends on energy change, or
the difference of input
•Thus, a constant environment (whether very
busy/noisy or relatively quiet) would provide
little sensation because of the lack of change –
the consistent level of stimulation

•As sensory input decreases, the ability to
detect changes increases
–This ability of the human organism to
accommodate itself to varying levels of
sensitivity as external conditions vary not only
protects us from damaging, disruptive, or
irrelevant bombardment when the input level is
high…
–…but has important implications for marketers
Marketing Applications
of the J.N.D.
•Marketers need to determine the relevant
j.n.d. for their products
–so that negative changes are not readily
discernible to the public
–so that product improvements are very
apparent to consumers
3. Perceptual Defense. Screening out of stimuli
which are threatening or damaging
–If a stimulus is threatening to us in some way,
we may not process it or we may distort its
meaning so that it’s more acceptable
•People don’t see what they don’t want to see
Perceptual Selection
4. Perceptual Blocking. Consumers avoid being
bombarded by tuning out (screening out
enormous amounts of advertising/ stimuli)

The Study of Sensation Some Marketing Examples of the J.N.D. [Organization]

•The investigation of the ways in which people
react to the raw sensory information they
receive through their sense organs.
• Its goal is to analyze people’s raw responses to •Sales promotion: Make coupons larger than the
a stimulus before they:
–attend to it
–comprehend it
–give it meaning
Absolute Threshold
•The absolute threshold is the lowest level at
which an individual can experience a sensation
–The point at which a person can detect the
difference between “something” and “nothing”
–Under conditions of constant stimulation, the
absolute threshold increases (the senses become
increasingly dulled)
•Sensory adaptation: “getting used to” certain
sensations, or becoming accustomed to a certain
level of stimulation
–a problem that causes many advertisers to
change their advertising campaigns regularly
Differential Threshold
• Minimal difference that can be detected
between two similar stimuli
• Also known as the just noticeable difference
(the j.n.d.)
• The j.n.d. between two stimuli is not an
absolute amount but an amount relative to the
intensity of the first stimulus
Absolute Threshold
• Marketers try to increase sensory input in order •People tend to perceive things they need or
to cut through the daily clutter consumers
experience in the consumption of advertising
–Increase sensory input to cut through the
advertising “clutter”
• Other advertisers try to attract attention by
decreasing sensory input (e.g. silence, use of
unusual media)
•Package designers determine consumers’
absolute thresholds to make sure that their new
product designs will stand out from those of
competitors
Weber’s* Law
•Weber’s law states that the stronger the
initial stimulus, the greater the additional
intensity needed for the second stimulus to be
perceived as different
2. Selective Attention. Also called perceptual
vigilance
–An additional level of stimulus, equivalent to
the j.n.d., must be added for the majority of
Heightened awareness when stimuli meet their they serve to fulfill personal needs, wishes and
needs
people to perceive a difference between the
resulting stimulus and the initial stimulus
Consumers prefer different messages and
–Holds for all senses and almost all levels of medium
intensity
•Pricing: When raising the price, try to move Perceptual Organization
less than a JND •
People do not experience the numerous stimuli
–When lowering the price for a sale, move more they select from the environment as separate
than a JND and discrete sensations
–Tend to organize stimuli into groups and
JND perceive them as unified wholes
•Product: Make decreases in size of food less •Gestalt psychology (Gestalt in German means
than JND
–When the word new is used, make sure the
pattern or configuration) is the school of
psychology that first developed the basic
product change is greater than the JND principles of perceptual organization
•Packaging: To update package styling and log, •
Three basic principles of perceptual
keep within the JND
organization:
–To change image, make styling changes greater
–Figure and ground
than the JND
–Grouping
Aspects of Perception
Selection –Closure
Organization
Organization
Interpretation
•Figure and ground
[Selection]
Perceptual Selection •Grouping
•Consumers subconsciously are selective as to •Closure
1. Figure & Sound. People tend to organize
what they perceive, depending on:
perceptions into figure-and-ground
–The nature of the stimulus (nature of the relationships.
product, its physical attributes, package design, –The figure is usually perceived clearly
brand name, advertising, position of the ad,
–The ground is usually perceived as indefinite,
editorial environment)
•Contrast is among the most
hazy, continuous, subordinate
•Marketers usually design so the figure is the
attention-compelling attributes of a
stimulus (color contrasts, noticed stimuli.
differentiated packaging)
2. Grouping. People group stimuli to form a
–Consumers’ previous experience as it affects unified impression or concept or “chunks” rather
their expectations than discrete bits of information
•People see what they expect to see, based on –Consumers tend to group together objects that
familiarity, previous experience, preconditioned share similar physical characteristics
set of expectations
•Grouping helps memory and recall
–Consumers’ motives (needs, desires, interests)
•Can be used by marketers to imply certain
desired meanings in connection with their
want
products
Perceptual Selection
3. Closure. People have a need for closure and
•Selective Exposure organize perceptions to form a complete
picture.
•Selective Attention
• Will often fill in missing pieces
•Perceptual Defense
• Incomplete messages remembered more than
•Perceptual Blocking complete
1. Selective Exposure. Consumers seek out [Interpretation]
messages which: Perceptual Interpretation
–Are pleasant •The interpretation of stimuli is uniquely
–They can sympathize with individual because it is based on what
–Reassure them of good purchases individuals expect to see in light of their
previous experience
•
Stimuli are often highly ambiguous
– Individuals interpret them in such a way that
•
interests
•
•
How close a person’s interpretations are to
reality depends on the clarity of the stimulus,
the past experiences of the perceiver, and
his/her motives and interest at the time of the
perception
Perceptual Distortion
•Individuals are subject to influences that tend
to distort their perceptions:
–Physical appearances
–Stereotypes
–First impressions
–Jumping to conclusions
–Halo effect
Interpretation
•Physical Appearances
•Stereotypes
•First Impressions
•Jumping to Conclusions
•Halo Effect
1. Physical Appearances. Positive attributes of
people they know to those who resemble them
•Important for model selection
•Attractive models are more persuasive for
some products (enhancement products) but not
problem-solving products
Interpretation
2. Stereotypes. People hold meanings related
to stimuli
–Tend to carry “pictures” in their minds of the
meaning of various kinds of stimuli
•Stereotypes influence how stimuli are
perceived
3. First Impressions. First impressions are
lasting
•Formed while the perceiver does not know
which stimuli are relevant, important, or
predictive
4. Jumping to Conclusions. People tend not to
listen to all the information before making a
conclusion
–Many jump to conclusions before examining
the relevant evidence like hearing the beginning
of an ad and drawing the incorrect conclusions
•Important to put persuasive arguments first in
advertising
Interpretation
5. Halo Effect. Consumers perceive and
evaluate multiple objects based on just one or a
few dimensions
•Used in licensing of names: associating
products with a well-known celebrity or designer Acquisition-Transaction Utility
name
•Important with spokesperson choice
Issues in Consumer Imagery
•Consumers have a number of enduring
perceptions/images and products/ brands have
symbolic value for individuals who evaluate
them on the basis of their consistency with their associated with the financial aspect of the
personal picture of themselves:
–Product Positioning and Repositioning
–Positioning of Services
–Perceived Price
–Perceived Quality
–Retail Store Image
–Manufacturer Image
–Perceived Risk
Positioning
•Establishing a specific image for a brand in the
consumer’s mind
•Product is positioned in relation to competing
brands
•Conveys the concept, or meaning, of the
product in terms of how it fulfills a consumer
need
•Result of successful positioning is a distinctive,
positive brand image
Positioning Techniques
•Umbrella Positioning
–Creating an overall image of the company
around which many products can be featured
individually
•Positioning against Competition
•Positioning Based on a Specific Benefit
–effective depictions of a core product benefit
often include memorable imagery
•Finding an “Unowned” Position
–Finding a niche unfulfilled by other companies
•Filling Several Positions
–Creating several distinct offerings, often in the well-known brand name as a quality indicator
form of different brands to fill several
unidentified niches
•Repositioning
–In response to market events (competitors
cutting into market share)
–To satisfy changing consumer preferences
Perceptual Mapping
•A research technique that enables marketers
to plot graphically consumers’ perceptions
concerning product attributes of specific brands
•Enables the marketer to see gaps in the
positioning of all brands in the product class and prices overall than competing stores that offer
to identify areas in which consumer needs are
not being adequately met
Issues in Perceived Price
•Reference prices – used as a basis for
comparison in judging another price
–Internal: prices retrieved by the consumer
from memory
–External: advertisers use a higher external
reference price in an ad in which a lower sales
price is being offered
•
Acquisition utility
–The consumer’s perceived economic gain or
loss associated with the purchase
–Function of product utility and purchase price
•
Transaction utility
–The perceived pleasure or displeasure
purchase
–Determined by the difference between the
internal reference price and the purchase price
Perceived Quality of Products
•Consumers often judge the quality of a product
(perceived quality) on the basis of a variety of
informational cues:
–Intrinsic to the product or service
•Physical characteristics of the product itself
(size, color, flavor, aroma)
–Extrinsic Cues
•Price, packaging, advertising, brand image,
store image, peer pressure
Perceived Quality of Services
•Difficult due to characteristics of services
–Intangible
–Variable
–Perishable
–Simultaneously Produced and Consumed
•Service quality that a customer perceives is a
function of the magnitude and direction of the
gap between expected service and the
customer’s assessment of the service actually
delivered
Price/Quality Relationship
•Perceived product value is the trade-off
between the product’s perceived benefits
(quality) and perceived sacrifice required to
acquire it
•The perception of price as an indicator of
product quality (e.g., the higher the price, the
higher the perceived quality of the product)
–Other studies show that customers rely on
–A later study found out that consumers use
price and brand to evaluate the prestige of the
product but do not generally use these cues
when they evaluate the product’s performance
Retail Store Image
•Retail stores have images of their own that
serve to influence the perceived quality of
products they carry and the decisions of
consumers as to where to shop
•Consumers tend to perceive stores that offer a
small discount on a large number of items
(frequency of price advantage) as having lower
larger discounts on a larger discounts on a
smaller number of products (magnitude of price
advantage)
•The width of product assortment also affects
retail store image
•The type of product the consumer wishes to
buy influences his/her selection of a retail
outlet
–conversely, the consumer’s evaluation of a
product often is influenced by the knowledge of
where it was bought.
•When a second extrinsic cue is available (e.g.
price and store image), perceived quality is
sometimes a function of the interaction of both
cues on the consumer
Manufacturers’ Image
•Manufacturers who enjoy a favorable image
generally find that their new products are
accepted more readily than those of
manufacturers who have a less favorable of even
a “neutral” image
–Researchers have found out that consumers
generally have favorable perceptions of pioneer
brands (the first in a product category), even
after follower brands become available
Perceived Risk __________________________________
–The stimuli that give direction to the motives
•The degree of uncertainty perceived by the LEARNING
consumer as to the consequences (outcome) of a Learning –In the marketplace, the following may serve
specific purchase decision as cues to help consumers fulfill their needs
•
Marketers are concerned on how individuals
•Consumer perception of risk varies, depending learn because they want to teach them about: •price
on: •styling
–The person –Products
–The product –Product attributes •packaging
–The situation –Potential consumer benefits •advertising
–The culture •
Marketers must teach consumers:
•store displays
•High-risk perceivers: –where to buy their products –Serve to direct consumer drives when they are
–described as narrow categorizers because they consistent with their expectations
limit their choices (e.g. product choices) to a –how to use their products
few safe alternatives –how to maintain their products •Response:
•Low-risk perceivers: –how to dispose of their products –How individuals react to a drive or cue; how
they behave
–described as broad categorizers because they
tend to make their choices from a much wider •Marketing strategies are based on –Not tied to a need in a one-to-one fashion
range of alternatives communicating with consumers –A need/motive may evoke a whole variety of
Types of Perceived Risk –Marketers want their communication to be: responses

•Functional RiSk: •Noted –The response a consumer makes depends

heavily on previous learning that depends on
–The risk that the product will not perform as •Believed how related responses were reinforced
expected •Remembered previously

•Physical Risk: •Recalled •Reinforcement:

–The risk to self and others that the product –Thus, marketers are very interested in every –Increases the likelihood that a specific
may pose aspect of the learning process
•Financial Risk: •Learning- the process by which individuals
acquire the purchase and consumption
–The risk that the product will not be worth its knowledge and experience that they apply to
cost future related behavior
•Social Risk: –Consumer learning is a process, continually
evolving and changing:
–The risk that a poor product choice may result
in social embarrassment •as a result of newly acquired knowledge
(gained from reading, discussions, observation,
thinking)
•Psychological Risk:
–The risk that a poor product choice will bruise
•from actual experience
[serve as feedback to the individual
the consumer’s ego
and provides the basis for future behavior in
•Time Risk: similar situations]
–The risk that the time spent in product search
may be wasted if the product does not perform
•The role of experience does not mean that all
as expected learning is deliberately sought.
How Consumers Handle Risk
(Risk-Reduction Strategies)
–Though much learning is intentional (acquired
as the result of careful search for information)
•Seek Information: –…a great deal of learning is also incidental
–Through word-of-mouth communication, from (acquired by accident or without much effort)
salespeople, from the general media •Encompasses the total range of learning:
•Stay Brand Loyal –From simple, almost reflexive responses
response will occur in the future as the result of
particular cues or stimuli
Learning Theories
1. Behavioral Theories
–Based on observable behaviors (responses) that
occur as the result of exposure to stimuli
–Sometimes called stimulus-response theories
•When a person responds in a predictable way to
a known stimulus, he/she is said to have
“learned”
–Most concerned with the inputs and outcomes
of learning, not the process
2. Cognitive Theories
–Learning based on mental information
processing
–Often in response to problem solving
Behavioral Learning Theories
•Classical Conditioning
•Instrumental or Operant Conditioning
•Modeling or Observational Learning
Classical Conditioning

–Remaining loyal to a brand with which they –To the learning of abstract concepts and •
Early classical conditioning theorists regarded
have been satisfied instead of purchasing new or complex problem-solving all organisms as passive recipients
untried brands –Conditioning involved building automatic
• Select by Brand Image
•
BUT, there is no single, universal theory of how responses to stimuli
people learn
– When consumers have no experience with a •
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, was the
Elements of first to describe conditioning…
product, they tend to “trust” a favored/well-
Learning Theories
known brand name •
…and to propose it as a general
• Rely on Store Image
•
Motivation: model of how learning occurs. He

– If consumers have no other information about

–
Based on needs and goals
used dogs to demonstrate his theories

a product, they often trust the judgment of the –

merchandise buyers of a reputable store
• Buy the Most Expensive Model
– Consumers may equate price with quality
• Seek Reassurance
–Via money-back guarantees, government and
private laboratory test results, warranties, and
pre-purchase trial
The degree of relevance, or involvement, with –A behavioral learning theory according to
the goal, is critical to how motivated the which a stimulus is paired with another stimulus
consumer is to search for that elicits a known response that serves to
knowledge/information about a product/ service produce the same response when used alone.
–
Acts as a spur to learning; Stimulates learning
Models of Classical Conditioning
* Uncovering consumer motives is one of the
prime tasks of marketers, who try to teach
consumer segments why their product will best
fulfill their needs
•Cues:

Classical Conditioning
•In a consumer behavior context, an
unconditioned stimulus might consist of a well-
known brand symbol that implies products that
have certain qualities.
•This previously acquired consumer perception
of the brand is the unconditioned response.
•Conditioned stimuli might consist of new
products bearing the well-known symbol and the
conditioned response would be trying these
products because of the belief that they embody Explains why imitative “me-too” products
the same attributes which the brand name is
associated.
Cognitive Associative Learning
• Contemporary behavioral scientists view
classical conditioning:
– as the learning of associations among events already established brand
that allows the organism to anticipate and
“represent” its environment.
–rather than being a reflexive action, it is seen –Product category extensions: generally target
as cognitive associative learning (the acquisition new market segments
of new knowledge about the world).
Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning
•Optimal conditioning: creation of a strong
association between the conditioned stimulus
(CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US)
requires:
–Forward conditioning (the CS should precede
the US)
–Repeated pairing of the CS and US
–A CS and US that logically belong together
–A CS that is novel and unfamiliar
–A US that is biologically or symbolically salient
•The consumer is an information seeker who
uses logical and perceptual relations among
events, along with his/her preconceptions to
form a sophisticated representation of the world
Strategic Applications of Classical Conditioning
•Repetition
•Stimulus generalization
•Stimulus discrimination
1. Repetition. Increases the strength of the
association between the conditioned and
unconditioned stimulus
•Slows the pace/process of forgetting
•After a certain number of repetitions,
retention declines. This effect is called
advertising wearout
Repetition and Wearout
•Advertising wearout can be decreased or –Valuable
avoided by varying the advertising message to consumers
through:
–Cosmetic variation •It often is quite difficult to unseat a brand
leader once stimulus discrimination has occurred
–Substantive variation
•Some disagree about how much repetition is –In general, the longer the period of learning
needed. [of associating a brand name with a specific
product] the more likely the consumer is to
–The three-hit theory states that the optimum
discriminate…
number of exposures to an ad is three
•One to make the consumer aware of the –and the less likely to generalize the stimulus
product
•A second to show consumers the relevance of Instrumental Conditioning
the product A behavioral theory of learning based on a trial-
•A third to remind them of its benefits and-error process, with habits forced as the
result of rewards or positive experiences
•The effectiveness of repetition is somewhat (reinforcement) resulting from certain responses
dependent upon the amount of competitive or behaviors.
advertising to which the consumer is exposed
–As exposure increases, the potential for •Like classical conditioning, instrumental
interference increases conditioning requires a link between a stimulus
and a response
2. Stimulus Generalization. Learning depends –However, in instrumental conditioning, the
also on the ability of individuals to generalize stimulus that results in the most satisfactory
•Having the same response to slightly different response is the one that is learned
stimuli •Although classical conditioning is useful in
•Helps “me-too” products to succeed explaining how consumers learn very simple
kinds of behaviors…
•Useful in product extensions •
….instrumental conditioning is more helpful in
explaining complex, goal-directed activities
succeed in the marketplace:
-consumers confuse them with the
•
According to American psychologist, B. F.
original product they have seen advertised Skinner (1904 – 1990):
•
Applied by marketers to product line, form, –
most learning occurs in a controlled
and category extensions: environment in which individuals are
“rewarded” for choosing an appropriate
–Product line extensions: related products to an behavior
–Product form extensions: includes different •
Like Pavlov, Skinner developed a model of
sizes, colors, flavors learning by working with animals
Types of Reinforcement
•
Family branding:
•Positive reinforcement:
–The practice of marketing a whole line of –Events that strengthen the likelihood of a
specific response
company products under the same brand name
–Another strategy that capitalizes on the •Negative reinforcement:
consumer’s ability to generalize favorable brand
associations from one product to the next –An unpleasant or negative outcome that also
serves to encourage a specific behavior
•Retail private branding often achieves the –Fear appeals in ad messages are examples of
same effect as family branding
negative reinforcement
•Licensing: [Negative reinforcement should not be
confused with punishment which is designed to
–allowing a well-known brand name to be discourage behavior.]
affixed to products of another manufacturer
•Extinction:
3. Stimulus Discrimination. This discrimination –When a learned response is no longer
is the basis of positioning which looks for unique reinforced, it diminishes to the point of
ways to fill needs or seeks to establish a unique extinction (the point at which the link between
image for a brand in the consumer’s mind the stimulus and the expected reward is
-Selection of a specific stimulus from similar
eliminated)
stimuli •
Forgetting:
–The behavior is unlearned because of lack of
•The key to stimulus discrimination is effective use rather than lack of reinforcement
positioning, a major competitive advantage –Often related to the passage of time; known
–The image, or position, that a product/service as the process of decay
has in the mind of the consumer is critical to its * Marketers can overcoming forgetting through
repetition and can combat extinction through
success
the deliberate enhancement of consumer
•Most product differentiation strategies are satisfaction.
designed to distinguish a product/brand from
that of competitors on the basis of an attribute Instrumental Conditioning and Marketing
that is:
–Relevant
•Customer Satisfaction (Reinforcement):
–Meaningful –Provide the best possible product/service for
the money and

–…avoid raising consumer expectations for the
product/service beyond what it can deliver Holds that the kind of learning most
– Aside from the use of the product itself, characteristic of human beings is problem
solving, which enables individuals to gain some
consumers can receive reinforcement from other
elements in the purchase situation
control over their environment.
–Relationship marketing (developing a close
relationship with customers) is another form of
non-product reinforcement
•Reinforcement Schedules:
–Total/continuous
–Systematic/fixed ratio
–Random/variable ratio:
•tends to engender high rates of desired
behavior and are somewhat resistant to
extinction (perhaps because, for many
consumers, hope springs eternal).
•Shaping:
–Reinforcement performed before the desired •The more experience a consumer has with a
consumer behavior actually takes place
•Massed vs. Distributed Learning:
–Massed:
•learning schedule is “bunched up” all at once
•produces more initial learning
•When advertisers want an immediate impact
(introduce a new product or to counter a
competitor’s blitz campaign)
–Distributed:
•learning schedule spread out over a period of
time
•results in learning that persists longer
•when the goal is long-term repeat buying on a
regular basis
•A distributed scheduler with ads repeated on a
regular basis usually results in more long-term
learning and is relatively immune to extinction
Observational Learning
A process by which individuals observe how
others behave in response to certain stimuli and
reinforcements. Also known as modeling or
vicarious learning.
Modeling or Observational Learning
•A considerable amount of learning takes place
in the absence of direct reinforcement (positive
or negative) through a process psychologists call
modeling or observational/vicarious learning
• They observe how others behave in response to
certain situations (stimuli), the ensuing results
(reinforcement) that occur, and they imitate
(model) the positively-reinforced behavior when
faced with similar situations
–Modeling is the process through which
individuals learn behavior by observing the
behavior of others and the consequences of such but hard to make a lasting impression
behavior
–Their role models are usually people they
admire because of such traits as appearance,
accomplishment, skill, and even social class
Advertisers recognize the importance of
observational learning in their selection of
models, whether celebrities or unknowns.
• Ads may depict negative consequences for
certain types of behavior
– public policy ads showing the negative
consequences of smoking, of driving too fast, or
taking drugs.
Cognitive Learning Theory
•Not all learning is the result of repeated trials
–Learning also takes place as the result of
consumer thinking and problem-solving
•Cognitive learning is based on mental activity
Information Processing
•The human mind processes the information it
receives as input much as a computer does
–Information processing is related to both the –Learning visually takes less time than learning
consumer’s cognitive ability and the complexity
of the information
•Individuals differ in imagery – their ability to
form mental images which influences recall
product category, the greater his/her ability to
make use of product information
The Structure of Memory
•Because information processing occurs in
stages…
•…it is believed that content is stored in the
memory in separate storehouses for further
processing:
•Sensory store
•Short-term store
•Long-term store
Information Processing and Memory Stores
How Consumers Store, Retain, and Retrieve
Information
• presented products are to product categories
Sensory store: all data come to us through our already stored in memory
senses; however, our senses do not transmit
information as whole images
– The separate pieces of information are
synchronized as a single image
– This sensory store holds the image of a
sensory input for just a second or two
* This suggests that it’s easy for marketers to get
information into the consumer’s sensory store,
•Short-term store: if the data survive the
sensory store, it is moved to the short-term
store
– This is our working memory
– If rehearsal – the silent, mental repetition of concepts
material – takes place, then the data are
transferred to the long-term store
– If data are not rehearsed and transferred,
they are lost in a few seconds
•Long-term store – once data are transferred to
the long-term store, they can last days, weeks
or even years
•Movement from short-term to long-term
storage depends on
–Rehearsal
–Encoding
•Rehearsal and encoding:
–the amount of information available for
delivery from the short-term store to the long-
term store depends on the amount of rehearsal
an individual gives to it
–Encoding: the process by which we select and
assign a word or visual image to represent a
perceived object
verbal information
•Information overload: when the consumer is
presented with too much information
–Result is confusion, leading to poor purchase
decisions
•Retention – information is constantly organized
and reorganized as new links of information are
forged
–Many theorists view the long-term store as a
network consisting of nodes/concepts with links
among them
–As individuals gain more knowledge, they
expand their network of relationships, and
sometimes their search for additional
information
•This process is known as activation, which
involves relating new data to old to make the
material more meaningful
•Consumers’ information search is often
dependent upon how similar or dissimilar
–Consumers recode what they have already
encoded to include larger amounts of
information (chunking)
•
The degree of prior knowledge is an important
consideration
•
Knowledgeable consumers can take in more
complex chunks of information than those who
are less knowledgeable in the product category
•Information is stored in long-term memory in 2
ways:
–Episodically: by the order in which it is
acquired
–Semantically: according to significant
[memories stored are organized into frame-
works by which we integrate new data with
previous experience]
•Total package of associations brought to mind
when a cue is activated is called a schema
•
Retrieval:
–the process by which we recover information
from long-term storage
–Studies show that consumers tend to
remember the product’s benefits, rather than
it’s attributes
–Motivated consumers are likely to spend time
interpreting and elaborating on information they
find relevant to their needs and are likely to
activate such relevant knowledge from long-
term memory
•Studies show that incongruent/unexpected
elements pierce consumers’ perceptual screens:
–improve the memorability of an ad when
these elements are relevant to the advertising
–BUT provide no memorability for the product
when these elements are not relevant to the ad
•Interference effects:
–Caused by confusion with competing ads and
result in a failure to retrieve
–Advertisements for competing brands or for
other products made by the same manufacturer
can lower the consumer’s ability to remember
advertised brand information
•2 kinds of interference
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
•Suggests that a person’s level of involvement Brand Loyalty
during message processing is the critical factor
in determining the most effective route of
persuasion •Function of three groups of influences
–When involvement is high, consumers follow –Consumer drivers
the central route and base their attitudes or –Brand drivers
choices on the message arguments –Social drivers
–When involvement is low, they follow the
peripheral route and rely more heavily on other •Four types of loyalty
message elements to form attitudes or make –No loyalty
product choices –Covetous loyalty
–Inertia loyalty
–Premium loyalty
Marketing Applications of ELM [reflects a correlation among consumer
involvement and the cognitive and behavioral
•For high involvement purchases: dimensions of brand loyalty]
–Use arguments stressing the strong, solid, high-
quality attributes of their products, thus using •Loyalty programs:
–Generally designed with the intention of
the central (highly cognitive) route
forming and maintaining brand loyalty
•For low involvement purchases:
–Use the peripheral route to persuasion,
focusing on the method of presentations rather
than on the content of the message [e.g. use of
Brand Equity

–New learning can interfere with the retrieval
of previously stored material
–Old learning can interfere with the recall of
recently learned material
Issues in Involvement Theory
•Consumer Relevance
celebrity spokespersons or highly visual and
symbolic ads]
•The best strategy for increasing the personal
relevance of products to consumers is the same
as the core of modern marketing:
–Provide benefits that are important and
relevant to consumers
–Improve the product and add benefits as
competition intensifies
•Refers to the value inherent in a well-known
brand name
•Value stems from consumer’s perception of
brand superiority
•Brand equity reflects learned brand loyalty
•Brand loyalty and brand equity lead to
increased market share and greater profits

•Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion –Focus on forging bonds and relationships with
customers rather than just engaging in
•Measure of Involvement transactions

Consumer Relevance Measures of Consumer Learning

•Involvement depends on degree of personal •Recognition and Recall Measures

relevance that the product holds for the
consumer
•High involvement is:
–Very important to the consumer
…mainly in terms of perceived risk
–Provokes extensive problem solving
–Finding fewer brands acceptable (narrow
categorizers)
Central and Peripheral Routes
to Persuasion
•Central route to persuasion
–For high involvement purchases
–Requires cognitive processing
•Peripheral route to persuasion
–Low involvement
–Consumer less motivated to think
–Learning through repetition, visual cues, and
holistic perception
–Aided Recall (recognition tests)
–Unaided Recall (recall tests)
•Cognitive Responses to Advertising
–Comprehension: a function of the message
characteristics, the consumer’s opportunity and
ability to process information, and the
consumer’s motivation or level of involvement
–Pre-tests and post-tests
Measures of Consumer Learning
•Attitudinal and Behavioral Measures of Brand
Loyalty
–Attitudinal measures: concerned with
consumers’ overall feelings/evaluation about
the product and the brand, and their purchase
intentions
–Behavioral measures: based on observable
responses to promotional stimuli (purchase
behavior)

COMMUNICATION
Communication
•The link between the individual and society
•The tool that marketers use to persuade
consumers to act in a desired way
•Today, the media and communication models •symbolic
Can be a non-verbal message in the form of
that have been used for decades are undergoing
fundamental changes
•The transmission of a message from a sender
to a receiver (or channel) of transmission
Components of Communication
•The transmission of a message from a sender
to a receiver (or channel) of transmission
•An essential component is feedback, which
alerts the sender as to whether the intended
message was, in fact, received
The Sender
•The initiator of the communication…
•… and can be a:
–Formal source: might be the organization
communicating the message
–Informal source: might be a parent or friend
who gives product information or advice
•Informal word-of-mouth communication tends
to be highly persuasive
The Receiver
•The targeted prospect or a customer
•There are also intermediary audiences for a
message such as:
–Wholesalers, distributors, and retailers who
receive trade
•There are also unintended audiences which
include everyone who is exposed to the
message, whether or not they are specifically
targeted by the source
The Medium
•The channel/way the message is
communicated
•Can be –
–an impersonal communications channel
•e.g. a mass medium like a newspaper of TV
program
–an interpersonal communications channel
•an informal conversation between two friends
•a formal conversation between a salesperson &
a customer
•Mass media are generally classified as:
–Print (newspapers, magazines, billboards)
–Broadcast (radio, television)
–Electronic (Internet)
The Medium
•New modes of interactive communication that
permit the audiences of mass media to provide
direct feedback are beginning to blur the
distinction between interpersonal & impersonal
communication
•Direct marketers (often called database
marketers) also seek individual responses from
ads they have placed in all the mass media
–Broadcast, print, online as well as from direct
mail
The Message
•Can be a verbal message, spoken or written,
and usually can contain more specific product
information than a nonverbal message
communication
–Non-verbal communication takes place in
interpersonal channels as well as in impersonal
channels
Feedback
•An essential component of both interpersonal
and impersonal communications
•Prompt feedback permits the sender to:
–reinforce
–change
–modify the message to ensure that it is
understood in the intended way
•Generally, it is easier to obtain feedback (both
verbal and non-verbal) from interpersonal
communications than impersonal
communications
The Communications Process
•The Message Initiator (the Source)
•The Sender
•The Receiver
•The Medium
•The Message
•The Target Audience (the Receivers)
•Feedback - the Receiver’s Response
In general, a company’s marketing
communications are designed to make the
consumer:
–aware of the product
–give the product a symbolic meaning
–show how it can solve the consumer’s problem
better than a competitive product/service
The Message Initiator (Source)
•The sponsor (initiator) must encode the
message in such a way that its meaning is
interpreted by the target audience in precisely
the intended way
–Encoding can be done through words, pictures,
symbols, spokespersons, and special channels
•Publicity is usually the result of public
relations efforts and tends to be more
believable because its commercial origins and
intent are not readily apparent
•The credibility of the source affects the
decoding of the message
•The perceived honesty and objectivity of the
source contributes to his/her credibility
–If the source is well-respected and highly
thought of by the intended audience, the
message is much more likely to be believed, and image, retailers, social responsibility
vice versa
• Credibility is build on several factors, foremost
of which are the intentions of the source
–If the receiver perceives any type of personal –Such formal sources as neutral rating services
gain for the message sponsor as a result of the
proposed action or advice, the message itself
becomes suspect
The Message Initiator (Source)
Issues with credibility
• Credibility of Informal Sources
• Credibility of Formal Sources
•Credibility of Spokespersons and Endorsers
•Message Credibility
1. Credibility of informal sources.
o Includes word of mouth
•These sources also called opinion leaders
•Informal sources may not always be credible
•Built on the perception that the informal
sources (friends, neighbors, relatives) have
nothing to gain from their recommendation
•An opinion leader is an example of an informal
source who profits psychologically, if not
tangibly, by providing product information to
others
–This ego gratification may actually improve
the quality of the information provided
–The fact that the opinion leader does not
receive material gain from the recommended
action increases the likelihood that the advice
will be seriously considered
•Clever marketers initiate word-of-mouth
(WOM) campaigns
–Many firms enlist typical consumers to serve as
their buzz agents
•Source credibility judged on past performance, •The reputation of the retailer who sells the
reputation, service, quality, spokesperson product has a major influence on message
credibility
•Institutional advertising used to promote
favorable company image
•The reputation of the medium that carries the
advertisement also enhances the credibility of
• Not-for-profit sources generally have more the advertiser
credibility than for-profit sources
•There is no single answer as to which medium
has the most credibility
or editorial sources have greater credibility than – especially now when new forms of media and
commercial sources
traditional media in new forms are emerging
• Consumers judge commercial source credibility
•The consumer’s previous experience with the
on such factors as:
product or the retailer has a major impact on
–Past performance the credibility of the message
–The kind and quality of service
–The quality and image of products offered
–Their position in the community Sleeper Effect
The idea that both positive and negative
Credibility of Formal Sources
credibility effects tend to disappear after a
•Firms with well-established reputations period of time.
generally have an easier time selling their
products than do firms with lesser reputations Effects of Time on Source Credibility
•A quality image permits a company to •The persuasive effects of high-credibility
experiment more freely in many more areas of sources do not endure over time
marketing than would otherwise be considered •Although a high-credibility source is initially
prudent
more influential than a low-credibility source,
•Institutional advertising is designed to research suggests that both positive and
promote a favorable company image rather than negative credibility effects tend to disappear
to promote specific products after 6 weeks or so
•Firms often engage in cause-related marketing, –This phenomenon has been termed the
where they contribute a portion of the revenues sleeper effect = consumers simply forget the
they receive from selling certain products to source of the message faster than they forget
causes the message itself
3. Credibility of Spokespersons and Endorsers
–The sleeper effect is caused by disassociation
over time, leaving just the message content
•Effectiveness related to:
•The theory of differential decay suggests that
–The message the memory of a negative cue simply decays
–Synergy between endorser and type of product faster than the message itself, leaving behind
–Demographic characteristics of endorser
the primary message content
–Corporate credibility
•Reintroduction of a similar message by the
source serves to jog the audience’s memory, and
–Endorsement wording the original effect remanifests itself

•Marketers are now more acutely concerned •The spokesperson that gives the product
with negative word-of-mouth that can result in message is often perceived as the source
unfounded rumors about products •Studies show:
•Persistent critics of marketers who initiate ad –The effectiveness of the spokesperson is
publicity online are called determined related to the message itself
detractors
–The synergy between the endorser and the
•Factors motivating consumers to engage in type of product/service advertised is an
WOM: important factor
–Consumer involvement with the product or –Endorsers who have demographic
message characteristics that are similar to those of the
target audience are viewed as more
–Self-involvement credible/persuasive than those who do not
–Alleviating post-purchase uncertainty & –The endorser’s credibility is not a substitute
dissonance
for corporate credibility
–Seeking information
•Marketers who use celebrities to give
–Concern for others testimonials/
•Primary motives behind eWOM: endorse products must be sure that the
specific wording of the endorsement lies within
–Venting negative feelings the recognized competence of the spokesperson
–Concern for others •In interpersonal communications, consumers
–Extraversion and positive self-enhancement are more likely to be persuaded by salespersons
who engender confidence and who give the
–Social benefits impression of honesty and integrity
–Economic incentives
4. Message Credibility
–Helping the company
–Advice seeking •Credibility of retailers
•Reputation of the medium that carries the ad
2. Credibility of Formal sources. Neutral
sources have the greatest credibility •Consumer’s previous experience with product
–i.e. the high-credibility source remains more
persuasive than the low-credibility source
The Target Audience (Receivers)
•Receivers decode the messages they receive
on the basis of their personal experience and
personal characteristics
•Personal characteristics and comprehension:
–The amount of meaning derived from the
message is the result of the message
characteristics, the receiver’s opportunity and
ability to process the message, and the
receiver’s motivation
–Personality, attitudes, and prior learning all
affect how a message is decoded
–Perception, based as it is on expectations,
motivation, and past experience, certainly
influence message interpretation
•Involvement and congruency
–A person’s level of involvement determines
how much attention is paid to the message &
how carefully it is decoded
•Mood
–A consumer’s mood (cheerfulness,
unhappiness) affects the way in which an ad is
perceived, recalled and acted upon
–Often influenced by the context in which the
advertising message appears (e.g. the adjacent
TV program or newspaper story) and the content
of the ad itself which in turn, affect the
consumer’s evaluation and recall of the message
•Barriers to communication may affect the
accuracy with which consumers interpret
messages
–Selective exposure to messages
–Psychological noise
Selective Exposure to Messages
•Consumers selectively perceive advertising
messages
–Tend to ignore ads that have no special
interest or relevance to them
–TV remote controls offer viewers the ability to
“wander” among program offerings with ease
(referred to as “grazing”)
–Some marketers try to overcome channel
surfing during commercials by roadblocking
(i.e. playing the same commercial
simultaneously on competing channels)
Psychological Noise
•Things that impair reception of a message,
such as competing advertising messages or
distracting thoughts
•To overcome psychological noise, a sender can:
–Repeat exposure to the message
–Use contrast
–Use teasers
–Use customized ads
–Shift advertising from TV to internet
•The most effective way to ensure that a
promotional message stands out and is received
and decoded appropriately by the target
audience is through effective positioning and a
unique selling proposition
Feedback: The Receiver’s Response
•The ultimate test of marketing communication
is the receiver’s response
–Only through feedback can the sender
determine if and how well the message has been
received
–Which consumers received the message •Selective binding possible
[Data collected via both types of measures are
offered for sale by syndicated services] •High quality production
•Message Attention and Interpretation •High credibility
–Physiological measures •Long message life
–Theater tests •High pass-along rate
•Long lead time
–Readership surveys
–Attitudinal measures •High clutter
•Message Recall Measures •Delayed and indirect feedback
•Rates vary based on circulation and selectivity
–Day after recall Persuasive Capabilities and Limitations of Major
Media (Television)
Physiological Measures
•Low costs per contact
•Physiological measures track bodily responses
to stimuli •Long lead time
•Sophisticated physiological techniques can be •High clutter
used to measure the degree of consumer arousal
and involvement…
•Short message life
•…but do not assess the reasons behind their •Viewers can avoid exposure with zapping, etc.
levels of engagement with the messages tested •Day-after recall tests for feedback
Attitudinal Measures •Large audiences possible
•Generally, researchers use attitudinal •Appeals to many senses
measures, placed within copy pretests or
posttests to assess whether respondents: •Emotion and attention possible
–like the message •Demonstration possible
–understand it correctly
•Very high costs overall
–regard it as effective and persuasive
Designing Persuasive Communications
•Researchers are also interested in measuring
the emotions and feelings evoked by the ads •Message Strategy
–The message is the thought idea, attitude,
Designing Persuasive Communications
image or other information that the sender
•Communications strategy wishes to convey to the intended audience
–Senders must recognize what they are trying
–Must include objectives to say and audience’s characteristics so they can
•The sponsor must first establish the primary encode the message appropriately

•Feedback should be gathered: communications objectives such as generating –Involvement theory

–Promptly
–Accurately
•An advantage of interpersonal communication •For a long time, the cognitive models were
is the ability to obtain immediate feedback
through verbal as well as non-verbal cues
–Permits rapid adjustment of the message
–This adaptability is what makes personal
selling so effective
awareness, promoting sales, and encouraging
certain practices/behavior
–Includes cognitive models
used to describe the communications process
–Newer models
•Today, other models are gaining popularity
•One example is a model based on the key
•Suggests that individuals are more likely to
devote active cognitive effort to evaluating the
pros and cons of a product in a high-involvement
purchase situation, and more likely to focus on
peripheral message cues in a low-involvement
situation
•Led to ELM (Elaboration Likelihood Model) -
central and peripheral routes
Designing Persuasive Communications

•Feedback is also important for impersonal or
mass communication because of its expense
–The organization that initiates the message
needs some method for determining whether its
mass communication is:
•being received by the intended audience
•understood in the intended way
•successful in achieving the intended objectives
•Unlike interpersonal communications, mass
communications feedback is rarely direct; it is
usually inferred
–Receivers buy (or do not buy) the advertised
product; they renew (or do not renew) their
magazine subscriptions, etc.
•Another type of feedback that companies seek
from mass audiences is the degree of consumer
satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a product
purchase
Advertising Effectiveness Research
•Media and message exposure measures
factors of perception, experience and memory •Resonance
•Media Strategy •Message framing
–Consumer profile
•First, the sponsor should develop a consumer
•Comparative advertising
profile of the target market •Order effects
–Audience profile •Repetition
•Next, a medium with an appropriate audience
profile needs to be selected 1. Resonance. Wordplay
–Before selecting a specific medium, the
advertiser needs to select a general media
•Used to create a double meaning when used
category that will enhance the message with a relevant picture
–Once marketers have identified the 2. Message Framing.
appropriate media category, they can then
choose the specific medium/media in that
category that reaches their intended audiences
Positive framing:
–stress the benefits to be gained by using a
–The web is an advertising medium, and using it specific product
to communicate effectively with customers is a
•Negative framing:
challenge to marketers
–stress the benefits to be lost by not using the
Persuasive Capabilities and Limitations of product
Major Media (Magazines)

–How many consumers received the message •Highly selective

–One-sided messages: tell consumers only the –Emotional appeals are more effective in
good points/benefits persuading less educated audiences
–effective if audience is friendly, initially favors
the communicator’s position, not likely to hear Emotional Advertising Appeals
an opposing argument Fear
•Two-sided: tell consumers both good Humor
points/benefits and bad points/disadvantages Abrasive advertising
–effective when the target audience is critical Sex in advertising
or unfriendly, if well-educated, or likely to hear Audience participation
opposing claims
Impact of Humor on Advertising
3. Comparative Advertising. Marketer claims
product superiority over another brand Humor is more effective with existing products
(explicitly or implicitly identified) than with new products.
–on overall basis or on selected product
attributes Humor attracts attention.
•Useful for: Humor is not more effective at increasing
–product positioning persuasion.
–target market selection
–brand positioning strategies Humor does not enhance source credibility.

4. Order Effects Humor enhances liking.

•Primacy Humor that is relevant to the product is superior
•Recency to humor that is unrelated to the product.

•Order of benefits
•Brand name

Order Effects
•Communications researchers have found that
the order in which a message is presented
affects audience receptivity
•On television, the position of a commercial in a
commercial pod can be critical
–Commercials shown first are recalled best,
those in the middle the least
•Magazine publishers recognize the impact of
order effects by charging more for ads on the
front, back and inside covers of magazines than
for the inside magazine pages because of their
greater visibility and recall
•Order is also important in listing product
benefits within an ad
–If interest is low, the most important point
should be made first to attract attention
–If interest is high, it is not necessary to pique
curiosity and so product benefits can be
arranged in ascending order
•When both favorable and unfavorable
information are to be presented, placing the
favorable material first often produces greater
tolerance for the unfavorable news
–It also produces greater acceptance and
understanding of the total message

5. Repetition
•Important factor in learning
–Frequency of the ad affects:
•persuasion, ad recall, brand name recall, and
brand preferences
–Multiple message exposures give consumers
more opportunity to:
•internalize product attributes
•develop more or stronger cue associations and
more positive attitudes
•increased willingness to resist competitive
counter persuasion efforts

Advertising Appeals
•Factual and emotional appeal effectiveness
varies with the circumstance and the audience
–Reason-why appeals are more effective in
persuading educated audiences