Combined

Consumer

One who, or that which, consumes; as, the consumer of food.

Consumer Behavior

The study of processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and wants.

Pre-purchase

The phase before a consumer decides to make a purchase.

Purchase

The action of buying products or services.

After-purchase

The phase following the completion of a purchase.

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information.

Self-awareness

The capacity to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals.

Mirror Self Recognition

The ability of an animal or human to recognize themselves in a mirror.

Persuasion

The process of convincing someone to do or believe something.

Situational Influence

The effects of situational factors on consumer decision making and behavior.

Emotional Response

A reaction that involves feelings that can affect consumer behavior.

Perception

The process by which sensations are selected, organized, and interpreted.

Sensation

The immediate response of sensory receptors to basic stimuli such as light, sound, and texture.

Stimulus

Any object or event that elicits a sensory or behavioral response.

Sensory Threshold

The minimum amount of stimulation that can be detected on a given sensory channel.

Absolute Threshold

The smallest level of stimulus that can be detected.

Differential Threshold

The ability of a sensory system to detect changes or differences between two stimuli.

Subliminal Perception

Occurs when a stimulus is below the level of consumer awareness.

Haptic Senses

The sense of touch; the most basic of senses affecting product experience and judgment.

Trade Dress

Colors or designs associated with specific companies that help identify their products.

Gestalt Psychology

The study of how people derive meaning from the totality of a set of stimuli rather than from any individual stimulus.

Perceptual Vigilance

The tendency to be more aware of stimuli that relate to our current needs.

Perceptual Defense

The tendency to see what we want to see and ignore what we don’t want to see.

Exposure

The extent to which people notice a stimulus that is within range of their sensory receptors.

Attention

The degree of processing activity that is devoted to a particular stimulus.

Mental Schema

Mental templates or organized structures of beliefs and feelings that reflect experiences.

Consumer Behavior

The study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources.

Sensory Marketing

Companies consider the impact of sensations on consumers' product/service experiences.

Color Coordinates

A system for defining colors numerically, such as RGB (red, green, blue) values.

Attention Attraction

Techniques used to capture consumers' attention in a sensory-overloaded environment.

Figure-Ground Principle

When one part of a stimulus dominates (figure) while other parts recede (ground).

Closure Principle

Consumers fill in missing elements to complete a familiar figure.