Chapter 09: Learning, Memory, and Product Positioning

These vocabulary flashcards cover key concepts from Chapter 09 on learning theories, memory structures (STM and LTM), conditioning, and brand strategy applications like image, equity, and positioning.

Learning

Any change in the content or organization of long-term memory or behavior, which is the result of information processing.

Information processing

A series of activities by which stimuli are perceived, transformed into information, and stored.

Memory

The total accumulation of prior learning experiences.

Short-term memory (STM)

Also referred to as working memory; the portion of total memory that is currently activated or in use. It is short-lived and has a limited capacity of $5$ to $9$ bits of information.

Long-term memory (LTM)

The portion of total memory devoted to permanent information storage, capable of storing concepts, decision rules, processes, and emotional states.

Maintenance rehearsal

The continual repetition of a piece of information in order to hold it in current memory for use in problem solving or transferal to long-term memory.

Chunking

The process of organizing individual items into groups of related items that can be processed as a single unit.

Elaborative activities

The use of previously stored experiences, values, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings to interpret and evaluate information in working memory as well as to add relevant previously stored information.

Concepts

Abstractions of reality that capture the meaning of an item in terms of other concepts.

Imagery

A type of processing that involves concrete sensory representations of ideas, feelings, and objects, including concrete mental icons of sight, smell, taste, and tactile sensations.

Semantic memory

The basic knowledge and feelings an individual has about a concept, representing their understanding at its simplest level.

Episodic memory

The memory of a sequence of events in which a person participated.

Schema

Also known as a knowledge structure; a complex web of associations or patterns of association around a particular concept.

Evoked set

Brands in the schematic memory that come to mind or are recalled for a specific problem or situation.

Script

A special type of schema representing the memory of how an action sequence should occur.

Accessibility

The likelihood and ease with which information can be recalled from long-term memory.

Top-of-mind awareness

An accessibility effect for brands where multiple retrieval pathways allow consumers to think of a specific brand first when contemplating a purchase.

Explicit memory

Memory characterized by the conscious recollection of an exposure event, also known as traditional memory recall.

Implicit memory

The nonconscious retrieval of previously encountered stimuli, often manifesting as a sense of familiarity or a set of beliefs about an item.

High-involvement learning

A learning situation in which the consumer is motivated to process or learn the material.

Low-involvement learning

A learning situation in which the consumer has little or no motivation to process or learn the material.

Conditioning

A learning process that involves presenting two stimuli in close proximity so that eventually the two are perceived to be related or associated.

Classical conditioning

An attempt to create an association between a stimulus, such as a brand name, and some response, such as a behavior or feeling.

Operant conditioning

An attempt to create an association between a response, like buying a brand, and some outcome, such as satisfaction, that serves to reinforce the response.

Shaping

The process of encouraging partial responses leading to the final desired response, critical in the trial of a product.

Cognitive learning

Encompasses all mental activities of humans as they work to solve problems or cope with situations, ranging from simple information acquisition to complex problem solving.

Iconic rote learning

Learning a concept or the association between two or more concepts in the absence of conditioning.

Vicarious learning (Modeling)

A type of learning where consumers do not directly experience a reward or punishment but instead observe the outcomes of others' behaviors and adjust their own accordingly.

Analytical reasoning

The most complex form of cognitive learning, where individuals engage in creative thinking to restructure and recombine information to form new associations.

Analogical reasoning

A process that allows consumers to use an existing knowledge base to understand a new situation or object.

Stimulus discrimination

The process of learning to respond differently to similar but distinct stimuli.

Stimulus generalization

Occurs when a response to one stimulus is elicited by a similar but distinct stimulus, often referred to as the rub-off effect.

Extinction

Refers to forgetting in conditioned learning, where the desired response decays or dies out if learning is not repeated and reinforced.

Self-referencing

A strategy to enhance message involvement by encouraging consumers to relate brand information to themselves or past personal experiences.

Reinforcement

Anything that increases the likelihood that a given response will be repeated in the future.

Advertising wearout

Occurs when too much repetition causes consumers to actively shut out a message, evaluate it negatively, or disregard it.

Memory interference

The difficulty in retrieving a specific piece of information because other related information in memory gets in the way.

Brand image

The schematic memory of a brand, including the target market's interpretation of attributes, benefits, usage situations, and user characteristics.

Product positioning

A decision by a marketer to achieve a defined brand image relative to competition within a market segment.

Perceptual mapping

A technique for measuring and developing a product's position by relating consumers' perceptions of brand similarity to product attributes.

Product repositioning

A deliberate decision to significantly alter the way the market views a product or brand.

Brand equity

The value consumers assign to a brand above and beyond the functional characteristics of the product, nearly synonymous with its reputation.

Brand leverage

Also termed brand extensions or umbrella branding; refers to marketers capitalizing on brand equity by using an existing brand name for new products.

Transfer

A dimension for successful brand leverage where the consumer perceives the new product as requiring the same manufacturing skills as the original brand.