Consumer Perception, Memory, and Communication: Marketing Insights

What are the three stages of the perceptual process from a marketer's perspective?

Exposure, Attention, Comprehension

What is comprehension in the context of consumer behavior?

The interpretation or understanding a consumer develops about a stimulus based on how meaning is assigned.

How do graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging affect consumer behavior?

They create more brain activity than traditional verbal warnings, leading to greater reported avoidance of smoking.

What internal factors influence comprehension?

Cognitive and affective elements within the consumer.

What does Signal Theory explain?

It explains how communications convey meaning beyond the explicit or obvious interpretation.

What are physical characteristics in the context of consumer comprehension?

Tangible elements of a message that can be sensed directly, such as intensity, color, font, numbers, spacing, and shape.

What is message congruity?

The extent to which a message is internally consistent and fits surrounding information.

What is the figure-ground distinction in a message?

The contrast between the focal part of a message (figure) and the background (ground).

What is the significance of simplicity in message design?

The simpler the message, the more likely a consumer develops meaningful comprehension.

What is the effect of message congruity on consumer attitudes?

Congruity creates a favorable attitude, while incongruity can hinder comprehension.

What are the characteristics of the message source that affect comprehension?

Likeability, attractiveness, expertise, trustworthiness, and congruence.

What is figurative language?

The use of expressions that send a nonliteral meaning.

What is literal language?

The use of expressions that send a literal meaning.

How does the spacing effect relate to learning?

Learning is greater when studying is spread out over time rather than in a single session.

What should marketers consider regarding the complexity of their messages?

They should adapt the complexity based on the intelligence and prior knowledge of their customers.

What role does the environment play in consumer comprehension?

The environment can influence how a message is received and understood by the consumer.

What is the importance of color in marketing?

Color can convey specific meanings and influence consumer perceptions and behaviors.

What is the Golden Section in design?

A preferred ratio of objects, equal to approximately 1.62 to 1.00, that is aesthetically pleasing.

What is the impact of message source expertise on comprehension?

Expertise can enhance consumer trust and understanding of the message.

What is the relationship between prior knowledge and message comprehension?

Prior knowledge affects how well a consumer can understand and interpret a message.

What is the role of prior knowledge in message design?

It helps determine if customers can understand the message based on their previous experiences.

What does involvement refer to in consumer behavior?

Emotional or personal association with something.

Define habituation in the context of consumer comprehension.

The process by which continuous exposure to a stimulus affects comprehension and response.

What are expectations in consumer behavior?

Beliefs about what will happen in some future situation.

What are physical limits in the context of consumer comprehension?

Limits related to our ability to hear, see, smell, taste, and think.

What does brain dominance refer to?

The phenomenon of hemispheric lateralization, where individuals may be more right-brain or left-brain dominant.

What is information intensity?

The amount of information available for a consumer to process within a given environment.

Explain framing in consumer comprehension.

A phenomenon where the meaning of something is influenced by the information environment.

What is prospect theory?

It suggests that the way a decision or argument is framed affects the risk assessments consumers make.

What does construal level theory explain?

How the information environment can cause individuals to think about things in different ways.

What is the difference between concrete and abstract mindsets in construal level?

Concrete mindsets focus on details, while abstract mindsets focus on the big picture.

What is the significance of timing in consumer comprehension?

It refers to the amount of time a consumer has to process a message and when they receive it.

What are the two types of memory in the multiple store approach?

Implicit and explicit memory.

Define implicit memory.

Memory for information one is exposed to but does not consciously try to remember.

Define explicit memory.

Memory that develops when a person actively attends to and tries to remember information.

What are the three storage areas in the multiple store theory of memory?

Sensory memory, workbench (short-term) memory, and long-term memory.

What is iconic storage?

The storage of visual information as an exact representation of the scene.

What is echoic storage?

The storage of auditory information as an exact representation of the sound.

What is haptic perception?

Interpretations created by the way an object feels.

What is the encoding process in memory?

The transfer of information from workbench memory to long-term memory for permanent storage.

What is retrieval in the context of memory?

The process of transferring information back into workbench memory for additional processing.

What is repetition in memory retention?

Holding a thought in short-term memory by mentally repeating it.

What is dual coding in memory?

A process where two different sensory traces are available to remember something.

What is meaningful encoding?

Using pre-existing knowledge to assist in storing new information.

What is chunking in memory?

Grouping stimuli by meaning so that multiple stimuli become a single memory unit.

What is semantic coding?

Converting a stimulus into a meaning that can be expressed verbally.

What is a brand schema?

A smaller part within one's associative network responsible for defining a marketing entity.

What is the Consumer Value Framework?

A theory illustrating factors that shape consumption-related behaviors and determine the value associated with consumption.

What are internal influences in consumer behavior?

Factors that affect the consumer psychologically, including personality and individual differences.

What are affective processes in consumer behavior?

The feelings associated with objects and activities that influence consumer decisions.

What are cognitive processes in consumer behavior?

Mental processes involved in processing and storing information that can become knowledge.

Define perception in the context of consumer behavior.

Consumers' awareness and interpretation of reality, which represents a subjective reality.

How do perceptions differ from reality?

Perceptions developed by consumers do not always match the actual state of the world.

What is the significance of package size in consumer perception?

Smaller packages can tempt consumers despite containing more calories, distorting their perception of healthiness.

What are the steps in the perceptual process from a marketer's perspective?

Exposure, Attention, Comprehension.

What is 'sensing' in the consumer perceptual process?

An immediate response to stimuli that engage one of the consumer's five senses.

What does 'organizing' refer to in consumer perception?

The process of making sense of stimuli that consumers have encountered.

What is meant by 'reacting' in the consumer perceptual process?

The behavior that occurs as a result of the consumer's experience with stimuli.

What is grounded cognition?

A theory suggesting that bodily sensations influence thoughts and meanings without effortful thinking.

List the five human senses.

Touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste.

What is sensory marketing?

Marketing that engages consumers' senses and affects their perceptions, judgments, and behaviors.

What are the three possible reactions during the perceptual process?

Assimilation, Accommodation, and Contrast.

What is assimilation in consumer perception?

When product characteristics fit easily into a consumer's existing category.

What is accommodation in consumer perception?

An adjustment that allows a product to fit into a consumer's category.

What is contrast in consumer perception?

When product characteristics are too different to fit into a consumer's category.

What is cognitive organization?

The process by which the brain assembles sensory evidence into recognizable information.

Define anthropomorphism in consumer behavior.

Designing inanimate objects with humanlike characteristics, which can increase consumer trust.

What is selective exposure?

The process of exposing oneself to certain stimuli while screening out information that does not align with personal values.

What does selective attention refer to?

The act of paying attention only to certain stimuli, often ignoring information that contradicts one's beliefs.

Define selective distortion.

The interpretation of information in ways that are biased by previously held beliefs and values.

What is subliminal processing?

The way the human brain senses low-strength stimuli that occur below the level of conscious awareness.

What is the absolute threshold in perception?

The minimum strength of a stimulus that can be perceived.

What is the Just Noticeable Difference (JND)?

The condition in which one stimulus is sufficiently stronger than another so that someone can notice the difference.

What does Weber's Law state?

A consumer's ability to detect differences between two levels of a stimulus decreases as the intensity of the initial stimulus increases.

What is Just Meaningful Difference (JMD)?

The smallest amount of change in a stimulus that would influence consumer consumption and choice.

What is implicit memory?

Stored information concerning stimuli one is exposed to but does not pay attention to, requiring no conscious awareness.

What is explicit memory?

Memory for information one is exposed to, attends to, and applies effort to remember, requiring conscious awareness.

What is the Mere Association Effect (MAE)?

The effect that occurs when meaning transfers between two unrelated stimuli that a consumer is exposed to simultaneously.

What is the Mere Exposure Effect (MEE)?

The phenomenon where consumers prefer stimuli they have been previously exposed to over new stimuli.

What are the stages of the perceptual process in marketing?

Exposure, Attention, and Comprehension.

How is attention defined in the context of marketing?

Attention is the purposeful allocation of cognitive capacity toward understanding a stimulus.

What is behavioral learning theory?

A theory that focuses on changes in behavior due to associations formed through conditioning.

What is cognitive learning theory?

A theory that emphasizes cognitive processes associated with comprehension and how they lead to behavioral changes.

What is classical conditioning?

A learning process where a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a desired response.

What is instrumental conditioning?

A learning process where behavior is reinforced through rewards, leading to repeated behavior.

What is the role of reinforcement in instrumental conditioning?

Reinforcement takes the form of a reward that encourages the expected behavior to be repeated.