Consumer PerceptionConsumer Perception

Chapter 4

Consumer Perception

What Is Perception?

The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensation into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world

“How we see the world around us” Two individuals may be exposed to the same

stimuli but recognize, select, organize and interpret them differently based on their own needs, values and expectations

Consumer perceptions are vital to marketers and often underlie the success or failure of products in the marketplace

In order to understand how perception affects the marketing process, we need to understand some of the basic concepts that underlie the perceptual process

Three Concepts Related to Perception

Exposure The act of deliberately or accidentally coming into contact

with stimuli Attention

The allocation of mental capacity to a stimulus Sensation

Responses of the sensory receptors to a stimulus and transmission of this information to the brain

Sensation

Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to simple stimuli

The human organs that receive sensory inputs are called sensory receptors

Sensory Systems

Exposure toRaw Data

Eye

Sight

Ear

Sound

Nose

Smell

Mouth

Taste

Skin

Touch

Processingof Inputs

Interpretationof Inputs

Vision Vision is the dominant human sense, so we

know more about it than the other senses Vision is known to stimulate physiological

changes Warm hues (red, orange) increase blood pressure

and heart rate Cool hues (blue, green) have the opposite effect

Orange is used in fast food restaurants to increase hunger

Blues and greens are used in hospitals to reduce patient anxiety

Smell

Smell is the most direct of the senses No sense evokes memory more than smell Exposure to odors remembered from

childhood can induce mood effects like those experienced in childhood

Marketers understand this and build mood effects into products through odors

Research has shown that a pleasant odor increases lingering and the amount of time spent in a store

Taste

Taste has an obvious impact on the success of food and beverages

North Americans appear to have a preference for fatty foods

Thus the success of fast food and pizza restaurants

Culture plays a powerful role in determining taste

Sound

Sound, in the form of speech and music, is important to marketers

Research shows a positive connection between the use of popular songs in ads and consumers’ recall of those ads

Research also shows a positive connection between music and store sales and a negative connection between noise and sales

Touch

Physical contact with a product often provides consumers with vital information

Input Variation and Sensation

Changes in what we feel, hear, see, etc. at any given time

As input increases, the ability to distinguish differences decreases

As input decreases, the ability to distinguish differences increases

Perceptual overloading: the inability to perceive all competing stimuli for one’s attention

Perceptual vigilance: the ability to disregard much of the stimulation one receives

Consumers easily ignore ads when bombarded by them constantly

Perceptual Selection Each day consumers are surrounded by

stimuli They are able to subconsciously exercise

selectivity over which stimuli they perceive Which stimuli are selected depend on two

major factors Consumers’ previous experience (what they are

prepared to see) Their motives (needs, desires, interests, etc.)

Some Important Concepts Regarding Selective Perception

Selective Exposure Consumers actively seek out messages they find pleasant

or are sympathetic to and avoid painful or threatening ones Selective Attention

Consumers exercise selectivity over attention given to commercial stimuli; they have a heightened awareness of stimuli that meet needs/interests and minimal awareness of irrelevant stimuli

EnvironmentalStimuli

SelectiveExposure

SelectiveAttention

Perception

Selective Interpretation The interpretation of stimuli is also uniquely

individual, because it is based on what people expect to see in light of previous experience, their motives and interests

Adaptation Levels Indifference to a stimulus to which one has

become accustomed Attention Stimulation

Placement, timing, and presentation of stimuli so that target consumers are most likely exposed to them

Threshold Levels of Perception Sensation is the immediate and direct response of

the sensory organs (e.g., eyes, ears, etc.) to a stimulus (e.g., an ad, a package, a brand name)

Sensation is provoked by changes in sensory input The more stimuli that are present, the greater the

change must be, and vice versa (e.g., pin dropping)

For marketers’ purposes, there are two levels of sensory input (thresholds) of importance:

1. Absolute threshold

2. Differential threshold (“just noticeable difference”)

1. The absolute threshold

The lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation

I.e., the lowest level of stimuli at which a person can detect a difference between something and nothing

Over time and exposure, the absolute threshold drops as consumers “get used to” a stimulus (sensory adaptation)

Marketers need to increase/change sensory input in order to keep the attention of their target market

2. Differential Threshold (JND)

The minimum change in sensation necessary for a person to detect it

19th century German scientist Ernst Weber discovered that the JND between two stimuli was not absolute, but varied according to the intensity of the first stimulus

Weber’s Law thus states that the greater the initial stimulus, the greater the additional stimulus needs to be in order to be noticeable

Implications for marketers

Manufacturers and marketers try to determine the JND for their products

There are two primary reasons

1. So that negative changes (e.g., reduction in product size or quality or increases in price) are not noticeable

2. So that product improvements (improved packaging, larger quantities, lower price) are very apparent

Ethical issue

Reductions in quantity and size may not be reflected in different packaging

Marketers may attempt to differentiate product lines that are minimally different by increasing price differences between the lines

Thus consumers perceive the lines as different when they are not

Perception and Image

The view or portrait of a product, brand, store or company created in consumers’ minds

Image is a major factor in consumers’ choice of one brand or store over another

Images may be created around a number of categories:

Economy Safety Reliability Pleasure Status Distinctiveness

Subliminal Perception Research shows that people are stimulated below

their level of conscious awareness—they can perceive stimuli without being consciously aware they are doing so

Federal Communications Commission was concerned enough to ban it from television and radio

http://www.snopes2.com/business/hidden/popcorn.htm

In the 70’s interest was renewed due to claims advertisers were using subliminal embeds in print ads

The most common claims involved the use of suggestive symbols in ice cubes floating in a pictured drink

Research indicates sexually oriented embeds do not influence consumer preferences

Because there is no evidence it works, there are no laws or regulations prohibiting it

Link to Subliminal Advertising Websites

http://www.subliminalworld.com/