Consumer Learning

Chandana Fonseka
Consumers are learning….
Consumer Learning
The process through which
consumers acquire knowledge Usey the
knowledge for
from experiences with Gathering future
knowledge consumption
products and observations of behavour
• Personal
experiences
others’ consumption, and use • Observations of
others’ behaviour
that knowledge in subsequent • Interactions
with others
buying
Golden Key Issue
• Golden Key Credit Card company was
the pioneering private company in the
local credit card business
• It had large base of depositors
• However, the company collapsed and
become unpopular due to its malpractices

• After this incident, people were very much

cautious when depositing their money at
various financial institutes
Learning happens in 2 ways: Intentional
and Incidental

e.g. A customer browsing

a company web site to
Intentional
learn more about the
company
Learning
e.g. A customer exposed
to an ad which tells about
Incidental the recent benefits
offered through a
particular credit card
 Motives Cues

Elements in
Consumer Learning
Responses Reinforcement.
1 – Motives  Desires

- Motives refers to various

reasons for motivation I.e.
how consumers get
motivated?
- Motives are desires or
needs of consumers
A person who prefers comedy might get
motivated to see the upcoming comedy movies
in a cinema
2 - Cues

These are stimuli or signals

through which consumers
learn various things

e.g. Advertisement, news,

SMS, Post on FB, etc. An ad for a speed car loan induced readers to
learn its conditions
3 - Response
Response refers to the reaction to a drive or cue (or stimulus)
4- Reinforcement
Reinforcement is the reward—the pleasure, enjoyment, and benefits
that the consumer receives after buying and using a product or service

Reinforcement and lead to repeat the same behaviour

E.g. The customer who was delighted in a particular saloon will continue
revisiting the same saloon in the future
Quick Questions
Q1 – When consumers acquire knowledge:
a) They apply the knowledge in their future purchases
b) They only perceive negatives of products
c) They purchase high value products

Q2 – Consumers gather knowledge through:

a) Their personal experiences
b) Others' experiences
c) Associating others
d) All of the above methods
Past Paper Question
Question 8 – Dec 2021

By studying “how consumers learn”, marketers can formulate their communication

strategies to capture their target market more effectively. “Learning” consists of:

a) Motives, cues, responses and reinforcement

b) Motives, cues, actions and reinforcement
c) Cues, actions, focus and reinforcement
d) Actions and responses
Learning Theories Learning
Theories

As we have discussed so far,

consumers learn in multiple ways Behavioural Cognitive
theories theories

Consumers as human, how they

learn is explained in
Classical Instrumental
Observational
various learning theories conditioning conditioning
Behavioural
theories
Learning happens through
behavior / experiencing
1. Classical
Conditioning

Learning can occur through

associating to a repeated stimulus
Classical Conditioning

Unconditioned Unconditioned Neutral

No Response
stimulus response Stimulus

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian

physiologist, developed the
Unconditioned Conditioned Conditioned
concept of classical conditioning Food + Bell
response stimulus response
Refer to the scenarios ...

A stimulus that occurs Unconditioned Unconditioned A response to a natural

stimulus response
naturally stimulus

Neutral stimulus No response

After Conditioning

Stimulus that became Conditioned Conditioned A response to

stimulus response
associated with a conditioned stimulus
particular event or
feeling as a result of
repetition
The classical conditioning theory is applied in
the following 04 situations in marketing

Associative learning

Repetition

Stimulus generalization

Stimulus discrimination
Associative learning
According to this theory, the consumers learn through their experiences
associated with various events

In 2013, there was an accusation against Anchor

(Fonterra). A test conducted by the Industrial Technology
Institute (ITI) stating categorically that Dicyandiamide
(DCD) was found in random samples of milk powder.
This resulted many customers to leave Anchor
The classical conditioning theory is applied in
the following 04 situations in marketing

Associative learning

Repetition

Stimulus generalization

Stimulus discrimination
 Repetition increases the
Repetition strength of the association
between two stimuli and
slows down forgetting

MORE REPETITIONS
STRONGER THE MEMORY
The classical conditioning theory is applied in
the following 04 situations in marketing

Associative learning

Repetition

Stimulus generalization

Stimulus discrimination
 Stimulus Generalization

According to this theory, learning

depends not only on repetition but also
on individuals’ ability to “generalize.”
Pavlov, for example, found that a
Stimulus generalization explains why
dog could learn to salivate not only to
some imitative “me too” products
the sound of a bell but also to similar
succeed in the marketplace
sounds such as jangling keys or coins.
Responding the same way to slightly
different stimuli is called stimulus
generalization.
The classical conditioning theory is applied in
the following 04 situations in marketing

Associative learning

Repetition

Stimulus generalization

Stimulus discrimination
 Stimulus discrimination, the opposite of
Stimulus stimulus generalization. This is the core
objective of positioning where a brand or
Discrimination product will gain an unique position in
consumer mind and identification
Learning Theories Learning
Theories

As we have discussed so far,

consumers learn in multiple ways Behavioural Cognitive
theories theories

Consumers as human, how they

learn is explained in
Classical Instrumental
Observational
various learning theories conditioning conditioning
Instrumental Instrumental conditioning (operant
conditioning) is having the assumption that
Conditioning learning occurs through a trial-and-error
process.
Like in classical conditioning,
instrumental conditioning also requires a link
between a stimulus and a response.
However, in instrumental conditioning, the
stimulus that results in the most rewarded
response is the one that is learned.
Learnings at a Bank
After visiting several times to a
bank, a customer realizes the
off-peak and peak-hours, and
learn that it is convenient to visit
during the off-peak to get the
banking services done
 This refers to power to strengthen or
Reinforcement weaken a particular response

Positively
Off-peak Convenience
reinforce
hours (reward)
revisting

Negatively
Inconvenience
Peak hours reinforce
(reward)
revisting
Customer
Satisfaction is a
KEY for
RETENTION
Learning Theories Learning
Theories

As we have discussed so far,

consumers learn in multiple ways Behavioural Cognitive
theories theories

Consumers as human, how they

learn is explained in
Classical Instrumental
Observational
various learning theories conditioning conditioning
Observations
Learning

Observational learning is the process through

which individuals learn behavior by observing
the behavior of others and the consequences
of such behavior
Customers learn
through observations
Cognitive
Learning
Cognitive learning is the systematic evaluation
of information and alternatives needed to
satisfy unsolved need.
Unlike in behavioral learning, cognitive learning
involves deliberate mental processing of
information.
Consumers will read
through and
advertisement and
learn about a brand
choice
Investing in Stock
Market
 Brand recall

Outcomes of
consumer Brand Loyalty

learning

Brand Equity
The end