Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior

Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012

Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)

CHAPTER 5
CONSUMER PERCEPTION
Perception is how we see the world around us. You and your friend might see the same person,
thing, or event yet you will interpret in different ways. This interpretation is highly
individualized and depends on each person’s own needs, values, and expectations.
Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpretation of sensations in to a
meaningful and coherent picture of the world.

Dynamics of perception

Perception is the result of two kinds of inputs that interact to form the personal pictures that
individual experiences

1. Physical stimuli from the outside environment

2. Expectations based on previous experiences

These are the four major elements of perception.

1- Sensation- is the response of the sensory organs, including the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and
skin to environmental stimuli. An unchanged environment, regardless of the strength of the
sensory input, provides little or no sensation at all. In situation in which there is great deal of
sensory input, the senses do not detect small changes or differences in inputs.

2- absolute threshold -Schiffman et al (1991) explains that the lowest level at which an
individual can experience a sensation is called his absolute threshold, often referred to as the
lower threshold. This means that the point where a difference can be detected between
"something" and "nothing" is a person's absolute threshold for that stimulus.

Advertisers must reach the absolute threshold for consumers to be able to experience their
advertising tactic. It is interesting that the absolute threshold changes over time. Consumers
adapt (sensory adaptation) and get used to a certain ad or message so no longer notice it. This is
one of the reasons why advertisers change their ads frequently.

Different methods to increase sensory input:

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
-Experiential Marketing - Sophisticated inserts and pop ups - Product placement
-Sophisticated scented ads - Ambush advertising

3- Differential threshold -the differential threshold, also called the just noticeable difference, is
the minimal difference in stimuli that can be reliably detected by an observer when two stimuli
are compared.

Marketers are very concerned with the differential threshold, which is also called the just
noticeable difference. It was a German scientist named Ernst Weber who realized that this
difference was not a fixed amount. The best example is when you buy a low-priced product like
a cup of coffee from Starbucks. A $1 increase in your tall coffee would be noticed by you. But
if you were buying a laptop whose price changed from $455 to $456 you might not even notice.

4- Subliminal perception: Stimuli that are too weak or too brief to be consciously seen or heard.
By subliminal most people mean a stimulus is too weak or distorted to be detected through
conscious effort. A better word for that is undetectable.

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
The consumers’ perception process
1. Exposure/sensation
Sensory systems
Environmental stimuli or sensory inputs are received through our five senses.

Eye Ear Nose Mouth Skin Sensory organ

Sight Sound Smell Taste Touch Sensory stimuli

Exposure to
raw data

Attention

Organization

Interpretation

Retention Purchase and

consumption
decision

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
Exposure-The process of perceptions begins with exposure to a stimulus. Exposure occurs
when individuals comes in to contact with environmental stimuli either accidentally or
intentional.

Intentional exposure occurs when an individual is exposed to market related information because
of his own intentional, goal-directed behavior, i.e. it reflects a person's interests, reading habits,
information needs and life style.

Accidental exposure to stimuli occurs when the individual is exposed to intensive marketing
campaigns, such as the messages portrayed by the broadcasting media, billboards, point-of-sale
displays in the retail store and the vast number of magazine and newspaper advertisements. Not
all stimuli to which are exposed, however, get noticed.

Factors affecting exposure

A. Selective exposure-
i. Experience –perceptual filters based on the consumers past experience tends to
operate in response to stimuli.
ii. Perceptual vigilance-consumers are more likely to be aware of stimuli that relate
to their current needs.
B. Adaptation –is the degree to which consumers continue to notice stimulus over time.
There are several factors lead to adaptation.
i. Intensity-less intense (soft sounds, dim colors) habituate b/ce they have less
sensory impact.
ii. Duration-a stimuli that requires relatively lengthy exposure in order to be
processed tend to be habituate b/ce they require a long attention span.
iii. Exposure-frequently encountered stimuli tend to habituate as the rate of
exposure increase.
iv. Relevance- stimuli that are irrelevant or unimportant will habituate b/ce they
fail attract attention.

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
2. Attention/selection
The allocation of mental capacity to a stimulus or task. From a marketing perspective attention is
of crucial importance, since no matter how often a consumer is exposed to marketing stimuli, if
no attention took place, the message is of no use.

Assael (1992, p. 709) defines the attention process as:

"The momentary focusing of a consumer's cognitive capacity on a specific stimulus."

Attention to a given stimulus has taken place only if a consumer notices or attends to the
stimulus. If a consumer does not focus on a stimulus, eg an advertisement, although he has been
exposed to it, attention did not take place.

Factors determining attention

For the marketer to attempt to gain attention to his marketing efforts, it is useful to note the
different factors determining attention. The three factors are the stimulus, the individual, and the
situation (Hawkins et al. 1992).

1. Stimulus factors
According to Hawkins et al (1992) stimulus factors are physical characteristics of the situation
itself. A number of stimulus characteristics tend to attract our attention independently of our
individual characteristics. These stimulus characteristics are size and intensity, color, movement
and contrast, position, isolation, format and information quantity.

Size and intensity

The size and intensity of the stimulus influence the probability of paying attention to it. Large
stimuli are more likely to attract attention than smaller ones, simply because a consumer is more
likely to notice them. Intensity of the stimulus can be used to draw attention. Loud noises, strong
scents and brighter lights are all commonly used for this purpose.

Color, movement and contrast

Both color and movement serve to attract attention. Bright colors and moving objects are
normally more noticeable. An example of the element of contrast suggests that a black and white

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
advertisement is likely to be noticed in a full-color context because it represents a change to our
sensory systems, will activate our sensory receptors and stimulate our attention processes.

Position
Position is one of the most interesting determinants of perception. Position refers to the
placement of an object in a person's visual field. Items placed more to the centre of the visual
field are more likely to be noticed than those placed near the edge of the field. This explains why
consumer goods manufacturers compete fiercely for eye-level space in grocery stores. Likewise,
advertisements placed on the upper half of a page get more attention than the lower part and left-
hand side more than the right.

Isolation
Isolation is the process of separating the stimulus object from other objects. For example, if a
small object is placed in a virtually blank page, it draws immediate attention due to the isolation
principle.

Format
The concept of format refers to the manner in which the message is presented. A general rule is
that simple, straight forward presentations receive more attention than complex presentations.

Information quantity
Although there are substantial variations among individuals, all consumers have limited
capacities to process information. Information overload occurs when consumers are confronted
with so much information that they cannot or will not attend to all of it. Instead, they become
frustrated and either postpone or give up the decision, make a random choice, or use a
suboptimal portion of the total information available.

2. Individual factors
Individual factors are characteristics of the individual. The most important individual factors are
personal interests or needs.
Information is first of all of practical value. It can also be supportive, stimulating and interesting.

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
Information of practical value
The objective of gaining information of practical value is that it will be of use to a person. In an
advertising context, an individual will obtain information that will help him make better
purchasing decisions. More information might be needed about certain products such as
expensive and new products with which the consumer is not familiar.

Information that supports

People have a psychological preference for supportive information, i.e. they may be motivated to
be exposed to information that supports their opinion - selective exposure. They therefore tend to
avoid non-supportive or discrepant information.
Information that stimulates
It is a common fact that people get bored very easily and are therefore motivated to reduce that
boredom by seeking stimuli that are novel, unusual and different.

Information that interests

People tend to notice information that interests them. In turn, they are interested in subjects with
which they are involved. They are essentially interested in themselves and in various extensions
of themselves.

3. Situational factors
The final factor determining attention, the situation. It is also influenced by situational factors
like time pressure or cleanliness or crowded places. Noise, atmosphere ambience can stimulate
the individual, favorably or adversely in situations. As mentioned earlier, it is important to note
that one person may devote different meanings to the same stimulus in different situations.

3. Perceptual organization
Organization refers to how people organize stimuli into groups and perceive them as a whole.
This is referred to as Gestalt which means “whole or total impression” in German. To
marketers, too, the total configuration of the marketing mix is more important than product
design, price, distribution, or promotion considered separately. A brand, store, or company
image is a total perception formed by processing information from many source over time.
There are three major principles of perceptual organization, including figure and ground,
grouping, and closure.

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
1. Figure and ground-suggests that objects or figures are perceived in relationship to
their background or ground. Interaction between the object, has to do with contrast.
An advertiser wants just enough contrast so that the figure is noticed but that the
background adds a sensory effect. Product placement, when a product appears in a
movie or television show, can be considered a figure and ground issue. The
advertiser wants the product (figure) to be noticed as it blends in with the ground
(character in the show).
2. Grouping is common in perceptual organization. Whether it is numbers (phone
numbers) that are grouped in 3 or 4 digits OR images in an ad, consumers will group
stimuli together to organize them. This grouping helps memory and recall.
Marketing Implication: It is important to group the product with a sence of emotion or
attmosphere or social environment or with a mood to make the consumers to associate the
product with the desired feeling.
In short, “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
3. Closure:our tendency to perceive a complex object even though some parts are
missing. Upon exprience an incomplete stimulus , we mentally breing it to
completion. Individuals organize their perceptions to form a complete picture. Our
minds have a need for closure and we will work to fill in the missing information
when we are presented incomplete stimuli.
4. Perceptual interpretation
Perception is a process whereby people draw upon their experience, memory, and
expectations to interpret and attach meaning to a stimulus. The same message can be
interpreted in different ways. It is how we assign meaning to sensations.

Example- If a firm floats a new brand at a lower price, it can be interpreted that the
product is of low quality. This however may not be true, as the firm may have more
efficient means of production and marketing facilities and may want to add another
variety or, to extend the brand. The interpretation can also be affected by the semantic
and psychological meanings attached to stimuli. Semantic meaning is the conventional
meaning. Whereas, the psycho-logical meaning is the meaning attached by individuals or
groups by their experience on the basis of a situation. The word sale may mean that the

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
goods are on reduced price. It can be psychologically interpreted that these goods are
going to be out of style soon. Effective interpretation is an emotional response to an
advertisement. The same advertisement or a picture may attract or repel different
individuals. Some may feel happy to see a snowfall, others may dread the cold—some
may be happy to see wrestling advertisements, others want to avoid any kind of physical
fight.

5. Retention
The conclusion of the consumer perception process is the retention stage and it marked
by the storage of product or brand information in short-term and long-term memory. The
information about the product or brand into long-term memory is the marketer's goal to
provide positive stimuli in the proceeding stages that translate into consumers storing.

Van der Walt (1991) explains that even if the total perception process was successful it
serves no purpose if the individual is unable to recall the information when he is required
to act on it. The message has failed if a person cannot remember its content.

Perception and Marketing Strategies

Marketing strategy consists of direction the 4 Ps on the target market.

Product Price Promotion Place Target Market

When we talk of perception and marketing strategy, we direct the 4 Ps for proper exposure,
attention, interpretation and action.

Thus, the product, its brand name, style, packaging and other features should all be such
that a proper image or meaning is perceived by the individual.

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
Price decides the value of goods. A high or a low price may be perceived in different
ways. Some may think of a high price as a good quality product from a big company or a
prestigious product and brand. Others may think of a high price as a gimmick, whereas, the other
lower priced products compare well with the brand in question. Similarly, a low price may be
interpreted as a low quality product or, as an opportunity given by the company to make its
product popular.

Promotion
The selection of the media is important and it should be correlated with the audience one is
trying to reach. We can have different media for rural and urban areas. We may also have
different media for younger people, as compared to elder people.

Media for men, women, high income, or low income groups may also be different. The
advertisements must capture attention and convey meaning. The consumers take an interest in
the ads when they are in need of the product, not otherwise. Various strategies of capturing the
attention of the consumers can be used, i.e., by giving big ads or the ads of celebrities who can
capture the attention. Sometimes, garment sellers put an attractive woman, different shades of
colors can make the product popular and the sale may increase. A lot of advertisements give
importance to sex appeal, e.g., showing an attractive woman with the product in the hand or in
use. Branded jewellery advertised with the help of beautiful film actresses or models captures the
attention of the audience.

Distribution
Retail shops are well decorated. Interior designing and arrangements of product dis-plays.
Point of purchase displays. Visible shelves, lighted with proper background attract the customer.
The ambience and the atmosphere of the shop with proper music, air-conditioning and shining
floors and walls, all attract the customers and can increase the traffic in the store, and
consequently, register greater sales.

A successful advertisement must accomplish 4 basic tasks:

Exposure: It must be exposed to reach the consumer.
Attention: Should be able to attract the customer and make him interested in the
product.

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Aku, CoBE Course: consumer Behavior
Department of marketing management course code: Mktm 2012
Academic year: 2016/2024 Course instructor: Guush G.(MA)
Interpretation: The meaning attached should be consistent with the projected
meaning.
Memory: Must be stored in the memory so that retrieval is possible.

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