CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Consumer Learning

CHAPTER 5
THE ELEMENTS OF LEARNING
Learning is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption
knowledge and experience they apply to future, related behavior.
Consumer learning is a process that evolves and changes as consumers acquire
knowledge from experience, observation, and interactions with others and newly
acquired knowledge affects future behavior
Though much learning is intentional (i.e., it is acquired as the result of a search for
information), a great deal of learning is incidental, acquired by accident or without
much effort
Learning consists of four elements: motives, cues, responses, and reinforcement.
MOTIVES
Uncovering consumer motives is the primary objective of marketers, who seek to
teach consumers how they can fill their needs by buying certain products and brands.
Unfilled needs lead to motivation, which spurs learning.
For example, men and women who want to take up bicycle riding for fitness and
recreation are motivated to learn all they can about bike riding and practice often.
They may seek information concerning the prices, quality, and characteristics of
bicycles and learn which bicycles are the best for the kind of riding that they do.
Conversely, individuals who are not interested in bike riding are likely to ignore all
information related to that activity.
CUES
Cues are stimuli that direct motivated behavior. An advertisement for an exotic trip
that includes bike riding may serve as a cue for bike riders, who may suddenly
“recognize” that they “need” a vacation.
The ad is the cue (or stimulus) that suggests a specific way to satisfy a salient
motive.
In marketing, price, styling, packaging, advertising, and store displays are cues
designed to persuade consumers to fulfill their needs by buying specific products.
RESPONSES
In the context of learning, response is an individual’s reaction to a drive or cue.
Learning can occur even when responses are not overt.
A response is not tied to a need in a one-to-one fashion. Indeed, as noted in Chapter
3, a need or motive may evoke a whole variety of responses.
For example, there are many ways to respond to the need for physical exercise
besides riding bicycles.
Cues provide some direction, but there are many cues competing for the consumer’s
attention. Which response the consumer makes depends heavily on previous
learning; that, in turn, depends on how previous, related responses have been
reinforced.
REINFORCEMENT
Reinforcement is the reward—the pleasure, enjoyment, and benefits—that the
consumer receives after buying and using a product or service.
For the marketer, the challenge is to continue to provide consumers with an
ongoing positive product or service, thus reinforcing future purchases.
LEARNING
There is no single, universal theory of how people learn. Broadly, there are two
models of learning: behavioral and cognitive.
BEHAVIORAL LEARNING
Behavioral learning is sometimes referred to as stimulus-response learning
because it is based on the premise that observable responses to specific external
stimuli signal that learning has taken place
Behavioral learning is not concerned with the process of learning, but rather with
the inputs and outcomes of learning; that is, in the stimuli that consumers select from
the environment and the observable behaviors that result.
Three forms of behavioral learning with great relevance to marketing are classical
conditioning, instrumental (or operant) conditioning, and observational (or
modeling) learning.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Classical conditioning is viewed as a “knee-jerk” (or automatic) response that
builds up through repeated exposure and reinforcement.
For instance, if Tyler’s friends compliment him on his expensive Prada boots, he is
likely to save money to buy a pair of Prada sneakers. If he sees a Prada ad in a
magazine, Tyler will immediately recall his friends’ compliments and feel good
about himself and his prior purchase.
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, developed the concept of classical
conditioning. Pavlov maintained that conditioned learning results when a stimulus
that is paired with another stimulus that elicits a known response produces the same
response when used alone.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Pavlov demonstrated what he meant by “conditioned learning” in his studies with
dogs. Genetically, dogs are always hungry and highly motivated to eat. In his
experiments, Pavlov sounded a bell and then immediately applied a meat paste to the
dogs’ tongues, which caused them to salivate. After a number of such pairings, the
dogs responded the same way—that is, they salivated—to the bell alone as they did
to the meat paste.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
THE ROLE OF REPETITION
In advertising, repetition is the key to forming associations between brands and
fulfillment of needs.
For example, having a healthy mouth and good oral hygiene are a human need (i.e.,
unconditioned stimulus), which many consumers associate with the word “Crest.”
Why?
Because after more than 50 years of repetitive advertising and uncountable ads,
upon hearing or seeing the name “Crest” consumers think of a premium product for
keeping their mouth and teeth healthy and protected from bacteria, diseases, and
deterioration. Crest is a conditioned stimulus and the consumers’ associations are
conditioned responses.
THE ROLE OF REPETITION
Although repetition beyond what is necessary for the initial learning aids retention,
at some point an individual becomes satiated with numerous exposures, and both
attention and retention decline.
This effect is called advertising wear-out, and marketers reduce it by using
different ads expressing the same message or advertising themes
STIMULUS GENERALIZATION
According to classical conditioning theorists, learning depends not only on
repetition but also on individuals’ ability to “generalize.”
Pavlov found, for example, that a dog could learn to salivate not only to the sound
of a bell, but also to similar sounds such as jangling keys or coins. Responding the
same way to slightly different stimuli is called stimulus generalization.
Stimulus generalization explains why some imitative me-too products succeed in
the marketplace: Consumers confuse them with the original product they have seen
advertised. It also explains why manufacturers of private-label brands try to make
their packaging closely resemble that of the national brand leaders. s
STIMULUS GENERALIZATION
There are four strategic applications of stimulus generalization to branding and
managing product lines:
product line extensions,
product form extensions,
family branding,
and licensing.
STIMULUS GENERALIZATION
Product line extensions: are additions of related items to an established brand; these are
likely to be adopted because they come under a known and trusted brand name
Product Form Extensions: Offering the same product in a different form but under the
same brand is a product form extension. For example, Listerine, a mouthwash in the form
of liquid and a leading brand, introduced Listerine PocketPacks—a solid form of its
product.
Family Branding: Another strategy stemming from stimulus generalization is family
branding, which consists of marketing different products under the same brand name.
Licensing: is contractually allowing a well-known brand name to be affixed to the
products of another manufacturer. The names of designers, manufacturers, celebrities,
corporations, and even cartoon characters are attached, for a fee (i.e., “rented out”) to a
variety of products
INSTRUMENTAL
CONDITIONING
Instrumental conditioning (or operant conditioning) is based on the notion that
learning occurs through a trial-and-error process, with habits formed as a result of
rewards received for certain responses or behaviors.
Like classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning requires a link between a
stimulus and a response.
For example, after visiting stores, consumers know which stores carry the type of
clothing they prefer at prices they can afford to pay. Once they find a store that
carries clothing that meets their needs, they are likely to patronize it to the exclusion
of other stores. Every time they purchase a shirt or a sweater there that they really
like, their store loyalty is rewarded (reinforced), and they are likely to become repeat
customers
 REINFORCING BEHAVIOR
Positive reinforcement, rewards a particular behavior and thus strengthens the likelihood
of a specific response during the same or similar situation. For example, a child receives ice
cream when passing an ice cream stand and receives pleasure from eating it. Then,
whenever he passes by the stand he asks for ice cream.
Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus and it strengthens the
likelihood of a given response during the same or similar circumstances. For example, a
child has a cold and also hates swallowing pills. Her mother convinces her to take Advil and
her cold symptoms go away (i.e., the unpleasant stimulus is removed). Next time she has a
cold, most likely the girl will readily agree to swallow a pill, and might even ask specifically
for an Advil
Either positive or negative reinforcement can be used to elicit a desired response. However,
negative reinforcement should not be confused with punishment, which is designed to
discourage behavior
EXTINCTION AND
FORGETTING
Extinction occurs when a learned response is no longer reinforced and the link
between the stimulus and the expected reward breaks down.
When consumers become unsatisfied with a service (e.g., at a restaurant), the link
between the stimulus (i.e., the restaurant) and expected satisfaction is no longer
reinforced and the consumers won’t come back. Behavior that is not reinforced
becomes “unlearned.”
Forgetting is often related to the passage of time, and thus is also called “decay. “
Marketers overcome forgetting by contacting customers who stopped buying their
products and giving them incentives aimed at persuading the customers to start
buying their products again.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
AND RETENTION
Savvy marketers reinforce customer satisfaction by consistently providing high
quality. Marketers must provide the best value for the money and simultaneously
avoid raising consumers’ expectations beyond what the products can deliver.
Most frequent shopper programs are based on the notion that the more a consumer
uses the service, the greater the rewards. Another form of reinforcement is rewarding
customers who refer other customers.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES
Product quality must be consistently high and satisfy customers every time they
buy the product— but additional rewards do not have to be offered during every
transaction, because occasional rewards often effectively reinforce consumers’
patronage.
For example, airlines occasionally upgrade a passenger at the gate; here, the
possibility of receiving a reward is the reinforcement and incentive for continued
patronage
Psychologists have identified three reinforcement schedules: Continuous, fixed
ratio, and variable ratio. With continuous reinforcement, a reward is provided after
each transaction, such as a free after-dinner drink
REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES
A fixed ratio reinforcement schedule provides reinforcement every nth time the
product or service is purchased (say, every third time).
A variable ratio reinforcement schedule rewards consumers on a random basis.
Gambling casinos operate on the basis of variable ratios.
SHAPING
Reinforcement performed before, the desired consumer behavior actually takes
place, is called shaping. Shaping increases the probability that certain desired
consumer behavior will occur.
For example, retailers recognize that they must first attract customers to their stores
before they can expect those customers to do the bulk of their shopping there.
Many retailers provide some form of preliminary reinforcement (shaping) to
encourage consumers to visit their stores.
For example, some retailers offer loss leaders—popular products at severely
discounted prices—to the first hundred or so customers to arrive, because those
customers are likely to buy more products at the store rather than only the discounted
items.