Psychological Processes

What are these

processes?
This refers to the psychological
processes that govern buying
behaviour of individuals and
groups
Information Processing
Learning
Influencing attitudes and
Behaviour

Information Processing

Exposure
Achievement
of proximity
to a stimulus
to activate
the senses

Attention
Persuasive
impact of
stimulus

Comprehension
Interpretation of
stimulus

Acceptance Retention
Interpretati Transfer
on of
of
stimulus
stimulus
interpreta
tion to
memory

Exposure
Given exposure to a stimulus of
sufficient strength, a persons sensory
receptors are activated and a message
is sent to the brain.
This is called a sensation, which
happens after crossing a threshold
level

Threshold levels
Lower/absol
ute
threshold

Stimulus intensity below which

sensation would not occur

Terminal
threshold

Above which additional doses of

stimulus intensity has no effect
on sensation

Difference
threshold

Smallest change in stimulus

intensity that would get noticed

Webers Law
The

change in stimulus intensity

required to be noticeable is not
on the amount but on the
percentage change from the
original stimulus.
K = I/I
where K is a constant
I = change in stimulus
intensity
I = original stimulus intensity

Attention
Pre

- attentive processing
limitation of processing capacity.
1st stage

Attention

allocation of
processing capacity to stimulus.
2nd stage

Personal determinants of
attention
Need/Motivatio
n
Attitudes
Adaptation
level
Span of
attention

Stimulus determinants of
attention
Size
Colour

Directionality
Movement
Isolation

Intensity
Novelty

Contrast
Position

Learned stimuli
Attractive
spokesperson

Comprehension
The interpretation of the stimulus.
To derive meaning from the stimulus.

How does this happen?

Stimulus
Stimulus
Memory

Categorization Classifying
Using Concepts Stored In

Stimulus Elaboration Integration

Between New Knowledge And
Knowledge Stored In Memory
Stimulus Organization How People
Organize And Rearrange Stimuli Into
A Meaningful Whole (Gestalt
Psychology)

Personal determinants of
Comprehension
Linguistics
Order effects
Context
Miscomprehension
Motivation
Hunger
Expectation or perceptual set

Acceptance
This is the persuasive impact of the
stimulus

Acceptance depends on
Cognitive

responses SAs and

CAs
Affective responses - feelings
that are elicited by the stimulus

Retention
Transfer of stimulus interpretation and
persuasion into long term memory

Methods for enhancing

retention
Interrelation between stimulus
elements
Use concrete words rather than
abstract words
Encourage self referencing
Mnemonics jingles, rhymes,
music,etc.
Repetition

Memory
Memory is space allocated in the brain to store
processed information and retrieve it as when
desired.
Our brain consists of two hemispheres:
Left

brain logical, abstract and conceptual

thinking

Right
The

brain creative, intuitive, imaginative

connection is through the corpus

callosum
Normally people are left or right brain
dominated

Memory consists of
Sensory

memory iconic (visual),

echoic (auditory) 0.25 sec
Short term memory - < 30 sec
Long term memory

Forgetting
When you are unable to retrieve or access
information stored in long term memory

Types of forgetting
Decay

Memory trace will fade

with passage of time
Interference Caused by learning
new information over time.

Interference
When
information is
present but
retrieval is
difficult because
of limitations in
accessibility

Momentary Forgetting

Prior learning
prevents
hinders retrieval
and learning of
new information

Proactive Inhibition

Retroactive Inhibition

Recently
learned
information
prevents
retrieval of
previously
Learnt
Information

Determinants of information
accessibility
Amount

of information stored in
memory within the same content
domain
Particular retrieval cues available at
that time eg. Pops, jingles, key
words,etc.

Learning
This is the process by which experience
leads to changes in knowledge , attitudes
and behaviour.

Learning takes place

through
Cognitive Learning from changes in
knowledge and information processing
Behavioural Learning observing behaviour
and changes in behaviour
Most consumer behaviour is learned
behaviour.

Cognitive learning
Rehearsal

mental repetition of
information

Elaboration

the degree of
integration between the stimulus
and existing knowledge that
occurs
during
information
processing. It is influenced by the
motivation and ability of the
individual.

Measures of Cognitive
learning
Recognition
from multiple
choice
Recall
qualitative
answers

Measures of cognitive
learning

Aided Recall
Unaided
Day
Recall
After
Recall
(DAR)

Behavioural learning

Operant
Conditionin
g

Classical
Conditioni
ng

Shaping

Behavioral
Learning

Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned
stimulus

Unconditioned
response

Conditioned
stimulus

Conditioned
Response

Determinants of Classical
Conditioning
Strength

of unconditioned

stimulus
No. of pairings or strength of
association

Extinction
When the conditioned stimulus is
unable to evoke the conditioned
response. This will happen if the
association with the US is broken with
the CS.

Generalization
When for an existing stimulus response
relationship, a new stimulus similar to the
stimulus is used to bring about the same
response

Discrimination
The process by which an individual learns
to emit a response to one stimulus but
avoids making the same response to a
similar stimulus

Operant Conditioning
Instrumental learning concerned with how
the consequences of a behaviour will
affect the frequency or probability of the
behaviour being repeated

Operant conditioning can take

place through

Positive
Negative
reinforcement reinforcement

Applications in Marketing
Sampling

Trials

Demonstratio
ns

Test drives

Research has proved that there is 60% more penetration

when free sampling is done.

Shaping
The
process
which
encourages
marketers to think about what
behaviours
must
precede
the
ultimate act of purchase and how
these prerequisite behaviour can be
encouraged
through
appropriate
reinforcements

Vicarious learning
This is the process of learning through
observing the action of others and the
consequences of those behaviours.
It includes elements of both cognitive
and behavioural learning.