Week 10 - Learning and Consumer Involvement

Question 1

consumer learning - purposes

Answer 1

• repetition of advertising messages
• providing superior benefits (value of product)
• associate different offering within brand
• learning about NPD and brand extensions
• developing loyalty

Question 2

2 schools of thought in how people learn

Answer 2

• behavioural theories
• cognitive theories

Question 3

behavioural theories

Answer 3

stimulus-response theories
- based on assumption that learning takes place as a result of observable responses to external stimuli
- if people behave in a ‘predictable’ way to a known stimuli, suggested they have ‘learned’
- ‘black box’ approach (inputs and outputs more interested in than processes of learning)
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning

Question 4

classical conditioning

Answer 4

• key assumption: organisms (inc. consumers) can be taught to behave predictably through the pairing and repetition of unconditioned stimulus (US) and conditioned stimulus (CS)
• any brand or product can begin as unconditioned stimulus
  US (e.g., popular music/celebrities) repeatedly paired with CS (brand/product) to induce UCR e.g., positive emotion. therefore even without US, CS induces positive emotion.

Question 5

applications of classical conditioning

Answer 5

e.g., celebrity endorsements

Question 6

3 fundamental concepts of classical conditioning

Answer 6

• repetition
• stimulus generalisation
• stimulus discrimination

Question 7

classical conditioning - repetition

Answer 7

• increases strength of association bw US and CS; slows process of forgetting
  marketing implication
• advertising wear out: how much repetition is enough
• variation of strategy: changing aspects of message/format, but retaining theme.

Question 8

classical conditioning - stimulus generalisation

Answer 8

• making the same response to slightly different stimuli
• marketplace imitators want consumers to generalise
  marketing implications
• brand extensions: line, format, product cateogry
• “me too” and similarly packaged products succeeding in marketplace. e.g., Aldi

Question 9

classical conditioning - stimulus discrimination

Answer 9

• the consumer specifically selects a stimulus from amongst similar stimuli, due to perceived differences
• marketplace leaders want the consumer to discriminate
  marketing implications
• differentiation from competitors
• effective brand/product positioning, esp NPD

Question 10

operant conditioning

Answer 10

• a behavioural theory where learning occurs through trial and error processes; habits are formed as a result of rewards (positive reinforcement) received for certain behaviours and responses
• explains complex, goal-directed behaviours

Question 11

positive reinforcement and examples in marketplace

Answer 11

addition of a pleasant stimulus to continue current behaviour
examples
- satisfaction
- rebates
- post-purchase contact
- loyalty/reward programs

Question 12

negative reinforcement and examples in marketplace

Answer 12

removal of unpleasant stimulus aimed at continuing current behaviour
examples
- ads will stop if update etc…

Question 13

positive punishment

Answer 13

addition of unpleasant stimulus aimed at stopping a behaviour

Question 14

negative punishment

Answer 14

removal of a pleasant stimulus aimed at stopping a behaviour

Question 15

when to reinforce in operant conditioning

Answer 15

• continuous (total) schedule
• fixed ratio (systematic) schedule
• random (variable) schedule

Question 16

limitations of behavioural theories

Answer 16

• focus on inputs and outputs, considering the consumer as a ‘black box’
• but there is a considerable amount of learning that occurs without conditioning, repetition, or reinforcement/reward
• engage in conceptual problem solving, modelling and thinking

Question 17

cognitive learning theories

Answer 17

• rote learning
• reasoning
• observational learning

Question 18

key assumption of cognitive learning theories

Answer 18

• type of learning that is most characteristic of human beings is problem solving, enabling individuals to gain some control over their environment and responses
• emphasis on role of motivation and mental processes in desired behaviour (rather than rewards or repetition)

Question 19

iconic rote learning

Answer 19

learning the association between two or more concepts in the absence of conditioning

Question 20

observational learning

Answer 20

• when consumers observe the actions of others and note reinforcements received for these behaviours
• marketers can reinforce or punish consumers indirectly

Question 21

reasoning

Answer 21

• the most complex form of cognitive learning
• one-sided vs. two-sided arguments

Question 22

observational learning 5 stages

Answer 22

1. attention: focuses on model’s behaviour
2. retention: consumer commits this behaviour to memory
3. production processes: consumer has ability to perform behaviour
4. motivation: a situation arises wherein the behaviour is useful to the consumer
5. observational learning: the consumer performs the demonstrated behaviour

Question 23

memory structures

Answer 23

• complex networks of evolving nodes and links
• information constantly being organised and re-organised as new links and chunks of information are forged

Question 24

long-term memory organisation

Answer 24

• episodic (order)
• semantic (by concepts)

Question 25

marketing implications of memory

Answer 25

- product info stored in long-term memory tends to be brand-based - consumers interpret new info in a manner consistent with the way it is already organised - semantic memory: brand image (meanings/feelings) - episodic memory: personal memories of a sequence of events

Question 26

Fake vs Real reviews study (Kronrod, Gordeliy, and Lee, 2022)

Answer 26

- leverages distinction bw semantic and episodic memory to predict varied language use in consumer descriptions of authentic and fictitious experiences - authentic reviews: have episodic memory available to them

Question 27

authentic reviews are (according to Kronrod et al. study)

Answer 27

- more concrete, contain more unique words - utilise a smaller proportion of words that were mentioned in the experiment instructions - more often articulate the what, where, and when of the experience.

Question 28

limitations of cognitive approaches

Answer 28

- focus on the processes that occur within the mind of the consumer - can artificially isolate the consumer - we make, interact with and behave in complex, real world situations/environments, outside of our mental processes

Question 29

high involvement learning situations (commonly used) + marketing implications

Answer 29

- conditioning --> operant - cognitive --> vicarious, reasoning - tend to pay more attention to advertising - more risk averse and more likely to adopt e-commerce and purchase products online

Question 30

low involvement learning situations (commonly used) + marketing implications

Answer 30

- conditioning --> classical - cognitive --> iconic rote - less involved consumers seem to learn more by repetition and classical conditioning

Question 31

learning

Answer 31

- relatively permanent change in behaviour linked to experience - physical learning (physical and cognitive process learning) - symbolic learning (learning meanings of symbols) - affective learning (value/dislike elements)

Question 32

4 main elements in consumer learning

Answer 32

- motivation (to learn - goals/needs) - cues (direct consumer drives) - response (react/behaving to motivational drive/cue) - reinforcement (repetition)

Question 33

massed learning

Answer 33

- learning that is concentrated in time - immediate impact

Question 34

distributed learning

Answer 34

- a learning schedule spread over a longer period of time, used by advertisers to encourage long-lasting, repeat purchase behaviour

Question 35

measures of involvement

Answer 35

- situational (event/occasion important to the consumer) - enduring involvement (the product, service, or idea is really important to the consumer) - response involvement (two types of involvement in the end effect decision making and cognitive responses)

Question 36

semantic memory

Answer 36

general information about various topics

Question 37

episodic memory

Answer 37

recollection of specific events and information particular to the time and place of memory acquisition

Question 38

5 linguistic features of product reviews

Answer 38

1. language concreteness: semantic - more abstract terms; authentic - more concrete language (episodic) 2. language uniqueness: semantic - narrower, more freq used words; episodic - details unique to experience 3. informativeness: episodic - actions and objects referenced more (nouns, verbs, adjectives) 4. cued recall: episodic: semantic - more dependent on cues 5. the what-where-when paradigm: episodic memory - more fundamental.