Week 9 - Consumer Perception

Question 1

perception

Answer 1

• our reality is merely our perception of what has happened and what exists
• we behave and react on the basis of our ‘perceptions’ of reality, rather than ‘objective’ reality
• way info from environment acquired via sense organs, then transformed into experiences such as events, sounds and tastes

Question 2

reciprocity - sales tactic

Answer 2

• reciprocity a social norm: if you do something nice for me, you feel like you owe the person something back and you repay them
• works even if the person isn’t nice to you
• to overcome: recognise you’re being manipulated
  e.g., free samples, free trials

Question 3

door in the face technique

Answer 3

• ask for a big favour, when this is rejected ask for a small one
• triggers social debt because you’ve just rejected a request.

Question 4

social proof

Answer 4

• people pay attention to what others are doing (especially when unsure of what to do themselves)
• when others do something, signal this is right or good
• when others don’t do something, it’s a signal that this is wrong or bad

Question 5

marketing implications of social proof

Answer 5

• at restaurants: people tend to choose busier restaurants
• marketers/sales people “salt” tip jars, prepare crows who cheer and clap, create fake queues
• celebrity endorsements
• if lots of people view, follow, like it, share it, it must be true

Question 6

scarcity

Answer 6

when something is in short supply, people view it as a signal that this thing is desirable
- few available = in demand so must be good and you might miss out
- lots available = not desirable and you can get it whenever you want
- most effective when limited time to decide

Question 7

marketing implications of scarcity

Answer 7

• fear of missing out if other people buy it before you e.g., only 2 left in stock
• nothing worse than a ticking clock - you could miss out if you wait too long
• evidence that scarcity makes it harder for us to think carefully

Question 8

perception

Answer 8

• process by which an individual receives, selects, and interprets stimuli to form meaningful and coherent pictures of the world
• can be conscious or sub-conscious, underpinned by 3 discrete sub-processes: exposure, attention, interpretation.

Question 9

perceptual process diagram

Answer 9

sensory stimuli –> sensory receptors –> exposure –> attention –> interpretation

Question 10

stimuli and sensory receptors (perception process)

Answer 10

stimulus: any input to our senses
sensory systems: external stimuli received on a number of different mediums (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)
exposure: stimulus comes into range of sensory receptor nerves (eyes, ears, nose, skin, mouth)
sensation: direct response of the sensory receptors to the stimulus. sensation dependent on difference bw individual stimulus input and conditions in overall environment.

Question 11

sight (in marketing)

Answer 11

• product packaging
• advertising
• store merchandise
• colours: (red - arousal; purple - appetite; blue - calmness, relaxation; yellow - fun, frivolity; black - sensuous, quality). saturated colours best at attracting attention on webpages
• movement: moving object more stimulating than static

Question 12

sound (in marketing)

Answer 12

• advertising jingles: create brand awareness and recall
• background music (e.g., “musak”) used in retail environments to manipulate perceptions of the situation

Question 13

smell (in marketing)

Answer 13

• scent plays key role in formation of memories (and early associations)
• scented stores
• scented clothes
• scented cars and planes
• scented advertising (e.g., scratch and sniff)
• scented vaporisers

Question 14

taste

Answer 14

• food, beverage and pharmaceutical companies undertake research to test new flavours when designing new products
  factors that affect taste acceptance include:
• culture e.g., vegemite
• emerging consumer trends e.g., health and wellbeing
• experience/product category knowledge

Question 15

touch

Answer 15

• textures of fabrics and other surfaces associated with product quality
• e.g., wrapping of chocolate (individually increases perceived quality)
• products engineered to generate heat upon application
• warmth induces feeling of comfort (people reported feeling closer to people around them more so in a warm room)

Question 16

sensory thresholds - absolute threshold

Answer 16

the absolute minimum level that we can detect stimuli and experience sensation for a particular sensory receptor
- can change as we ‘adapt’ or get used to certain sensations (changing advertising campaigns regularly to beat ‘wallpaper’ effect)

Question 17

differential sensory threshold

Answer 17

• the ability of the sensory receptors to detect changes or differences between two stimuli

Question 18

just-noticeable-difference (JND)

Answer 18

• minimum difference that can be detected between two stimuli
• relative to first stimulus
• Weber’s Law: the stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different (hold’s for all 5 senses)
• if want a change to be detected, make it over the JND (e.g., improved product)
• if don’t want a difference to be detected, keep it under JND (e.g., Coca-Cola constantly tweaking packaging/brand)

Question 19

subliminal perception

Answer 19

• perception of very weak or rapid stimuli received below the level of conscious awareness
  techniques: embeds (tiny figures embedded into print ads; high-speed photography or airbrushing)
• little evidence that it works
• banned in Aus due to ethical reasons

Question 20

selective attention: selection factors

Answer 20

• our subconscious is directed by a number of factors when choosing which stimulus to attend to
• internal selection factors: experience and expectations (what we are prepared/primed to perceive); motives at the time
• external selection factors: size, colour, position, just noticeable difference

Question 21

perceptual blocking

Answer 21

tuning out on stimuli inconsistent with our own needs, values or attitudes

Question 22

perceptual defense

Answer 22

• screening out stimuli that are important NOT to see, even if we haven’t already been exposed
• may be because we find it psychologically threatening
• distorting info that is contrary to our needs and beliefs

Question 23

stimulus organisation

Answer 23

• a stimulus that has been attended to will be interpreted based upon it’s assumed relationship with other events, sensations or images
• interpreting stimuli is ‘relative’

Question 24

gestalt principles

Answer 24

• “whole is greater than the sum of parts”
• perceive images holistically rather than interpreting each individual part separately

Question 25

closure

Answer 25

- suggests that a person who begins a task needs to finish it, and if prevented from doing so will experience a state of tension - consumers want to complete a picture, and will fill in the missing gaps subconsciously

Question 26

figure-ground

Answer 26

one part of the stimulus will dominate (figure - sharp, defined, in-focus), and the other parts will recede into the background (ground-hazy, subordinate, out-of-focus)

Question 27

schema-based perception

Answer 27

- a schema is an existing set/group of experiences or beliefs - we are unable to understand new info without the inherent bias of previous knowledge - we link new concepts/stimuli to existing schemas to make sense and comprehend the new information

Question 28

exposure

Answer 28

first stage of perception where consumers are exposed to message - competing demands for attention - market conditions impact this, situational factors, buying strategies and individual factors - placing ads in unexpected contexts, outdoor advertising, novel and cost-effective ways can increase likelihood of exposure

Question 29

attention

Answer 29

how much information we can process at on time - limited, sensitive, changes rapidly

Question 30

proximity

Answer 30

stimuli that are placed near each other tend to be associated with each other

Question 31

similarity

Answer 31

form of encoding whereby consumers group together objects that are physically similar in some way