Week 3

THE PERCEPTUAL P
ROCESS
Dr. Dongmei Li

1
THE WHEEL OF CONSUMER BEH
AVIOR

2
AN OVERVIEW OF THE PERCEPTION PROC
ESS
 Exposure is the process by which the
consumer comes into physical contact
with a stimulus ( ). It occurs
when a stimulus within the range of
someones sensory receptors.

PART 1: EXPOSURE

4
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Sensation ( ) is the immediate re
sponse of our sensory receptors (ey
es, ears, nose, mouth, and fingers)
to basic stimuli (light, color, sound,
odor, and texture).
Perception ( ) is the process by
which sensations are selected, orga
nized, and interpreted.

Why is this important to marketer?

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
In recent years the sensory e
xperiences we receive from
products and services have b
ecome an even larger priorit
y when we choose among co
mpeting options.

We are moving from product

marketing, to service market
ing, to experiential marketin
g

More companies are paying e

xtra attention to the impact
of sensations on consumers
product experiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on4DRTUvst0
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Products and commercial messages often appeal to
our senses, but because of the profusion of these
messages, most wont influence us.
SENSORY SYSTEMS
Vision
Scent
Sound
Touch
Taste
FOR REFLECTION
How has your sense of touch influenced your
reaction to a product?
Which of your senses do you feel is most influ
ential in your perceptions of products?
SENSORY SYSTEM: VISION
Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in advertis
ing, store design, and packaging.
Meanings are communicated on the visual channel t
hrough a products color, size, and styling.
Colors may influence our emotions directly.
SENSORY SYSTEM: VISION
Reactions to color may due to:
learned associations
(e.g. red means stop; green means go.)
biological factor
(e.g. Women tend to be drawn to brighter tones and are
more sensitive to subtle shadings and patterns)
cultural differences
(e.g. Black is associated with mourning in the United Sta
tes, whereas white is associated with mourning in Japa
n.)
SENSORY SYSTEM: VISION
Reactions to light
Ambient light luminance influences mental alert
ness, which in turn influences food choices.

12
SENSORY SYSTEM: SMELL

How do marketers sell with scent?

Odors can stir emotions or create a calming feeli

ng. They invoke memories or relieve stress.
Some responses to scents result from early associ
ations that call up good or bad feelings.
Marketers use scents beyond the product level.

13
SENSORY SYSTEM: SMELL
Ad companies spend about
$80 million per year on scent
marketing; the Scent
Marketing Institute estimates
that number will reach more
than $500 million by 2016.
Recent developments include
scented clothes, scented
stores, scented cars and
planes, scented household
products, and scented
advertisements.

14
SENSORY SYSTEM: SOUND

Many aspects of sound affect peoples

feelings and behaviors.

What kind of sound is good for which industry?

15
SENSORY SYSTEM: TOUCH
People associate textures of fabrics
and other surfaces with product
quality

Perception Male Female

Fine
High class Wool Silk

Low class Denim Cotton

Coarse
Heavy Light

Any Implication to Marketer?

SENSORY SYSTEM: TASTE
Flavor house develops new
concoctions for consumer
palates
Cultural changes determine
desirable tastes

17
REFLECTION
What is the secret of placing the following ty
pes of seats in Starbucks stores?

18
SENSORY THRESHOLDS
The concept of sensory threshold is importa
nt for marketing communications
SENSORY THRESHOLDS
The absolute threshold refers to the minimu
m amount of stimulation a person can detect
on any given sensory channel
The differential threshold refers to the abili
ty of a sensory system to detect changes in o
r differences between two stimuli
FOR REFLECTION
How much of a change would be needed in a
favorite brands price, package size, or logo
would be needed for you to notice the differ
ence?
How would differences in these variables aff
ect your purchase decisions?
DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD
Is a $5 reduction large enough to generate more sales? It d
epends on the original price level

$10 $5
SALE

$500 $495

Can you apply Webers Law in packaging?

3-22
 JND
(JUST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE)

Represents how much stronger one stimulus

has to be relative to another so that someone
can notice that the two are not the same.
Webers Law the ability to detect difference
s between two levels of a stimulus is affected
by the original intensity of the stimulus.
HOW TO CALCULATE WEBERS LAW
JND = KI
K = a constant
I = the intensity of the stimulus where the changes occur
Example:
Research found that for customers to notice things are b
eing markdown, the markdown needs to be 20% off.
If a t-shirt cost you $10, you will need to discount it for:
JND = (.20)($10) = $2 for people to notice.
If a suit cost you $1000, you will need to discount it for:
JND = (.20)($1000) = $200 for people to notice.
SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION

Subliminal perception (
) occurs when the stimulus is
below the level of consumers
awareness.

Subliminal Technique:
Embeds

25
 SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION
eat popcorns drink Coca-cola

Messages were shown for 1/3000 second at Pop corn sales increased by 58%
intervals of every five seconds Coca cola sales increased by 18%

The perception of a stimulus below the conscious level i.

e. below absolute threshold
Exposure may occur without attention and comprehensio
n
If messages are shown in a theater for 1/3,000 of a second,
consumers do not see the image but they register it
Effects of subliminal perception was however inconclusive
Most researchers believe that subliminal techniques are not
of much use in marketing.
3-26
SUBLIMINAL TECHNIQUES
Marketers can use both visual and aural chan
nels to send subliminal messages, supposedl
y.
Embeds: figures that are inserted into magaz
ine advertising by using high-speed photogra
phy or airbrushing.
Subliminal auditory perception: sounds, musi
c, or voice text inserted into advertising.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE PERCEPTION PROC
ESS
 Consumers are often in a state of sensory overload
because they are exposed to about 3500 pieces of
advertising information everyday.
Attention ( ) refers to the extent to which processing
activity is devoted to a particular stimulus.

PART 2: ATTENTION
29
HOW DO MARKETERS GET ATTE
NTION?
Personal Selection
Experience
Perceptual filters
Perceptual vigilance
Perceptual defense
Adaptation Stimulus Selection
Contrast
Size
Color
Position
Novelty
FACTORS LEADING TO ADAPTATI
ON
Adaptation is the degree to which consumers continue to n
otice a stimulus over time.
A consumer can habituate and require increasingly stron
ger doses of a stimulus to notice it.
Several factors can lead to adaptation.
Less intense stimuli have less sensory impact. (Intensity)
Stimuli that require relatively lengthy exposure in order to be
processed habituate because they require a long attention spa
n. (Duration)
Simple stimuli habituate because they do not require attention
to detail. (Discrimination)
Frequently encountered stimuli habituate as the rate of exposu
re increases. (Exposure)
Stimuli that are irrelevant or unimportant habituate because t
hey fail to attract attention. (Relevance)
AN OVERVIEW OF THE PERCEPTION PROC
ESS
 Gestalt - The whole is
greater than the sum of
its parts.

Interpretation refers to the meaning that

we assign to sensory stimuli.

PART 3: INTERPRETATION
33
STIMULUS ORGANIZATION
Gestalt: the whole is greater than the sum of its
parts
Closure: people perceive an incomplete picture
as complete
Similarity: consumers group together objects th
at share similar physical characteristics
Figure-ground: one part of the stimulus will do
minate (the figure) while the other parts reced
e into the background (ground)
 CLOSURE PRINCIPLE
What did you see?

People tend to perceive an

incomplete picture as
complete.

35
 PRINCIPLE OF SIMILARITY

People tend to group together objects that

share similar physical characteristics.

36
 FIGURE-GROUND PRINCIPLE

One part of a stimulus will dominate

(the figure), and other parts recede
into the background (the ground).

37
INTERPRETATION
Memory:

ADVERT
Priming
ISEMENT Schema Interpretation
(object)

Expectation
Belief

Properties of a stimulus evoke a

schema (set of beliefs), we use the
schema to interpret the meaning of it
38
SEMIOTICS
Semiotics is the study that examines the corresp
ondence between signs, symbols, and their role i
n the assignment of meaning.

What are the What are the

meanings of the implications on
signs here brand logo?

39
 Signs are related to objects in
3 ways
SEMIOTICS
Icon Index Symbol

Sign that is Sign that relates to

Sign that
connected to a a product either by
resembles the
product because conventional or
product in some
they share some agreed-upon
way
properties association

Any Implication to Marketer?

40
MEANING OF COLOR (OF ROSE
S)

A rose is a rose.

What is the marketing

implication?
What is the implication
for consumers?

41
PERCEPTUAL POSITIONING
The field of semiotics helps us to understa
nd how marketers use symbols to create
meaning
PERCEPTUAL POSITIONING
Brand perceptions = functional attributes + s
ymbolic attributes
Perceptual map: map of where brands are pe
rceived in consumers minds
Usedto determine how brands are currently perc
eived to determine future positioning
EXAMPLES OF BRAND POSITIONI
NG
Lifestyle Grey Poupon is high class

Price leadership Southwest Airlines is no frills

Attributes Bounty is quicker picker upper

Product class Mazda Miata is sporty convertible

Competitors Northwestern Insurance is the quiet

company
Occasions Use Wrigleys gum when you cant
smoke
Users Levis Dockers targeted to young men
Quality At Ford, Quality is Job 1
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Perception is a three-stage process that trans
lates raw stimuli into meaning.
Products and messages may appeal to our sen
ses.
The design of a product affects our perceptio
n of it.
Subliminal advertising is controversial.
We interpret stimuli using learned patterns.
Marketers use symbols to create meaning.