IMPACT of learning on Consumer buying Behavior-

 

IMPACT of learning on Consumer buying Behavior-

 MBA / BBA MARKETING MANAGEMENT 

                                QUESTION PAPER APRIL 2018    

                                       PUNE UNIVERSITY 

Michael L. Ray defines learning as the more or less permanent acquisition of tendencies to behave in particular ways in response to particular situations or stimuli

 

Top 20 points on learning -

1. A consumer’s past experience or learning determines his future purchase decisions.
2. In reality, almost all consumer behavior is learned. There is little doubt but that what consumers learn has a significant impact on how they behave
3. Some of the learning occur intentionally, while others occur unintentionally.
4. Appreciation of learning and memory processes can aid our understanding of how frequently to repeat advertising messages; how visual symbols, songs, and other techniques can facilitate consumers’ learning
5. wo processes are intertwined: we must remember to learn, and we must have learned to remember.
6. Learning consists of changes in one’s behavior that are caused by information and experience.
7. You can note few important points with regards to consumer learning. They are: (1) learning is a process which continually evolves and changes as a result of newly acquired knowledge or from actual experience, (2) the process of learning starts because of the drives, (3) drives are created by cues, (4) individuals respond to the cues, (5) future responses are related to reinforcements.
8. learning is a process of interactions between four factors: drives, cues, responses, and  reinforcements.
9. A drive is a strong stimulus that encourages action by which the individual can reduce his need. Drives are internal. They are the reasons behind certain behavior patterns. In marketing, a product purchase is the result of a drive to satisfy some need.
10. Physiological motivators, such as hunger, thirst, sex, sleep, etc. are primary or basic drives. The other type of drives, secondary drives are learned by the individuals. They are learned through experiences received from social and cultural environments. Some of the secondary drives are: need for love and warmth relationship, desire for recognition
11. Cues could be the products themselves, their advertisements, signs, colors, price, product design, store displays, or promotional offers. Cues suggest specific ways to satisfy motives. If consumer’s expectations are found to be consistent with certain cues, those cues can direct consumer activities.
12. Cues- Many people, for example, associate the smell of lemons with a fresh, natural cleanliness. Thus, marketers of many household cleaning products add lemon scent to their products keeping in minds this association
13. Response - A response is an effort to satisfy a drive. It is the overt behavior the individual takes in reacting to the drives and cues.
14. Reinforcement is the result of the response. It occurs when the response is follwed by satisfaction, that is, reducing a drive.
15. Repeated reinforcement leads to the development of a habit. It makes the decision process routine for the individual.
16. if the person walks crossing a vending machine and sees a Coke sign – a cue – then he may satisfy the drive with a response – buying a Coke. If the experience is satisfactory, positive reinforcement will occur – and this man may be quicker to satisfy this drive in the same way in the future
17. According to the advocates of Behaviorist Approach  theory, all human behavior can be reduced to a simple relationship of some stimulus (S) from the environment creating a desired response (R). This theory states that, learning occurs as a person responds to some stimulus by behaving in a particular way and is rewarded for a correct response or penalized for an incorrect one
18. When the same correct response is repeated in reaction to the same stimulus, a behavior pattern or learning is established.
19. A cue is a signal from the environment that determines the pattern of response.
20. If a person, for example, is motivated to shop (drive) who has found bargains (positive  reinforcement) when going into stores (response) that have sale signs outside (cues) will respond (learn) by going into other stores with sales signs. Again, a consumer who finds it satisfying to avoid having problems (negative reinforcement) due to poor design or quality by paying higher prices will learn this response pattern. On the contrary, if a response is punished or not gratifying (a purchase results in a bad experience or dissatisfactory), the consumer’s mind is open to other cues which may lead to a different response.
21. cognitive  Approach - our learning is based on our mental or cognitive activity. Cognitive learning, therefore, is based on our mental activity. This type of learning involves ideas, concepts, attitudes, and facts that contribute to our ability to reason, solve problems, and learn relationships without direct  experience or reinforcement. The cognitive theorists consider human being as adaptive problem solvers.
22. Cognition refers to the types of processes involving such activites as thinking, reasoning, perceiving, problem solving, and conceptual learning.
23. In reality many of consumers’ behaviors are classically conditioned, and, as a result, classical conditioning does have some very real applications to consumer learning and can explain a great deal of the associations made between brand names and other familiar symbols. Different studies noted that the ability of commercials to form associations by classical conditioning is well established,
24. A company may use generalization in the form of family branding by using a single brand name for its different products. Singer, for example, attaches its name to the vast array of products it offers for sale. It is likely that consumers will generalize the favorable feelings developed toward one Singer product to another. This concept may be used in product name, features, design, advertising, packaging, and market promotion activities.
25. A company may select similar name of one of its competitors whose product is very favorite among consumers. It may also add similar features, develop similar package, or even prepare similar advertising materials as of the market leader.
26.  

EXAMPLES of Learning and Consumer Behaviour

 When one tastes a new product, such as a cigarette, his learning occurs.

how consumers learn is a matter of great importance to marketers.

Since marketers are interested in teaching consumers about their brands, they are interested in the concepts of learning.

consumers may be stimulated  by a need for a cod drink on a hot day. Their response may be to try different brands of soft drinks until they find a product that satisfies their needs. After this, they will tend to make similar responses on future occasions.

A reinforcement results when response is rewarding. Itcan either be positive or negative. Positive one involves experiencing a desirable outcome as a result of engaging in the behavior. Negative one occurs when a behavior allows a person to avoid an undesirable outcome. A punishment is a penalty inflicted for incorrect behavior.

Let us assume that listening to pop music (unconditioned stimulus) elicits a positive emotion (unconditioned response) in many individuals. Let us say that, this music is consistently paired with a particular brand of tea

For example, if you are hungry in the morning, your thinking might go like this: “I am hungry for breakfast. My parents used to give me bread and butter in the morning. I remember that liked it and I felt good after eating it. I think I will buy a bread and a butter.” This entire sequence occurs almost instantaneously as a single thought, of course, composing a mental structure that you use for thinking about breakfast items. From this you understand that, operant conditioning is basically dependent on reinforcement. In the case of the above mentioned individual, he is planning to buy bread and butter for his breakfast as his response was reinforced earlier – he was satisfied eating bread and butter in the morning. 

For instance, if the management of a particular brand of soft drinks feels that consumers should not consider their brand as being just like every other brand, they should teach consumers to differentiate their brand from other available brands of soft drinks.

examples of two advertisements say “A” and “B”. Advertisement “A” for example, is shown five times a day and continues for 30 days, altogether 150 exposures. Advertisement “B” on the otherhand  runs one time a day, but 90 days in a go. Research reveals that, though total exposure of advertisement “B” is less (90 times), it will be remembered more than advertisement “A” for “B’s” continuity for a long time period.

short and simple advertisements are remembered long than lengthy and complex advertisements.