Learning

Consumer Learning
Consumer Learning is an important component of their
behavior. Learning occurs intentionally when a problem is
recognized & information is acquired about products which
might solve the problem. Consumer Learning can also occur
unintentionally & can this can influence the behavior of
consumers.
One benefit is that learning mechanism is that consumers are
able to adapt to a changing environment.

Learning (Definition)

A relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as a result

of experience. The change is permanent & therefore excludes
changes brought about by fatigue or other short lived
influences.
 Types of Learned Behavior
Physical Behavior: We mimic the behavior of others in
responding to ever day's life situations. E.g. We learn to walk
& talk with others & learn to respond to purchase situations &
learning these activities from others.

Symbolic Situation: We learn symbolic meaning that enable

efficient communication through the development of
languages. Symbols allows marketers to communicate with
brand names, slogans & signs.

Affective Learning: Humans learn to value certain elements of

their environment & dislikes others. This means that
consumer learn many of their wants, goals & motives as well
as what product satisfy them. Learning also influence
customer development of favorable & unfavorable attitudes
towards a company & its attitude.
 Principal Element of Learning
Consumer learn in many ways. However 4 elements seem to be
fundamental to a vast majority of situations – motives, cues,
response & reinforcement.

Motives: Motives arouse individuals & increase their readiness to

respond. It is essential, since it activates the energy needed to
engage in learning activity.
Cues: A cue can be described as a weak stimulus not strong
enough to arouse consumers but capable of providing
direction to a motivated activity, that is, it influence the
manner in which the consumer respond to motives.
Response: A response may be viewed as a mental or physical
activity the consumer makes in reaction to a stimulus.
Responses appropriate to a particular situation are learned
over time through experience in facing the situation
 Principal Element of Learning
Reinforcement : This is anything that follows the response &
increases the tendency of the response to reoccur in a similar
situation. Because reinforced behavior tends to be repeated,
consumers can learn to develop successful means of
responding to their needs & changing conditions.

An accomplishment of a learning task is itself a reinforcing

experience. Thus consumers may learn about products by
merely by evaluating their relevance to solving consumption
problems. Window shopping activity & informal discussion
with friends or salesperson can be aspects of such learning
activity.
 Theories of Learning
Behavioral Learning Theories
Behavioral learning theories are refer to as stimulus-response
theories. Because they are based on the assumption that
observable responses to external stimuli meant that learning
has happened.

Conditioning refers to a learning based on association of a

stimulus (information) & response (behavior of feeling). The
word conditioning seems to have a negative connotation &
makes us feel it is brainwashing. 2 behavioral theories with
great relevance to marketing are:

Classical Conditioning; &

Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning;
 Classical Conditioning
The process of using an established relationship between a
stimulus & a response to brind about the learning of the
same response to a different stimulus is called classical
conditioning
Consumer Learning Through Classical Conditioning

UCS (unconditioned UCR (unconditioned

stimulus) response)
Popular Music Positive Emotion

CS (conditioned CR (conditioned
stimulus) response)
Soft Drink Positive Emotion
 Classical Conditioning

3 concepts derived from classical conditioning are important for application

in consumer behavior are:

Repetition: it increases the strength of the association between the

unconditioned stimulus & conditioned stimulus & slows the process of
forgetting.
Stimulus Generalization: this is often referred to as the ‘rub off’ effect &
occurs when a response to one stimulus is elicited by a similar but distinct
stimulus.
Stimulus Discrimination: It refers to the process of learning to respond but
differently to similar but distinct stimuli. At some point stimulus
generalization becomes dysfunctional because less & less similar stimuli
are still being group together.
 Operant Conditioning
Instrumental Learning or operant conditioning differs from
classical conditioning primarily in the role & timing of
reinforcement. Reinforcement plays a much larger role in
operant conditioning than it does in classical conditioning.
Consumer Learning by Operant Conditioning

Stimulus Desired Response Reinforcement

(Popcorn) (Consumption) (Pleasant Taste)

Increased probability of response

to the stimulus
 Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning often involves actual usage of the product.
Thus, a great deal of marketing strategy is aimed at securing
an initial trial. Free samples, special discount prices on new
products & contests all present rewards offered to consumers
to try a particular brand.
The Process of Shaping Purchase Behavior

Consume a free sample of biscuits that was given at your home by

salesman

Purchase a second package using the discount coupon that was

given with the sample

Purchase the product at full price

Operant Conditioning is marketers beyond maintaining consistent
quality to ensure reinforcement. The other applications include:
Direct mail or personal contact after a sale that congratulates the
purchaser for making a wise purchase.

Giving ‘extra’ reinforcement for shopping at a store, such as

discount or prizes.

Giving ‘extra’ reinforcement to purchase a brand such as gifts or

rebates.

Giving free product sample or coupons to encourage trail.

Making store interiors pleasant place to shop by providing

entertainment, controlled temperature, exciting displays etc.
 Difference Between Conditioning Methods

Classical Operant Conditioning

Conditioning
•Involves an already
established response to •No previous stimulus
another stimulus response connection
necessary.
•The outcome is not
dependent on learner’s •The outcome is
actions dependent on learner’s
actions
•Influences development
& change in opinion •Influences changes in
tastes & goals goal-directed behavior
 Theories of Learning
Cognitive Learning Theories
Learning theorists have found that considerable learning takes
place in the absence of direct reinforcement. Cognitive
Learning includes all the mental activities of human as they
work to solve their problems or cope with situations. It
involves learning ideas, concepts, attitudes & facts that
contribute to our ability to reason, solve problems & learn
relationships without direct experience or reinforcement.
Iconic Rote Learning: This involves learning the association
between 2 or more concept in the absence of conditioning.
Vicarious Learning/ Modeling: It is not necessary for consumers
to directly experience a reward or a punishment to learn.
Reasoning/Analogy: The most complex form is
Reasoning/analogical reasoning. In this individuals use
creative thinking to combine existing & new information to
form new association & concepts.
 Rate & Degree of Learning (Curve)

Y
A
M
O
U
N
T
L
E
A
R
N Number of Practice Trials
x
E
D

The shape shows that learning is rapid in initial stages. However,

in the later stage, as the amount learned accumulates, the rate of
additional learning per trial decreases.
 Cognitive Learning Theories
Extinction: We can ‘unlearn’ material or behavior that has
been previously learned. This unlearning process is termed
‘extinction’ & occurs when overtime, a learned response is
made to a stimulus, but reinforcement does not occur. The
resistance to extinction also becomes stronger when:
Impelling motives are strong;
The number of previously enforced trial is large;
The amount of reward during learning trial is large;
Reward is delayed during the learning process;
A partial reinforcement schedule occurs during learning.

Forgetting: The loss of retained material due to non-use or

interference from some other learning task. Retention is the
amount of previously learned material that is remembered.
 100
Recognition
90
80
70
60
Percentage 50
of Material 40
Retained 30
Recall
20
10

0 1 4 24 48
Hours since Learning

The shape shows that they have to repeat advertisement to prevent people
from forgetting their products & brands. However designing effective
methods to minimize forgetting requires some understanding of
human memory.
 Memory
Memory is the total accumulation of prior learning experiences.
Memory is important because what we can remember can
have a profound impact on our consumption decision. Thus it
is critical for marketer to understand the nature of memory
processing.

What is Memory? Consumer Memory contain a vast storehouse

of knowledge about products, services, shopping excursions
& consumption experiences. Retrieval is the process of
accessing what we have stored in our memory. Both Memory
& Retrieval are important because whatever information is
we store about a product may be retrieved later & used to
influence how we act towards it & the decisions that we make
about it.
 Types of Memory
Sensory Memory; The ability to store sensory experiences
temporarily as they are produced is called sensory memory.

Short term Memory; Represents that portion of memory where

incoming information is encoded & interpreted in the light if
existing knowledge. It is also called Active & learning
Memory.

Long Term memory; Part of memory where information is

stored for later use. The information stored may be
autobiographical (personal experience) or semantic
(information not derived from specific episodes.)