Sensation

1. the operation or function of the senses; perception orawareness of stimuli through the senses. 2. a mental condition or physical feeling resulting fromstimulation of a sense organ or from internal bodily change,as cold or pain. 3. Physiology . the faculty of perception of stimuli. 4. a general feeling not directly attributable to any givenstimulus, as discomfort , anxiety, or doubt. 5. a mental feeling, esp. a state of excited feeling. 6. a state of excited feeling or interest caused among a numberof persons or throughout a community, as by some rumor oroccurrence. 7. a cause of such feeling or interest: The new Brazilian moviewas the sensation of the film festival. The absolute threshold The lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation is called the absolute threshold. The point at which a person can detect a difference between something and nothing is that persons absolute threshold for that stimulus. To illustrate, the distance at which a driver can note a specific billboard on a highway is that individuals absolute threshold. Two people riding together may first spot the billboard at different times; thus they appear to have different absolute thresholds. Under conditions of constant stimulation, such as driving through a corridor of billboards, the absolute threshold increases. In other words the senses tend to become increasingly dulled. After hours of driving through billboards, it is doubtful that any one billboard will make an impression. Hence, we often speak of getting used to a hot bath, a cold shower, or the bright sun. as our exposure to the stimulus increases, we notice it less. In the field of perception, the term adaptation refers specifically to getting used to certain sensations; that is, becoming accommodated to a certain level of stimulation. Read the article in the order below for more information on this topic. This is from the book "Consumer Behavior." It's by Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk. If you want to really know in depth information about consumer behavior, get the book.

Absolute threshold
Definition: The lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected. Example: A subject is looking at two disks, one serving as the sample and the other serving as the comparison. Both disks are completely dark. Then, the brightness of the comparison is gradually increased until the subject reports a seeing a difference between the two disks. The value at

which the difference is first detected is the absolute threshold for brightness. Background: Gustav Fechner (1801-1887) considered two thresholds in his analysis of sensation. The first, the absolute threshold, is the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected. Like Gotfried Leibniz (1646-1716) and Johann Herbert (1776-1841) before him, he allowed for negative sensations -- unconscious reactions to stimulus intensities below absolute threshold -- and the possibility that sub-threshold stimuli can cumulate beyond absolute threshold to create a conscious sensation. For Fechner, though, the absolute threshold was of limited usefulness. It was only the lowest level of conscious sensation. His goal was to relate a full range of stimulus intensities to their resultant sensation values. In this regard, he introduced the concept of a differential threshold: the minimal amount of change in a stimulus that can be detected. He assumed the differential threshold for any stimulus within the full range of intensities to be subjectively equal, the equivalent of one jnd.
In neuroscience and psychophysics, an absolute threshold is the smallest detectable level of a stimulus.[1]However, at this low level, subjects will sometimes detect the stimulus and at other times not. Therefore, an alternative definition of absolute threshold is the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50% of the time.[1] The absolute threshold can be influenced by several different factors, such as the subject's motivations and expectations, cognitive processes, and whether the subject is adapted to the stimulus.[1] The absolute threshold can be compared to the difference threshold, which is the measure of how different two stimuli have to be in order for the subject to notice that they are not the same.

Vision
The absolute threshold for vision was assessed in a landmark experiment by Hecht, Shlaer and Pirenne in 1942. The experiment was designed to measure the minimum number of photons detectable by the human eye, therefore various controls were implemented to ensure that this is was the case. Dark Adaptation the participants were completely dark adapted (a process lasting forty minutes) in order to optimise their visual sensitivity.

Location the stimulus was presented 20 degrees to the left of the point of focus, in order for it to fall 20 degrees to the right of the fovea (the most sensitive point of the eye), where there is a high density of rod cells.

Stimulus size the stimulus, a circle of red light, had a diameter of 10 minutes (1 minute=1/60th of a degree). This ensured that the light stimulus fell only on rod cells connected to the same nerve fibre (this is called the area of spatial summation).

Wavelength the stimulus wavelength matched the maximum sensitivity of rod cells (510 nm).

It was found that the emission of only 90 photons was required in order to elicit visual experience. However, only 45 of these actually entered the retina, due to absorption by the optic media. Furthermore, 80% of these did not reach the fovea. Therefore, it only takes nine photons to be detected by the human eye. Moreover, as the chance of any one rod receiving more than one photon is very small, we can assume that it only takes one photon to excite a rod receptor. Threshold cannot be determined on perfect sensation or lack thereof, due to fluctuations in the threshold. Thus, there is no set brightness seen by the viewer, and no intensity just lower than this that no flash is seen. To activate a bipolar, multiple rods must be stimulated, e.g., as 1940s experiments have determined, that eleven quanta, one for each single rod, is necessary to trigger light perception. Another experiment shows that a 60 percent frequency may represent 2,500 quanta, one per rod, among a patch of 2 million rods. Therefore only one rod out of many is perceived at the threshold, and in a short stimulus, rods cannot absorb more than a single photon of light. (A quantum or photon is stated as Planck's constant and the frequency of light . Fluctuations in retinal response are driven by fluctuations of the amount of energy of the stimulus and not the change of retinal sensitivity. For example, if an average number of photons is given, the actual quantum content received and frequency of vision are similar.

Hearing

The absolute threshold of hearing is the minimum sound level of a pure tone that an average ear with normalhearing can hear with no other sound present. The absolute threshold relates to the sound that can just be heard by the organism. The threshold of hearing is generally reported as the RMS sound pressure of 20 Pa (micropascals) = 2105 pascal(Pa). It is approximately the quietest sound a young human with undamaged hearing can detect at 1,000 Hz. The threshold of hearing is frequency dependent and it has been shown that the ear's sensitivity is best at frequencies between 1 kHz and 5 kHz.

Odor

The odor detection threshold is the lowest concentration of a certain odor compound that is perceivable by the human sense of smell. The thresholds of a chemical compound is determined in part by

its shape, polarity, partial charges and molecular mass. The olfactory mechanisms responsible for a compound's different detection threshold is not well understood, as such, these thresholds cannot yet be accurately predicted. Rather, they must be measured through extensive tests using human subjects in laboratory settings. On the topic of absolute threshold and the absolute minimum threshold: Absolute threshold in neuroscience, psychology, and psychophysics, is considered the lowest possible level of a detected stimulus. According to the seventh edition of Psychology, Themes and Variations, absolute threshold is for a specific type of sensory input and is the minimum stimulus intensity an organism can detect, (120). An example of this would be an odor test. The least amount of the odorous object necessary to still make people smell the odor would be the absolute threshold. So, absoloute threshold is the least amount of what we can detect and respond to. Thus, from this it can be concluded that the absolute minimum threshold is the measure of that lowest frequency that organisms still detect for a specific sensor.

Jndjust-noticeable differences
Small changes of stimulus intensity (such as an increase in light or sound intensity) may go unnoticed, and in general will not be noticed unless the increase is greater than about 2 per cent. The critical intensity change that is discriminated is known as the 'just-noticeable difference' (or 'j.n.d.'), and it may be called the 'threshold' of sensation. It was discovered by Ernst Heinrich Weber that the just-noticeable difference increases in direct proportion with the stimulus intensity. Gustav Fechner, having become interested in galvanism (see galvanic stimulation), turned to philosophy, and tried to relate physiology to psychology (in his Elemente der Psychophysik, 1860) by assuming just-noticeable differences to be equal units of sensations, over the entire intensity range, and so quantifying sensations as integrations of j.n.d.s. His arguments for measuring sensation, though ultimately unsound, essentially founded psychology as an experimental science. The smallest difference between luminances or colors of areas, usually adjacent to each other, that can be easily discerned or is obvious from ordinary observation. Also known as difference limen; difference threshold. Abbreviated jnd. DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD. Difference Threshold: The difference threshold, also known as the just noticeable difference (jnd), is the minimum difference in stimulation that a person can detect 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable

difference. For example, let's say I asked you to put your hand out and in it I placed a pile of sand. Then, I add tiny amounts of sand to your hand and ask you to tell me when you notice any change in the overall weight. As soon as you can detect any change in the weight, that difference between the weight of the sand before I added that last bit of sand and the amount of sand after I added it, is the difference threshold. How do marketers apply the concept of differential threshold or 'just noticeable difference' in their marketing strategy? Explain giving suitable examples. The concept of differential threshold is applied to almost all aspects of marketing strategies. 1.PRODUCTLINE EXTENSION. This concept is applied to the advertising/ promotion of the productline, in order to exploit the strength of the original brand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS The marketers' apply the concept of differential threshold in the selection of the distribution channels, for the various products from the same family productgroup. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.PRODUCT PRICING The marketers' apply the concept of differential threshold in the PRICING of the two brands from the same company --like two toothpaste brands from one company. -----------------------------------------------------------------------4.PRODUCT PROMOTIONS The marketers' apply the concept of differential threshold in the DEVELOPMENT/ IMPLEMENTATION of the sales promotion programs in two channels to maintain similarity / cost down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------5. PRODUCT PACKAGING The marketers' apply the concept of differential threshold in the PACKAGING of the various models of the company products / to create uniform image. ------------------------------------------------------------------------6. PRODUCT PERCEPTION/ IMAGE The marketers' apply the concept of differential threshold in the PRODUCT POSITIONING in more than one market segments.

Just-noticeable difference

In psychophysics, a just noticeable difference, customarily abbreviated with lowercase letters as jnd, is the smallest detectable difference between a starting and secondary level of a particular sensory stimulus.[1] It is also known as the difference limen or the differential threshold.

Explanation
For many sensory modalities, over a wide range of stimulus magnitudes sufficiently far from the upper and lower limits of perception, the 'jnd' is a fixed proportion of the reference sensory level, and so the ratio of the jnd/reference is roughly constant (that is the jnd is a constant proportion/percentage of the reference level). Measured in physical units, we have

where

is the original intensity of stimulation,

is the addition to it required for the

difference to be perceived (the jnd), and k is a constant. This rule was first discovered by Ernst Heinrich Weber, in experiments on the thresholds of perception of lifted weights. A theoretical rationale (not universally accepted) was subsequently provided by Gustav Fechner, so the rule is therefore known either as the Weber Law or as the WeberFechner law; the constant k is called the Weber constant. It is true, at least to a good approximation, of many but not all sensory dimensions, for example the brightness of lights, and the intensity and the pitch of sounds. It is not true, however, of the wavelength of light. Stanley Smith Stevens argued that it would hold only for what he called prothetic sensorycontinua, where change of input takes the form of increase in intensity or something obviously analogous; it would not hold for metathetic continua, where change of input produces a qualitative rather than a quantitative change of the percept. The jnd is a statistical, rather than an exact quantity: from trial to trial, the difference that a given person notices will vary somewhat, and it is therefore necessary to conduct many trials in order to determine the threshold. The jnd usually reported is the difference that a person notices on 50% of trials. If a different proportion is used, this should be included in the descriptionfor example one might report the value of the "75% jnd". Modern approaches to psychophysics, for example signal detection theory, imply that the observed jnd, even in this statistical sense, is not an absolute quantity, but will depend on situational and motivational as well as perceptual factors. The jnd formula has an objective interpretation (implied at the start of this entry) as the disparity between levels of the presented stimulus that is detected on 50% of occasions by

a particular observed response (Torgerson, 1958), rather than what is subjectively "noticed" or as a difference in magnitudes of consciously experienced 'sensations.' This 50%-discriminated disparity can be used as a universal unit of measurement of the psychological distance of the level of a feature in an object or situation and an internal standard of comparison in memory, such as the 'template' for a category or the 'norm' of recognition (Booth & Freeman, 1993). The jnd-scaled distances from norm can be combined among observed and inferred psychophysical functions to generate diagnostics among hypothesised information-transforming (mental) processes mediating observed quantitative judgments (Richardson & Booth, 1993).

Marketing applications of the j.n.d

Webers law has important applications in marketing. Manufacturers and marketers endeavor to determine the relevant j.n.d for their products for two very different reasons: (1) so that negative changes(e.g.,reductions in product size or quality or increase in product price) are not discernible to the public(ie., remain below j.n.d) and (2) so that product improvements(eg., improved or updated packaging, larger size or lower price) are very apparent to consumers without being wastefully extravagant (ie., they are at or just above the j.n.d). When it comes to product improvements, marketers very much want to meet or exceed the consumers differential threshold; that is, they want consumers to readily perceive any improvements made in the original product. Marketers use the j.n.d to determine the amount of improvement they should make in their products. Less than the j.n.d is wasted effort because the improvement will not be perceived; more than the j.n.d is again wasteful because it reduces the level of repeat sales. On the other hand, when it comes to price increases, less than the j.n.d is desirable because consumers are unlikely to notice it. Application Of JND - An Indian Context Just Noticeable Difference is the minimal apparent difference between two products as observed by the consumer. Otherwise we can say -"The just noticeable difference (JND) is the smallest difference in intensity between two stimuli that a person can detect." Psychological concept applied to consumers' purchasing patterns that holds that consumers are more likely to purchase products based on the perceived differences between products than they are to purchase based on the attributes of one product or another. In marketing there are two valuable concepts to follow. However, they sometimes use indiscernible stimuli that are just below a consumers threshold so as to influence him. This is called subliminal message. Of all the stimuli a consumer comes into contact with, he pays attention to only a few and interprets the messages that he remembers. This is called the process of perception and has the three steps: 1) exposure, 2) attention, and 3) interpretation. How well the consumer pays attention will depend on the stimulus, and also the consumers

interest and need for that product. The consumer interprets the information in two ways: 1) the literal meaning or the semantic meaning and 2) the psychological meaning. A consumer also interprets the symbols and other physical features of the product on the basis of his experience and cultural beliefs which are important in Indian market and cannot be ignored. Marketers make use of perception to formulate marketing strategies. The marketers use a perceptual map, wherein they find out the attributes or the characteristics that the consumer associates with the product and they create the product accordingly. Thus, development of a brand or the logo of the product, packaging of the product, etc., have to be made keeping the consumers perception in mind. It is important to make a just noticeable difference and to seize opportunities. A just noticeable difference would be a contribution and opportunities might be the possible implications. Perception is the process through which a person forms an opinion about the various stimuli he receives from his sensory organs. In marketing, perception is concerned with understanding how the consumer views a product or service. The five senses of a person help him in this process. The marketer uses various props to stimulate the consumer, that is, through the use of colors, sound, touch, taste, or smell, to observe the product. The marketer must distinguish his message from the competitors message. This is the concept of Just Noticeable difference (JND) comes to their aid. It helps the consumer to distinguish changes in prices among purchase alternatives. Marketers thus use stimuli to grab customers attention and most often these efforts are clearly visible and known to the customer. Indian producers are also using the JND tool extensively for winning the market competition. Though the Indian market is the toughest place to compete because of various successful brands adapted by different regions of people of India where the JND technique plays a great role for existence among others. One of the basic questions regarding the effect of marketing stimuli. The ability to discriminate among stimuli is learned. Generally, frequent users of a product are better able to notice small difference in product characteristic between brands. The ability of consumer to detect the various in sensory elements is determined by their threshold level. Some consumers are more sensitive to these stimuli than others. This will be quite clear from the fact tea and coffee companies employ persons called tea or coffee tasters. Just Noticeable difference is based on the differential threshold of a consumer. A consumer will not be able to detect any change in stimulus below his threshold. For e.g. If an unbranded detergent cost 5 percent less that consumer is regular brand, the consumer ma not notice the difference. However, if the same unbranded product costs less than 30 percent less than he is definitely going to notice the difference. Webers Law states that the stronger the stimulus, the greater the change required for the stimulus to be seen as different. The most important application of this law is in price. One critical implication is that the higher the original price of an item, the greater the markdown required to increase sales. For

e.g. If price of a Mercedes Benz S class is reduced by 25000/-, it will not have any impact on sales because the basic price is in several Lakhs that a difference of Rs25000/- may not be noticeable for consumers. On the other hand a price reduction of even Rs5000/- for a Maruti 800 is seen to push sales substantially because of its low original price. Another example, if the price of a car is increased by Rs.1000/-/- it would probably not be noticed i.e., the increment would fall below the J.N.D. it may take an increase of Rs.5000/-/- or more before a differential in price would be noticed. However even an one rupee increase in oil price would be noticed very quickly because it is a significant percentage of the initial amount So an additional level of stimuli equivalent to the J.N.D. must be added for the majority of people to perceive a difference between resulting stimulus and the initial stimulus. Absolute Threshold is stimulus below which consumers cannot detect the stimulus at all. It is also referred to as subliminal perception .i.e. perception of stimulus below the conscious level. One of the major controversies regarding consumer perceptions is whether consumers can actually perceive marketing stimuli below their absolute level. The level at which consumers no longer notice a frequently repeated stimulus. An individual walking into an airconditioned room, kitchen full of fragrance, or a noisy party will notice the stimuli after a period of time. Consumer differs in their level of adaptation. Some tune out more quickly then others. Novelty, humour, contrast, and movement are all stimulus effects that may gain consumers attention and reduce their attention and reduce their adaptation. Price perceptions directly influence consumers perceptions of brand quality and determine their purchasing behaviour. For e.g. Parker pens were positioned as expensive, hand finished pens. In order to achieve large volume of growth and to share a pie of the explosive growing ballpoints, Parker entered this market for cheap pens moving away from its traditional positioning. The results were disastrous because companys image was not consistent with its price. In the late eighties, it moved back to its strength, high priced fountain pens, with an ad campaign featuring style and luxury. This shift made the company profitable again. Raising prices of products and services in a country like India may result in adverse reactions from consumers, especially the mass consumers. It may even alienate consumers from a brand. One important factor to consider while raising prices is how much to raise it by. Is it possible to raise prices to an extent where consumers fail to notice the price rise ? Yes, it is. To do that, the price must be raised to just below the JND, or the Just noticeable difference. 'Price' is a stimulus. If price is raised to an extent where it is within the differential threshold, then the 'raise' would not be noticed. Now that is something HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) has raised the price of its soaps, skin creams and detergents as costs of raw materials like palm oil, an ingredient used in the manufacture of soaps, and linear alkyl benzene, a key input for detergents, have increased. Hindustan Lever raised the price for a 1.5-kilogram, or 3.3-pound, package of its Surf Excel Blue detergent pack to 120 rupees from 117 rupees. The price of a 45-gram pack of Lux soap was raised to 6 rupees from 5 rupees. A 9gram pack of Fair & Lovely cream was raised to 6 rupees from 5 rupees. The consumer perception has changed but brand positioning of HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) is excellent which has improved the market share in India. In Telecom sector of India-Brand morphism in telecom is a quick process. An SMS on day one

can change the name in nanoseconds. Brand buy-outs are essentially cruel events. A brand is created from scratch, nurtured with care, galvanized into activity and made to happen. Consumers gravitate towards the brand, involvement deepens, value creation is at work and the brand buzzes. And then, all of a sudden, in comes a buyer, buys into its equity and all things physical, non-physical (and metaphysical alike) that surround a brand name. And the buyer has a call to take. Change the name? Or retain it the way it is? The brand is a name, a slogan, a logo, a colour, a differentiation and 43 other things altogether. But is it a name alone? Not really. The Hutch name, for instance, is not a name alone. It is much more. It is the collective equity that is represented by the name, the service, the dependability, the experience at large, the colour, the logo, the fonts that speak of Hutch and everything else that lies in the amorphous space of other attendant attributes. As the early statutory issues are cleared, one can expect intelligence in the transition. The tool of 'Just noticeable difference (JND) can be used to advantage. Brand identity changes can happen for many reasons. In most recent cases, particularly Axis Bank and Vodafone, the identity change was all about a need for a new name to replace the old. In the first case, it was a statutory imperative and in the second, it was due to a change of ownership pattern. The key need is, however, to convey that the change is but a name change alone. Nothing else has changed. We are the same. Our reliability continues. The key points one needs to focus on in such changes are the link elements in terms of visual, aural and experiential imagery that the old brand enjoys in the minds and hearts of consumers. It is important to audit these points carefully and emerge with bridge elements that will continue in the new communication exercise. In such an audit that is consumer-centric, you could emerge with as many as 1,200-1,600 points that spell the meaning of the old brand to the consumer. You need to short-list from this by giving specific weightage to those points that must remain inalienable from the new identity you are about to convey and build. After having gone through this laborious exercise, brands need to ensure that the old imagery balances itself with the new. It is important for the new elements in the brand communication exercise to have the right weightage. For instance, the Vodafone logo and its dominance. Brand-name morphs are sensitive exercises. One deals with them through a series of executions. At times one execution is not enough. For instance, Vodafone will need to have a very quick second-generation campaign following the pug in the new kennel. This campaign needs to be new-identity-specific. Just Noticeable Difference format where its presence is slowly phased to a smaller degree of significance visually. Application of JND for marketing strategy: Product Pricing: Producers apply this concept of differential threshold in pricing of two or more brands of the same company. For example different brands of fruit juices of same company with different price range. Product Packaging: This concept is applied for the products for maintaining a uniform or stable identity of product. So, that consumer can identify easily about the product and its categories. Packaging also reflects the name of company. For example- snacks packaging, different snacks of same company. Product Extension: This concept is applicable for extending the different variety of product under the same brand name for retaining the market share effectively

by using the different modes of publicity. The main idea behind it is to strengthen the core brand of the product. Identity Retention: Subpart of advertising concept applied for a product to be more identified infront of consumers and the frequent actions and stable frequency of product picture through different modes creates a unforgettable object in consumers mind. Product Comparison: its a subpart of product positioning. Producers apply this concept of differential threshold comparisons for proving that there is significant difference in their products as compared to other products prevailing in the market. For example in case of soft drinks marketing in India. Product Perception: Producers apply this concept for introducing their same type of products near different segment of consumers. Distribution Channels: Producers apply this concept in distribution of product through different channels for the same product group. For example dairy products through different cannels. Product Promotion: Producers apply this concept in promoting the sales of product to maintain the similarity and cost reduction.