PERCEPTION & CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR

How we see the world around us !

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• Which cream is more effective ?

• Which machine is more powerful?

• Which car is new ?

PPT - Perception

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Basic concepts of Perception
• Sensation

• Absolute
threshold

• Differential
threshold

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SENSATION
• Sensation
– Response of sensory
organs to stimuli

• Sensory Receptors

• Sensation depends on
the quality of sensory
receptors and the
amount of stimuli
(intensity) to which he or
she is exposed

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 SENSATION

Sensation depends on energy change

within the environment where the
perception occurs (i.e. differentiation of
input)

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 SENSATION

As sensory input decreases, however, our ability to

detect changes in input or intensity increases to the
point that we attain maximum sensitivity under
conditions of minimal stimulations

“It was so quite , I could hear a pin drop”

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 ABSOLUTE THREHSOLD
• Lowest level at which an individual can
experience a sensation.

• The point at which a person can detect a

difference between something and nothing.

• Does it depend on the distance only ?

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 ABSOLUTE THREHSOLD

• Sensory Adaptation
 Buying all the billboards on
Shah-rah Faisal
• Implications
 Buying all the streamers e.g.
– + sensory input Byco at Express way
– - sensory input  Buying all the magazine pages
– unusual media e.g. Unilever in Dawn Lifestyles

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THE DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD

• Concept of JND
• Weber’s Law
– The stronger the initial
stimuli , the greater the
additional intensity
needed for the second
stimulus to be
perceived as different
• Lipton and JND
• Changes > JND

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 JND – Implications

• Need to determine the relevant

j.n.d. for their products
– so that negative changes are not
readily discernible (noticeable) to the
public

– so that product improvements are

very apparent to consumers

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 Gradual Changes in Brand Name
Fall Below the J.N.D.

Pall Mall & Capstan , Nestle, Changes in Human Beings ???

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 Perceptual
Selection

Dynamics
Of
Perception

Perceptual Perceptual
Organization Interpretation

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 INTRODUCTION
• Preceding Section:
– How individual receives sensations and how human
organism adapts to the level of intensity of sensory input.

• This Section
– Raw sensory input by itself does not product or explain the
coherent picture of the work, WE SUBCONSCIOUSLY ADD
TO OR SUBTRACT FROM RAW SENSORY INPUT TO
PRODUCE OUR OWN PRIVATE PICTURE OF THE WORLD

– Perception is a function of STIMULI and EXPECTATIONS,

MOTIVES, AND LEARNING based on PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

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 PERCEPTUAL SELECTION
Research:
A woman in super market may be exposed to over
20,000 products of different colors, sizes and shapes; to
perhaps 100 people )looking, walkking, searching,
talking); to smells (from fruit , meat , disinfectant,
people) ; to sounds within the store (cash registers
ringing, shopping carts rolling, air conditioners
humming, and clerks sweeping, mopping aisles,
stocking shelves); and to sound from out side the store.
Yet she manages on a regular basis to visit her local
supermarket. This is because she exercises selectivity
in perception.

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PERCEPTUAL SELECTION

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PERCEPTUAL SELECTION

• Depends on two
major factors

– Consumers’
previous
experience

– Consumers’
motives

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 PERCEPTUAL SELECTION
• Other Factors affecting selection
– Nature of the stimulus
• Physical attributes, package design, the
brand name etc
• Contrast is one of the most attention
compelling attributes of a stimulus (for ex:
oversized ad)
• Advertising does not have to be unique to
achieve a high degree of differentiation; it
simply has to contrast (for ex: white
background with little copy)
– Consumers’ expectations &
motives
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IMPLICATIONS ??

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UNEXPECTED ATTRACTS
ATTENTION

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 UNEXPECTED

UNEXPECTED - - - -

Ad1
Ad2

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Concepts Concerning Selective
Perception
• Selective Exposure
– Stimuli --- Expectations --- Motives

• Selective Attention
– Needs

• Perceptual Defense
– Screenout or distort stimuli (eg tobacco)

• Perceptual Blocking
– Blocking or Avoiding

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PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

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Principles of Perceptual
Organization

• Figure and
ground

• Grouping

• Closure

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 FIGURE AND GROUND
• The Gestalt Psychologists found that
there are two main visual components
necessary for a person to see an object
properly

• A FIGURE (the object) and A GROUND

(the background or surroundings in
which the object occurs).

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FIGURE AND GROUND

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FIGURE AND GROUND

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 GROUPING

• Humans have a tendency to organize

stimuli into some coherent groups.
They like to categorize things and
maintain some organization with most
stimuli.

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• Continuity
Patterns
• Similarity
Patterns
• Simplicity
Patterns

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 GROUPING

• Principal of GROUPING is the basis of

most of the marketing
communication ???

• Tea --- social acceptance – family

relations----

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 CLOSURE

Closure is a Gestalt principle of

perceptual organization that
explains how humans fill in visual
gaps in order to perceive
disconnected parts as a whole
object.

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CLOSURE

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CLOSURE

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 IMPLICATIONS

• If individuals are exposed to incomplete

picture, they tend to complete it by filling
in the missing pieces.
• Incomplete messages or tasks are better
remembered than completed ones.

• Playing soundtrack of ad on radio will

remind them of the entire ad.

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PERCEPTUAL INTERPRETATION

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PERCEPTUAL INTERPRETATION
• How close a person’s interpretations
are to reality, depends on the following
things
– Clarity of the stimulus,
– Past experiences of the perceiver
– His or her motives and interests

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INFLUENCES OF PERCEPTUAL
DISTORTION
• Physical
Appearances
• Stereotypes
• First Impressions
• Jumping to
Conclusions
• Halo Effect
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INFLUENCES OF PERCEPTUAL
DISTORTION
• Physical
Appearances
• Stereotypes
• First Impressions
• Jumping to
Conclusions
• Halo Effect
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INFLUENCES OF PERCEPTUAL
DISTORTION
• Physical
Appearances
• Stereotypes
• First Impressions
• Jumping to
Conclusions
• Halo Effect
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INFLUENCES OF PERCEPTUAL
DISTORTION
• Physical
Appearances
• Stereotypes
• First Impressions
• Jumping to
Conclusions
• Halo Effect
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 INFLUENCES OF PERCEPTUAL
DISTORTION
• Physical
Appearances
• Stereotypes
• First Impressions
• Jumping to
Conclusions
• Halo Effect
Licensing is based on Halo Effect

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 Halo Effect
In an attempt to enhance the image of JW Marriott, the
Marriott hotel chain’s upscale brand, Marriott took over
the Righa Royal Hotel, an upscale hotel in New York City,
and renamed it the JW Marriott New York. When the new
name signs went up, the company discovered that scores
of regular, upscale customers who always stayed at the
Righa when visiting New York City canceled their
reservations because they did not want to tell colleagues
to contact them at the Marriot. Finally, the company
restored the Righa Hotel name

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CONSUMER IMAGERY
• Product Positioning
– Umbrella Positioning
– Positioning Against the
Competition
– Positioning based on
specific benefits
– Finding an “Unowned”
Position

– Filling several positions

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 CONSUMER IMAGERY
• Product Positioning
– Umbrella Positioning
– Positioning Against the
Competition
– Positioning based on
specific benefits
– Finding an “Unowned”
Position

– Filling several positions

Competitive Ad

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CONSUMER IMAGERY
• Product Positioning
– Umbrella Positioning
– Positioning Against the
Competition
– Positioning based on
specific benefits
– Finding an “Unowned”
Position

– Filling several positions

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CONSUMER IMAGERY
• Product Positioning
– Umbrella Positioning
– Positioning Against the
Competition
– Positioning based on
specific benefits
– Finding an “Unowned”
Position

– Filling several positions

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CONSUMER IMAGERY
• Product Positioning
– Umbrella Positioning
– Positioning Against the
Competition
– Positioning based on
specific benefits
– Finding an “Unowned”
Position

– Filling several positions

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 CONSUMER IMAGERY

• Product Repositioning
– Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC
– Dettol
– Johnson and Johnson

• Positioning of Services
– Tangible Cues

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 PERCEIVED PRICE
• Reference prices
– Internal
– External

• Tensile and objective price claims

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Tensile and Objective Price
Claims
RESEARCH
Ads that state a maximum discount level
(“Save up to 40%”) are more effective than
ads stating the minimum discount level
(“save 10% or more”) and ads stating a
discount range (“save 10 to 40%)

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 PERCEIVED QUALITY
• Perceived Quality of Products
– Intrinsic cues
– Extrinsic cues

RESEARCH
Consumer Reports found that consumers often cannot
differentiate among various cola beverages and that
they base their preferences on such extrinsic cues as
packaging, pricing, advertising, and even peer pressure.
In the absence of actual experience with a product,
consumers often evaluate quality on the basis of cues
that are external to the product itself, such as price
brand image, manufacturer’s image, retail store image,
or even the country of origin.
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 PERCEIVED QUALITY
• Perceived Quality of Services
– Extrinsic Cues
– Major Problem with Services

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 Ad
Emphasizing
Tangible
Cues

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 PERCEIVED QUALITY
• Retail Store Image

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 PERCEIVED QUALITY
RESEARCH
A study of retail store image based on comparative
pricing strategies found that consumers tend to
perceive stores that offer a small discount on a large
number of items (i.e. frequency of price advantage)
as having lower prices over all than competing
stores that offer larger discounts on a smaller
number of products (i.e. magnitude of price
advantage)

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 PERCEIVED RISK
Types
The degree of
uncertainty • Functional Risk
perceived by the • Physical Risk
consumer as to the • Financial Risk
consequences • Social Risk
(outcome) • Psychological
of a specific Risk (ego)
purchase decision. • Time Risk

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 PERCEIVED RISK

• Class discussion on perceived risk

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 How Consumers Handle Risk

• Seek Information
• Stay Brand Loyal
• Select by Brand Image
• Rely on Store Image
• Buy the Most Expensive Model
• Seek Reassurance

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 PRESENTATION

• Why we buy (2 chapters)

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 GOOD NEWS

• QUIZ
• Term Project Topic / Group Names are
due today !!!

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 CASE STUDY SESSION

• Case Study: Does Olympic

sponsorship improve consumer’s
perception?

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 NEXT SESSION

• Learning
• Why we buy (2 chapters)

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