Memory and Cognitive Learning

CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR, 10e
Michael R. Solomon

05/26/2021 3-1
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
 Learning Concepts
• Multiple store model of • Encoding Process
memory • Retrieval & Response
• Involvement & short-term Generation
capacity • The Von Restroff Affect
• Recognition & Recall
• Picture vs Word Memory
Memory . . .

. . . affects the exposure,

attention, and comprehension
stages

. . . allows consumers to
anticipate the stimuli they
might encounter
Multiple-Store Model of Memory

• Three different types of

memory storage:
• Sensory Memory

• Short-Term Memory

• Long-Term Memory
• Sensory memory happens in the pre-attention stage where a
stimulus is briefly analyzed to determine if it will receive
additional processing.
• Short-term memory is where information is temporarily
stored while people are actively processing it. Is like RAM in
a computer.
• Long-term memory is connected to short-term memory
through encoding and retrieval processes. Is like the disk drive
in a computer.
• Memory works like parallel processors.
 Inputs

Sensory memory

Short Term Memory

( Working Memory
Available Capacity
Affect Retrieval
and Encoding
arousal Long Term Memory

A Simplified Memory Model

• Encoding is the transfer of information from short-term memory
to long-term memory for permanent storage.

• Retrieval is the process of accessing information stored in long-

term memory so that it can be utilized in short-term memory.

• Retrieval is a constructive process. Information in ads received

after product experience can change the perception of the
experience.
 Relationship amongst Memory Systems
Short-term
Memory
Brief storage
Sensory Memory Attention of information
temporary storage of Information that Capacity:
sensory information passes through limited
capacity: High attention is Duration: less
Duration:<second for transferred to than 20
vision, few seconds for STM second
hearing

Long-Term Memory
Elaborative Rehearsal
Relatively Permanent storage of
information Information subjected to
Capacity: unlimited elaborative rehearsal or
deep processing is
Duration: Long or Permanent transferred to LTM
Sensory Memory . . .

. . . consists of firing
of nerve cells, short-
term in duration,
usually less than a
second.
 Marketing Implications

Two questions with marketing implications:

i. Can consumers become overloaded? Research has yielded
an unequivocal yes to the question
ii. Do consumers become overloaded? Controversial
research:
a. People actively manage the information they receive to
avoid becoming overloaded i.e. “ stop far short of being
overloaded”
b. Yes they do; this information overload actually decreases
the quality of their purchase decision
 Involvement & Short-Term Capacity

• High involvement makes the consumer more aroused

and attentive, expanding the short-term memory capacity
to (Caffeine has the same effect.)
• Low involvement tends to keep a consumer’s arousal
levels low so the consumer focuses relatively little
memory capacity on the stimulus. Under low
involvement, which is common in CB contexts, \
 Marketing Implications
Television advertising
In low involvement keep copy points maximum to four (copy
point is considered equivalent to a chunk) .
For companies that advertise on TV and radio the lesson is “
keep your message simple”
Time Required to Transfer Information. . .
The consumer's goal is to either
recognize or recall a task. It requires 2-
5 seconds for recognition task and 5-10
seconds for recall task to transfer the
information to LTM.
 Recognition and Recall

• Recognition tasks are when information is placed before

the consumer. The goal is to determine if the information
has been seen before.
• Recall tasks are when the consumer must retrieve the
information from long-term memory without any
prompting. Requires greater depth of encoding. Recall
impacts the size of the consideration set, which is the set
of product choices retrieved from memory that are
consider satisfactory options.
 Universe of potential
brands

Awareness Set Unawareness set

Known Brands

Consideration Set: Inert Set Inept Set

Brands given Brands viewed with Unacceptable brands
consideration Indifference
Clutter is
when there
are too many
stimuli
making recall
more
difficult.
Long-Term Memory

. . . has essentially unlimited capacity to store

information permanently.
• Stored information is either semantic or visual.
Semantic memory deals with the encoding and
storage of words and meanings. Visual deals with the
storage of images.
• Long term memory is essentially permanent.
Relative Superiority of Picture Versus Word Memory

• Visual images or pictures tend to be more memorable

than their verbal counterparts, especially when there is
low-involvement on the part of the consumer.
• Words that have high-imagery content are easier to
encode and retrieve than words low in imagery and
concreteness.
• Words and pictures should be used to complement each
other in ads.
• Verbal material is better recalled in high involvement
conditions.
• In high involvement information processing advertisers
usually get better results if they present different
information via verbal and pictorial means
Memory-Control Processes . . .

. . . are the methods of

handling information
which may operate
consciously or
unconsciously to influence
the encoding, placement,
and retrieval of
information.
 Encoding Process

 Rehearsal influences whether or not information will be transferred

from STM to LTM

 The way information is coded will have great impact on speed of

transfer as well as on the placement of that information

 For a new topic repetition of stimulus during rehearsal or attempt to

link it to other information already present in the LTM is required.

 With familiar topics person becomes more adept at coding information

on it by drawing associations between it and the information they
already have in memory, and storage process speeds up proportionally
 Encoding Process
Marketing Implications:
i. Understanding of encoding process in developing brands
ii. The closer the brand name fits with consumer’s association about the
product class, the better will be his/her ability to recall the name
iii. Highly concrete names ( ocean, orchestra, frog, and blossom) are
easily visualized and remembered better than less concrete names
(history, truth, moment) because they are coded both visually and
verbally and also because they fit better into consumer’s existing
knowledge structure,.
Retrieval and Response Generation

• Response generation is when a person develops a response

by actively reconstructing the stimulus. Information
received after exposure to a stimulus (e.g., ads) can impact
response generation of the original stimulus.

• Retrieval cues create a response by providing a means of

assisting the active reconstruction of the stimulus.
 The Von Restroff Affect
Occurs when a highly unique item in a series is recalled
more easily.

Also illustrates information salience, which is the idea

that unique, novel, moving, contrasting, colorful, etc.
stimuli are more easily encoded and retrieved.

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The von Restorff
Effect

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 The Zeigarnik Effect

occurs if a task is
interrupted, material
relevant to the task
tends to be
remembered. E.g., Here, build a story
About a person doing
stories that are cut
in the middle-- Something difficult, and
taster’s choice. Then stop just before
Bud--frogs Climax. Will increase
Interest in and recall
and Tasters’ Choice. Of story.
Zeigarnik Effect
 The Zeigarnik Effect

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 The Marketing Power of Nostalgia
• Marketers may resurrect
popular characters to
evoke fond memories of
the past
• Nostalgia
• Retro brand

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 Discussion
• What “retro brands” are targeted to you? Were these
brands that were once used by your parents?
• What newer brands focus on nostalgia, even though
they never existed before?

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 Chapter Summary
• Marketers need to know how consumers
learn in order to develop effective messages.
• Conditioning results in learning and learned
associations can generalize to other things.
• Learning can be accomplished through
classical and instrumental conditioning and
through observing the behavior of others.
• We use memory systems to store and
retrieve information.

05/26/2021
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