CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Consumer Learning

CHAPTER 5
COGNITIVE LEARNING
Cognitive learning is the systematic evaluation of information and alternatives
needed to solve a recognized but unfilled need or unsolved problem.
Unlike behavioral learning, which consists of instinctive responses to stimuli,
cognitive learning involves deliberate mental processing of information.
Cognitive psychologists focus on the roles of motivation and mental processes in
producing a desired response, rather than the immediate response to a given stimulus
Cognitive learning occurs when a person has a goal and must search for and process
data in order to make a decision or solve a problem
MODELS OF COGNITIVE
LEARNING
Researchers developed several models depicting sequential information processing
and cognitive learning, which are featured in Table 5.1. Although the models use
different terms to designate the sequences they depict, in essence they all follow the
three-stage generic sequence listed in the table’s leftmost column.
CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT
Consumer involvement is the degree of personal relevance that the product or
purchase holds for the consumer.
High-involvement purchases are very important to the consumer (e.g., in terms of
perceived risk) and thus provoke extensive problem solving and information
processing.
Under this scenario, both automobiles and dandruff shampoo can represent high-
involvement purchases: The automobile because of its high perceived financial risk
(to most people), and the shampoo because of high perceived social risk (to some
people).
Low-involvement purchases are not very important, hold little relevance, have
little perceived risk, and provoke limited information processing
MEASUREMENT OF
CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT
Because there is no universal definition of involvement, there is no single way to
measure it.
Some measures gauge cognitive factors, such as the importance of a purchase to a
buyer and the risk perceived with the purchase; other measures focus on the
behavioral aspects of involvement and appraise such factors as the search for and
evaluation of product information.
The most popular measurement tool is self administered surveys that assess the
consumer’s cognitions or behaviors regarding a particular product or product
category, and measure involvement on a continuum (not as a dichotomy)
HEMISPHERIC
LATERALIZATION
Hemispheric lateralization (split-brain theory) stems from medical research done in
the 1960s; its premise is that the human brain is divided into two distinct cerebral
hemispheres that operate together, but “specialize” in processing different types of
cognitions.
The left hemisphere is the center of human language; it is the linear side of the
brain and primarily responsible for reading, speaking, and reasoning.
The right hemisphere of the brain is the home of spatial perception and nonverbal
concepts; it is nonlinear and the source of imagination and pleasure.
Put another way, the left side of the brain is rational, active, and realistic; the right
side is emotional, metaphoric, impulsive, and intuitive.
PASSIVE LEARNING
A pioneer consumer researcher applied hemispheric lateralization to watching TV.
He theorized that when consumers watch advertising on TV, they “passively” process
right brain, pictorial information.
The researcher considered TV a primarily pictorial medium, and TV viewing as a right
brain activity, consisting of passive and holistic processing of images viewed on the
screen. He also maintained that TV is a low-involvement medium.
Advocates of passive learning maintain that repeated exposure to TV commercials,
which is low-involvement information processing, induces purchases prior to consumers’
information processing and the formation of attitudes.
As opposed to TV, printed, verbal and static information in newspapers is processed by
the brain’s left side. Therefore, print media are considered high involvement
PASSIVE LEARNING
Pictorial cues are more effective at generating recall and familiarity with the
product, whereas verbal cues (which trigger left-brain processing) generate cognitive
activity that encourages consumers to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of
the product.
OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
OF CONSUMER LEARNING
For marketers, the goals of consumer learning are increased market share and
brand-loyal consumers. These goals are interdependent: Brand-loyal customers are
the core of a stable and growing market share, and brands with larger market shares
have disproportionately large numbers of loyal buyers.
The most popular measures of consumer learning are recognition and recall of
messages and attitudinal and behavioral evaluations of brand loyalty
RECOGNITION AND RECALL
MEASURES
The purpose of recognition and recall tests is to determine whether consumers
remember seeing an ad and the extent to which they have read it and can recall its
content.
Recognition tests are based on aided recall, whereas recall tests use unaided recall.
In a recognition test, the consumer is shown an ad and asked whether he or she
remembers seeing it and can remember any of its salient points.
In a recall test, the consumer is asked whether he or she has read a specific
magazine or watched a specific television show, and, if so, whether he or she can
recall any ads or commercials seen, the product and brand advertised, and any
notable points about the offerings promoted.
BRAND LOYALTY
Brand loyalty is a measure of how often consumers buy a given brand; whether or
not they switch brands and, if they do, how often; and the extent of their
commitment to buying the brand regularly.
To marketers, a high degree of brand loyalty is the most desired outcome of
consumer learning and an indication that they have effectively “taught” consumers a
given behavior (i.e., buying the marketer’s brands consistently).
Marketers agree that brand loyalty has two components—behaviors and attitudes
—and that both must be measured. Attitudinal measures gauge consumers’ overall
feelings about the brand, including their future purchase intentions.
 Behavioral measures focus on observable, factual behaviors, such as the quantity
purchased, purchase frequency, and repeated buying.
BRAND LOYALTY
There are three types of brand loyalty:
1. Covetous brand loyalty includes no consistent purchase of a given brand, in spite
of strong attachment to it.
2. Inertia brand loyalty is purchasing the brand because of habit and convenience,
but without any emotional attachment to it.
3. Premium brand loyalty means high attachment to the brand and repeat purchase.
BRAND EQUITY
High brand loyalty greatly increases a brand’s monetary value. The term brand equity
represents the intrinsic value of a brand name.
This value stems from the foundations of brand loyalty: The consumer’s perception of
the brand’s superiority, the social esteem that using it provides, and the customer’s trust
and identification with the brand.
Brands that are heavily promoted for extended periods attain ample name recognition
and consumer loyalty, which result is high brand equity
Because of the escalating costs of developing new products and their high failure rates,
many companies capitalize on their brands’ equity in the forms of family branding and
product line extensions rather than launching new brands. Brand equity facilitates the
acceptance of new products, allocation of preferred space by distributors, and charging
premium prices