Lecture Consumer behaviour: Chapter 9 - Cathy Neal, Pascale Quester, Del Hawkins

Chapter 9 Learning and Memory
• How we (and consumers) learn
• Types of learning
• Main characteristics of learning
• Using learning in marketing strategies
• Importance of brand image and product positioning

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Learning
• Learning refers to any change in the content or

organisation of long-term memory
• Consumer behaviour is largely learned behaviour

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Learning as a Key to Consumer Behaviour

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Learning Results from Information
Processing and Causes Changes in
Memory

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Involvement and Learning
• Learning under high-involvement conditions
–

consumer has a high motivation to learn

• Learning under low-involvement conditions
–

most consumer learning is in a low-involvement context

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Learning Theories in High- and LowInvolvement Situations

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Types of Learning
• Conditioning
–
–

classical conditioning
operant conditioning

• Cognitive learning
–
–
–

iconic rote learning
vicarious learning/modelling
reasoning

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Conditioning
Conditioning is based on the association of a stimulus
(information) with a response (behaviour or feeling)

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Classical Conditioning
• Establishing a relationship between stimulus and

response to bring about the learning of the same

response to a different stimulus
• Most common in low-involvement situations
• Learning is more often a feeling or emotion than
information

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Consumer Learning through Classical Conditioning

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How Affective Response Leads
to Learning

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Operant Conditioning
•

Trial precedes liking
– reverse is often true for classical conditioning
– product sampling is an example of this type of learning

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The Process of Shaping in Purchase Behaviour

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An Advertisement Designed to Induce Trial

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Cognitive Learning
• Iconic rote learning
–

association between two or more concepts in the absence
of conditioning




a substantial amount of low-involvement learning involves
iconic rote learning
achieved by repeated advertising messages

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Cognitive Learning (cont.)
• Vicarious learning/modelling
–

observe others' behaviour and adjust their own
accordingly


common in both high-involvement and low- involvement
situations

• Reasoning
–

most complex form of cognitive learning


most high-involvement decisions generate some reasoning

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An Advertisement Using Reasoning

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General Characteristics of Learning

• The strength of learning is influenced by:
–

importance


–
–
–
–
–

separates high- and low-involvement learning situations

involvement
mood
reinforcement
stimulus repetitions (practice sessions)
imagery

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General Characteristics of Learning
(cont.)
• Extinction
–

forgetting occurs when reinforcement for learning is
withdrawn

• Stimulus generalisation
–
–

brand equity
brand leverage

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Spontaneous Awareness: Brand A

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Spontaneous Awareness: Brand B

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General Characteristics of Learning
(cont.)
• Stimulus discrimination
–

why your brand is different

• Response environment
–
–

strength of original learning
similarity of original learning environment to the retrieval
environment

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The Response Environment
• Strength of original learning affects ability to

retrieve relevant information
• Similarity of the original learning and the type of
learning is important
• Marketers aim to replicate these situations

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Example of Stimulus Generalisation to Launch a
New Product

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Memory
• Memory is the total accumulation of

prior learning experiences
• Short-term memory
–
–

working memory
the role of images, sight, sound, smell, taste and tactile
situations

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