CHAPTER 2 PERCEPTION Sensation is the immediate response of our sensory receptors (in our eyes, ears, nose,

mouth, and skin) to such basic stimuli as light, colour and sound Perception is the process by which these sensations are selected, organized and interpreted

o Study of perception focuses on what we add to or take away from these raw sensations as we choose which to notice and then go about assigning meaning to them

SENSORY SYSTEMS People undergo stages of information processing in which stimuli are input and stored

consumers do not passively process whatever information is present Process of interpretation is made up of 3 steps

o Exposure o Attention o Interpretation

External stimuli or sensory inputs can be received on a number of channels these inputs picked up by our 5 senses constitutes the raw data that generate many types of responses (ie sensory emanating from the external environment (hearing a song on itunes) can generate internal sensory experiences when the song triggers a young man’s memory of his first dance and brings the mind the smell of his dates perfume)

SENSORY MARKETING: HARNESSING PERCEPTION FOR A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE In the new era of sensory marketing, companies pay extra attention to the impact of sensation

on our product experiences companies recognizing that our senses help us decide which products appeal to us

Sight Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in advertising, store design, and packaging

communicate meanings on the visual channel through a products colour, size, and styling How perception can be “coloured” Colours influence our emotions directly ie red creates feelings of arousal and stimulate

appetite whereas blue stimulate relaxation People who complete tasks when the words are displayed on red backgrounds perform better

when they have to remember details, when blue backgrounds are used, people excel at the tasks that require and imaginative response

Colours are rich in symbolic value and cultural meanings(ie red is good luck for Chinese, whereas black uniforms are a symbol of power)

Perceptions of colour depends on its physical wavelength and how the mind respond to that stimulus

Colour preferences can also be biological ie women prefer brighter tones and more sensitive to subtle shading and patterns bcause they see colour better than men do

Age impacts our response to colour as we get old, our vision takes on a yellow cast, colours look duller so they prefer white and other bright tones

Some colour combinations come to be associated so strongly with a corporation that they become known as the company’s trade dress

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How your eyes make you eat more When pouring or eating goods from larger boxes, the size of the box implicitly suggests that its

appropriate or “acceptable” to eat more Visual illusions also influence how much we pour and drink people tend to focus on the height,

not the width of the liquid pouring so youll be drinking more than you would if the glass was skinny

Visual cues in packaging also impact consumption in other ways although intiuitin tells consumers that smaller packages should help them eat less, when multiple small packages are available consumers often each much more of the product

o Those who are more concerned with dieting who eat the most snack foods when they are presented in small packages

Our yes trick us when it comes to a variety. When we see an assortment of foods, this abundance suggests its appropriate to eat more (ie students will eat more M&Ms from a bowl with 10 colours and a bowl with only 7 colours)

When it comes to how much we eat and drink, our eyes often have more to say than our stomachs Smell British researcher reported that women rated men who used Lynx deodorant as more attractive

than men who used a “placebo” product with no fragrance The “axe effect” only worked for women who watched the videos with no sound – those who

actually heard then men talk didn’t show a preference, which supports the idea that self-confidence is translated into body language, which in turns translates into attractiveness

Odours can stir emotions or create calming feeling can evoke memories or relieve stress. Some responses to scents result from early associations that call up good or bad feelings which explains why businesses are exploring connections between smell, memory and mood

We process fragrance cues in the limbic system, the most primitive part of the brand and the place where we experience emotions (ie scent of fresh cinnamon buns induced sexual arousal in men)

Researchers have found that the sense of smell can lead to different behavioural reactions to stimuli study found that consumers who viewed ads for either flowers or chocolate and who also were exposed to congruent odours spend more time processing the product information and were more likely to try different alternatives within the relevant product category

Marketers are coming up with ingenious ways to exploit the relationship between smell and behaviours ad companies spend close to $80 million per year on scent marketing

There is also evidence that certain smells may be more effective when targeted toward one of the sexes ie a vanilla smell diffused into a woman’s clothing store and a spicy, honey smell diffused into a means clothing store doubled sales

Hearing Music and other sounds affect peoples feelings and behaviours some marketers come up with

brand names with attention to sound symbolism: the process by which the way a word sounds influences our assumptions about what it describes and its attributes such as size

o Ie consumers are more likely to recognize brand names that begin with a hard consonant like a K (Kelloggs) or P (Pepsi) (c) 2017 Classfeed corporation - distributing these notes is illegal and can by punishable by law.

By decomposing brand names into individual sounds called phonemes, one study showed how even these cues affect consumer evaluations and convey unique meanings about inherent properties of the product

o Ie consumers infer that brands containing the vowel sound of short I weigh less than brands containing the vowel sound of a

Other research shows that brand names with repetition in their phonetic structure (ie jelly belly) produce positive affect when spoken aloud, leading to increased preference for the brand

Touch Moods are relaxed or stimulated on the basis of sensations of the skin, whether from a luxurious

massage or from the bit of a winter wind Touch has been shown to be a factor in sales interactions diners who were touched by servers

gave bigger tips o On the other hand, a touch from a stranger leads to more negative evaluations of products

a shopper encounters in a store Study found that participants who simply touched an item for 30 seconds or less created a

greater level of attachment to the product that boosted what they were willing to pay for it endowment effect

o Endowment usually occurs when consumers ascribe more value to something because they own it simply touching and engaging with the product also increases endowment

The power of touch even translates to online shopping where touchscreens create a stronger feeling of psychological ownership compared to products consumers explore using a touchpad or mouse

Haptic (touch) senses appear to moderate the relationship between product experience and judgment confidence, confirming the common-sense notion that were more sure about what we perceive when we can touch it

o Researchers found that individuals who scored high on a “need for touch” scale were especially influenced by this dimensions. Those with a high need for touch responded positively to such statements as the following

When walking through the stores, I can’t help touching all kinds of products Touching products can be fun I feel more comfortable purchasing a product after physically examining it

One study found that produce judgments by individuals who do not normally possess a compulsion to touch products (low autotelics) are influenced by the “feel” of a package while those who do not have a compulsion to touch items (high autotelics) do not rely on this cue to infer a products quality

Kansei engineering: a philosophy that translates consumers feelings into design elements o Mazda Miata the company discovered that making the stick shift exactly 9.5

centimetres long conveys the feeling of sportiness and control Taste Our taste receptors contribute to our experience of many products, and people form strong

preferences for certain flavours Specialized companies called “flavour houses” keep busy trying to develop new tastes to please

the changing palates of consumers Changes in our culture determine the tastes we find desirable ie consumers greater

appreciation of different ethnic dishes has contributed to increased desires for spicy foods, so the quest for the ultimate pepper sauce is a hot taste trend

Marketers also discovered various ways to influence consumers perception of the taste of the product itself ie subtle cue such as the colour of a product can influence perceptions of the actual taste of the product, even when the true taste of the product is the exact same

EXPOSURE

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Exposure occurs when a stimulus comes within the range of the individuals sensory receptors, so that he or she has the potential to notice it we are capable of noticing stimuli that we are exposed to for even a short time – if we choose to do so

Sensory Thresholds There are some stimuli that people simply are not capable of perceiving Some people are better able to pick up sensory information than others Psychographics: science that focuses on how the physical environment is integrated into our

personal, subjective world We define the lowest intensity of a stimulus that can be registered on a sensory channel as a

threshold The absolute threshold refers to the minimum amount of stimulation that can be detected on a

sensory channel ie the sound emitted by a dog whistle is too high to be detected by human ears, so this stimulus is beyond our auditory absolute threshold

The differential threshold refers to the ability of a sensory system to detect changes in a stimulus or difference between two stimuli minimum change in a stimulus that can be detected is known as the JND (just noticeable difference)

The issue of when and if a change will be noticed by consumers is relevant to many marketing situations sometimes marketer wants to ensure that a chance is noticed; in other situations, the fact that a change has been made is downplayed as in the case of price increases or product size decreases

A consumers ability to detect a different between two stimuli is relative a whispered conversation that might sound unintelligible on a noisy street can suddenly become public and embarrassing knowing in a quiet library it is the relative difference between the decibel level of the conversation and its surroundings rather than the loudness of the conversation itself

The amount of change necessary to be noticed is systematically related to the original intensity of the stimulus the stronger the stimulus, the greater the change must be for it to be noticed relationship is known as weber’s law

o The main point of weber’s laws is that the ratios, not the absolute differences, that are important in describing the least perceptible differences in sensory discrimination

the differential threshold varies not only with consumers sensitivity and type of stimuli, but also with the absolute intensity of the stimuli being compared

manufacturers and brand managers endeavour to determine the relevant just noticeable different for their products for 2 reasons

o so that reductions in product size, increases in product price, or changes in packaging are not readily discernible to the public

o so that product improvements are perceived by the public weber’s law is a challenge to green marketers who try to reduce the sizes of packages when they

produce concentrated versions of their products ie makers of laundry detergent brand shave to convince their customers to pay the same price for about half the detergent one way to combat this is by redesigning the size of the cap to be shorter so people can see its going to take less

Subliminal perception subliminal perception: perception of stimulus below the level of consumer consciousness has

captivated the public for more than 50 years, despite the fact that there is virtually no proof that it has any effect on consumer behaviour

the continuing controversy about subliminal persuasion has been important in shaping the publics beliefs about advertising and the ability of markets to manipulate consumers against their will

subliminal messages can supposedly be sent on both visual and aural channels embeds are tiny figures that are inteserted into magazine articles by using high speed photography or airbrushing

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