Chapter 3

From Exposure to Comprehension

Learning Objectives

Discuss why marketers are concerned about consumers’ exposure to marketing stimuli & what tactics they use to enhance exposure.

Explain the characteristics of attention & how marketers can try to attract & sustain consumers’ attention to products & marketing messages.

Describe the major senses that are part of perception and outline why marketers are concerned about consumers’ sensory perceptions.

Discuss the process of comprehension, and outline how marketing-mix elements can affect consumer inferences about products & brands.

Exposure, Attention, & Perception

Exposure-1

“…reflects the process by which the consumer comes into contact with a stimulus.”

Exposure-2

Marketing stimuli

Factors influencing exposure– Position of an ad– Product distribution– Shelf placement

Selective exposure– Zipping– Zapping

Measuring exposure

Attention

“…the process by which we devote mental activity to a stimulus…necessary for information to be processed…activate our senses.”

Characteristics of Attention

Selective

Capable of being divided

Limited

Under what conditions do you give full attention to advertising & marketing communication?

Focal & Nonfocal AttentionPreattentive processing

Hemispheric lateralization

Preattentive processing, brand name liking, & choice

Hemispheric Lateralization

Hemispheric Lateralization

Left hemisphere

Processing units that can be combined, e.g.,

CountingProcessing

unfamiliar wordsForming sentences

Right hemisphere

Processing musicGrasping visual/spatial informationForming inferencesDrawing conclusions

Are you right brained or left brained?

Enhancing Consumer Attention via Marketing Stimului

Personally relevant

Pleasant

Surprising

Easy to process

Pleasant Marketing Stimuli

Attractive models

Music

Humor

What are some other ways to make ads

More pleasant to consumers?

Surprising

Novelty

Unexpectedness

Puzzles

What are ways to enhance suspense or surprise in advertising or marketing communications?

Is surprise a good thing in marketing communications? Why/not?

Easy to Process

Stimuli– Prominent– Concrete– Contrasting

Limit amount of competing information

KISS (Keep it simple…)

Concreteness & Abstractness

Concrete words– Apple– Bowl– Cat– Cottage– Diamond– Engine– Flower

– Garden– Hammer– Infant– Lemon– Meadow– Mountain– Ocean

• Abstract words– Aptitude– Betrayal– Chance– Criterion– Democracy– Essence– Fantasy– Glory

– Hatred– Ignorance– Loyalty– Mercy– Necessity– Obedience

Attention

Defines customer segments

Habituation

Perception

“…occurs when stimuli are registered by one of our five senses: vision, hearing taste, smell, & touch

Perceiving Through Vision

Size & shape

Lettering

Color

Color dimensions

Color & physiological responses/moods

Color & liking

Perceiving Through Hearing

Sonic identity

Sound symbolism

Perceiving Through Taste

Varying perceptions of what “tastes good”

Culture backgrounds

In-store marketing

In-Store Marketing Tactics

Perceiving through Smell

Smell & physiological response/moods

Product trial

Liking

Buying

Perceiving through Touch

Haptic means touch

Touch & physiological responses/ moods

Liking

Consumers Stimuli Perception

Absolute thresholds

Differential thresholds– Just noticeable– Weber’s Law

Subliminal perception & consumer behavior

How Consumers Perceive Marketing Stimuli

Perceptual organization

Figure & ground

Closure

Grouping

Bias for the whole

This Clorox ad attracts consumers’ attention because of its unexpectedness. One does not expect to see a shirt pouring bleach on itself.

© 2008 The Clorox Company. Reprinted with permission. Photo: Giblin + James

This Wishbone Bountiful ad is easy for consumers to process. It demonstrates the vegetables loaded into the salad dressing visually (concretely) and with little competing information.

WISH-BONE and BOUNTIFULS are trademarks of Unilever. Used with permission.

Questions?