How should marketing campaigns be structured to enhance consumer learning and memory?

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What we know, think and feel about brands comes from the process of learning

What we think and feel are precursors to purchase and consumption

So, how does learning take place?

What can marketers do to promote positive learning about brands?

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Motivation – the arousal function that energises behaviour necessary to engage in learning

Stimuli – compete for attention and provide direction to motivated activity

Response – mental or physical reaction to a stimulus situation

Reinforcement – anything that follows a response and increases the likelihood of the response being repeated in a similar situation

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“a relatively permanent change in behaviour due to past experience” (Coon, 1983)

“the process by which relatively permanent changes occur in behavioural potential as a result of experience”(Anderson, 1995)

Anderson’s definition recognises importance of potential as distinct from performance ie all the behaviours of which we are capable but not performing at the moment

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How does information get from the external communication environment into long-term memory where it is used in consumer decision making?

What’s the role of the promotional elements of the marketing mix in this process?

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Knowledge of learning principles can help us to understand how consumer behaviour develops and how to influence it

How consumers develop habitual purchase patterns for things and strong loyalty to brands

Various theories have been developed to explain different aspects of learning

Understanding consumer learning may help us shape consumer behaviour

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Learning theories

Cognitive Stimulus response

Classical conditioning

Instrumental conditioning

Rote learning

Vicarious learning

Problem solving

Insight

Learning involves development of SR connections

With varying importance of reinforcement

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BEFORE CONDITIONING

DURING CONDITIONING

AFTER CONDITIONING

Bike alone

- No arousal Sexy girl

generates

physiological

arousal

Bike and girl together generates

Physiological arousal

Bike alone generates physiological

arousal 10

Happy situation

(US) family gathering

Xmas

General emotional response

Relaxation, nostalgia, excitement

(UR)

Brand

(CS) Conditioned response is general emotional

response in presence of brand which may

facilitate brand purchase

(CR)

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If the brand and it’s packaging

are the conditioned stimulus for

the conditioned response (ie

evoke the general emotional

response)

Will changing the stimulus

drastically lead to extinction

of the CR ?

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The process of altering the probability of a behaviour by changing the consequences of a behaviour

Events or consequences increase the likelihood of a given behaviour being repeated

Reward increases the probability of behaviour being repeated = positive reinforcement

Performance of behaviour removes aversive stimuli = negative reinforcement

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A desired behaviour to a conditioned stimulus is rewarded by a positive reinforcer

Over a number of reinforced trials a connection between stimulus and response is learned such that the learned behaviour is repeated in the presence of the stimulus

Unlike classical conditioning the learner has to discover which response produces the reward – the response is dependent on the learners actions

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Continuous reinforcement schedule: reward every occurrence of the desired behaviour

Fixed ratio reinforcement schedule: reward every nth occurrence (eg every 4th)

Variable ratio: reward based on an average 4th occurrence (eg 3rd and 5th, 1st and 7th)

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Favourable product/service experience strengthens the SR link increasing the likelihood of repeat behaviour

The building blocks of sales promotion techniques are built around the principles of instrumental conditioning

Partial reinforcement schedules have implications for sales promotion, brand orientation and attitude change

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Rewarding customers

with frequent flyer miles

is an effective way to

reinforce their behaviour

and build brand loyalty Solomon 2006

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Continuous reinforcement produces rapid learning whilst partial reinforcement produces slower learning that is longer lasting

Implications for rewarding loyalty?

Couponing frequency

Attitude change

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Before Clubcard Tesco was stuck as the UK’s second ranking supermarket

Today Tesco is by far the UK’s largest grocer (>30% market share)

Tesco.com is the world’s largest grocery etailer

UK’s largest employer Europe’s fastest growing financial services

company

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“Contrary to popular belief, Tesco’s

most significant competitive advantage

in the UK is not it’s scale. We believe

Clubcard, which conveys an array of

material benefits across virtually every

discipline of it’s business, is Tesco’s

most potent weapon in the ongoing

battle for market share. Tesco is big

because it is good, not vice versa.”

JP Morgan Cazenove

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Reward the behaviour you seek (increase frequency of visits, shop new departments, trial new lines, use new services)

Desired behaviours can be developed and maintained with small and infrequent rewards)

Establish priorities and measures for the behaviour changes you want to see

You can’t achieve every behaviour change at once

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Each quarterly mailing gives customers the cash value of their points plus coupons based on how Tesco seeks to shape their behaviour

40%

60% TOTAL

SALES

UPLIFT Customers redeeming vouchers in areas where Tesco

encouraged them to shop and increasing spend for

that visit

Money-off coupons to reinforce existing behaviours

and encourage new trials based on known profiles

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Learning is a behavioural change arising from experience

In classical conditioning a learned association elicits a naturally occurring response. Positive associations with products/brands are created through such stimulus pairings.

In instrumental conditioning behaviour is shaped by rewarding the desired response

Marketers must create positive associations with their brands and build recognition and recall

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Learning Motivation Stimulus Responce

Reinforcement UCS UCR CS

CR Classical conditioning

Instrumental conditioning

Reinforcement schedule

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Retrieval: Information is recovered

from memory

when needed

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Memory processes are important because consumers act on the basis of cognitions which are stored in memory and influence how incoming stimuli are interpreted

The challenge for marketers is to have consumers remember your name and brand in preference to those of competitors

The fastest rate of forgetting occurs soon after learning has occurred – how do advertisers counter that?

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Sensory

memory Short term

memory Long term

memory

Forgotten material

Information

Elaborative rehearsal

Maintenance

Rehearsal

loop

Temporary storage of

sensory information –

less then 1 second

Brief storage of information

currently being used. Limited

Capacity. Less then 20 seconds

Long term/

Permanent.

Unlimited

capacity

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Sensory memory stores after images which are lost quickly through decay unless capturing sufficient attention and further processing

Short term memory temporarily stores and processes information to comprehend meaning – it is limited by both time and space. Information not rehearsed is lost through decay

Long term memory is the long term store for information which is coded in a variety of different ways

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Semantic encoding – an object is not directly represented in memory but rather in terms of its meaning for the individual (networks of knowledge eg Nike shoes = cushioned, Swoosh, lightweight)

Scripts – represent series of actions based on previous events which influence future actions when a similar situation occurs (enter store, go straight ahead to fruit and veg, turn left to milk)

Visual encoding – using mental images to store information often leads to strong long term memory for material (eg Wonderbra, Calvin Klein, Benetton)

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Messages with unique aspects are more likely to be remembered (Guinness)

The beginning and end of messages are more likely to be remembered (“Washes whiter” at beginning and end)

Messages that encourage immediate rehearsal of material stimulate it’s retention (jingles – “that’s ASDA price”)

If material lends itself to “chunking” more information can be processed and retained (“New action ball tabs from Vanish – 1 chunk – Give power of whitening in your wash – 1 chunk – So stains vanish – 1 chunk.)

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Memory is cue dependent (characteristics of the learning situation)and presentation of relevant cues will stimulate recall

Material that is meaningful to the individual is learned more quickly and more likely to be remembered

Visual content is frequently more memorable than verbal content

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Cue dependency

Meaningful and

relevant

Content is largely visual

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The pink bunny from

the TV commercial is

added to the packaging

to aid brand recall at

point of purchase Solomon 2006

Illustrates cue dependency – the

stimulus was present in the learning

environment

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Familiarity with an iconic

symbol enhances brand

recall. Jolly Green Giant has

appeared in ads and

packaging for

30 years...yo ho ho!

Important in creating and

maintaining awareness Solomon 2006

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The “mere exposure effect”: customers

prefer similarity

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Learned information is stored in memory

Retrieval is the process whereby stored information is accessed

A variety of factors influence likelihood of recall including mood, familiarity, salience and format (pictorial vs verbal)

Memory for product information can be measured through recognition or recall techniques

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