Marketing 260 Buyer Behaviour Perception

Write down the first thought that pops into your head when you see this image …the FIRST THOUGHT Write down …the FIRST THOUGHT

PERCEPTION IS REALITY How we perceive things is a function of our own personal realities…our history, our culture, our experiences, how we think and feel, our senses or lack thereof. What we believe to be real is dependent upon our perception of what we know or experience…each person can have a different sense of reality as we are all individuals with a different set of experiences. Marketing tries to stimulate and awaken perceptions…to change realities, strengthen perceptions, or invoke realities.

Perception in Marketing Dependent upon Human Sensory System Sensation – “immediate response of our sensory receptors” (ears, eyes, nose, mouth, fingers…”) Perception – “the process by which sensations are selected, organized and interpreted”. Thus, we are looking at how humans choose which sensations to notice and then add meaning to them.

Sensory Systems - Vision Size Styling Brightness Distinctiveness Colours

Sensory Systems - Smell Odours and Fragances Stir emotions or calming **most primitive part of the brain (limbic system) = ?????????? Cultural significance of smells? (e.g. Gillette)

Sensory Systems-Sounds www.muzak.com Music invokes mood Rock & Roll (anxiety!) Spas (ocean, water, nature) Stores, elevators, on hold music, produce aisle

Sensory Systems-Touch Stimulate or Relax moods Can impact Sales results (e.g. diners touched by waiters…bigger tips) Adds personalization…can also offend (how, who, when all are important) Kansei Engineering “horse and rider as one” (e.g. Mazda and the young) Textures, sizes heights, lengths, and quality perceptions

Sensory Systems-Taste People form strong preferences for certain tastes www.alpha-mos.com (electronic tongue) Awful = powerful Good = pleasing

Exposure “degree that people notice stimuli” Sensory Threshold Why do they observe or ignore Ignore what is not of interest Sensory Threshold Absolute (minimum) Differential (JND – distinguishing stimuli) Subliminal Below threshold of recognition (unconscious) Theatres and popcorn

Attention Extent processing of activity is devoted to a particular stimulus Focus, isolation, sensory deprivation Attention Economy Selectivity = people attend to only a small portion of stimuli Adaptation Degree to notice stimuli over time (e.g. blood and gore/shock value) INTENSITY< DURATION < EXPOSURE (frequency) <RELEVANCE

Interpretation “meanings assigned to stimuli” Schema (set of beliefs) Priming (properties of stimulus) e.g. pup vs. master snow blower Content sensitive (your own reality)

Organizational Memory = Gestalt Psychology (p. 53) “a belief that meaning comes from the totality of a set of stimuli, rather than any individual stimulus” “principal of closure” (incomplete perceived as complete) “principle of similarity” “figure-ground principle” (follow the eye (image focus first))

Interpretation Biases Semiotics Signs, symbols and their roles in meaning Perceptual Positioning Function (price) vs. Symbolic (what it says about us through our use of it) Positioning Strategy Your marketing Mix approach (price, attributes, product class, occasions, users, quality)

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