1. Chapter 3 Learning and Memory
By Michael R. Solomon
Consumer Behavior
Buying, Having, and Being
Sixth Edition

2. Opening Vignette: Quisp
How was Quisp brand cereal saved from product extinction?
How can companies capitalize on products that have been previously retired?
What makes vintage products so successful in the marketplace?
Can you think of a product from your youth that you would buy if it became available?

3. The Learning Process Learning: Incidental Learning:
A relatively permanent change in behavior caused by experience
Incidental Learning:
Casual, unintentional acquisition of knowledge
Learning is an Ongoing Process:
Constantly being revised
Can be either simple association (logo recognition) or complex cognitive activity (writing an essay)

4. Learning is a Process
Our tastes are formed as a result of a learning process, sometimes with painful results.

5. Behavioral Learning Theories
Assume that learning takes place as the result of responses to external events.
View is represented by two major approaches to learning:
1) Classical Conditioning
2) Instrumental Conditioning
People’s experiences shaped by feedback they receive as they go through life
Actions result in rewards and punishments, which influences future responses to similar situations.

6. The Consumer as a “Black Box” A Behaviorist Perspective on Learning
Figure 3.1

7. Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov’s Dogs
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) – Naturally capable of causing a response. (Meat)
Conditioned stimulus (CS) – Does not initially cause a response (Bell)
Conditioned response (CR) – Response generated by repeated paired exposures to UCS and CS. (Foaming)
Eventually, through learned association and repetition, the CS will cause the CR.

8. Discussion Question
In the 1980’s, the Lacoste crocodile was an exclusive logo symbolizing casual elegance. When it was repeated on baby clothes and other items, it lost its cache and began to be replaced by contenders such as the Ralph Lauren Polo Player.
Can you thing of other logos that have lost their prestige due to repetition?

9. Classical Conditioning in Advertising
This American Airlines ad points to classical conditioning as an explanation for why their AAdvantage Marketing Programs will work.
Can you identify the UCS, CS, and the CR in this example?

10. Classical Conditioning (cont.)
Stimulus generalization:
Tendency of a stimulus similar to a CS (Bell) to evoke similar, conditioned responses (Foaming)
Masked branding: Deliberately hiding a product’s true origin
Stimulus discrimination:
Occurs when a UCS does not follow a stimulus similar to a CS.

11. Masked Branding

12. Marketing Applications of Behavior Learning Principles
Brand Equity:
A brand has strong positive associations in a consumer’s memory and commands loyalty.
Applications of Repetition
Applications of Conditioned Product Associations:
Semantic associations
Phonemes

13. Loyalty to Brands
Rewarding consumers with frequent flyer miles is an effective way to reinforce them and build brand loyalty.

14. Marketing Applications of Behavior Learning Principles (cont.)
Applications of Stimulus Generalization:
Family branding
Product line extensions
Licensing
Look-alike packaging
Applications of Stimulus Discrimination:
Consumers learn to differentiate a brand from its competitors
Unique attributes of the brand

15. Beware of Knockoffs

16. Instrumental Conditioning
Occurs as the individual learns to perform behaviors that produce positive outcomes and avoid behaviors that yield negative outcomes
A.K.A. “Operant Conditioning”
Occurs one of three ways:
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment

17. Reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement: Positive outcomes that strengthen the likelihood of a specific response
Example: Ad showing beautiful hair as a reinforcement to buy shampoo
Negative Reinforcement: Unpleasant or negative outcomes that serve to encourage a specific behavior
Example: Ad showing wrinkled skin as reinforcement to buy skin cream

18. Positive Reinforcement
The power of positive reinforcement.

19. Instrumental Conditioning (cont.)
Extinction: When a positive outcome is no longer received, the learned stimulus-response connection will not be maintained.
Reinforcement Schedules:
Fixed-interval reinforcement
Variable-interval reinforcement
Fixed-ratio reinforcement
Variable-ratio reinforcement

20. Four Types of Learning Outcomes
Figure 3.2

21. Applications of Instrumental Conditioning Principles
Reinforcement of Consumption:
Thank you
Rebates
Follow-up phone calls
Frequency Marketing:
Reinforces regular purchases by giving them rewards with values that increase along with the amount purchased
Frequent flyer miles

22. Cognitive Learning Theory
Is learning cognitive or not?
Trigger feature
A stimulus that cues an individual toward a particular pattern and activates a reaction
Observational learning:
Occurs when people watch the actions of others and note reinforcements received for their behaviors
Learning occurs as a result of vicarious, rather than direct, experience.

23. Cognitive Learning Theory
Appeal to Cognitive Processing

24. Components of Observational Learning
Figure 3.3

25. Four conditions must be met for modeling to occur
1. The consumer’s attention must be directed to the appropriate model, who for reasons of attractiveness, competence, status, or similarity is desirable to emulate.
2. The consumer must remember what is said or done by the model.
3. The consumer must convert this information into actions.
4. The consumer must be motivated to perform these actions.

26. Role Models
Ads with celebrities like Tiger Woods tend to have very high recall rates.
Name some ads with celebrities that you can recall easily. Why does the celebrity association with the ad aid your recall?

27. Applications of Cognitive Learning Principles
Consumers learn vicariously by seeing others receive reinforcement for their behaviors.
Marketers can reinforce or punish consumers indirectly by showing what happens to desirable models who do or do not use their products.
Consumers’ evaluations of models are not limited to stimulus-response connections.
Attractiveness can be based on several components (e.g. physical attractiveness, expertise, similarity to the evaluator)

28. The Role of Memory in Learning
A process of acquiring and storing information such that it will be available when needed.
Stages of Memory
Encoding stage
Information entered in a recognizable way
Storage stage
Knowledge integrated into what is already there and warehoused
Retrieval stage
The person accesses the desired information

29. The Memory Process
Figure 3.4

30. Memory and Advertising
This Brazilian ad illustrates that external memory aids like
Post-Its can help us to remember many of the details of modern life.

31. Encoding Information for Later Retrieval
Types of meaning:
Sensory meaning (e.g. color or shape)
Sense of familiarity (e.g. seeing a food that we have tasted)
Semantic meaning: Symbolic associations (e.g. rich people drink champagne)
Personal relevance:
Episodic memories: Relate to events that are personally relevant
Flashbulb memories: Especially vivid associations (9/11).
Narrative: An effective way of persuading people to construct a mental representation of the information that they are viewing

32. Memory Systems Sensory Memory: Short-Term Memory (STM):
Very temporary storage of information we receive from our senses (last a very short time)
Short-Term Memory (STM):
Limited period of time & limited capacity
Working memory (i.e., holds memory we are currently processing) It is organized into small chunks, eg. a brand name.
Long-Term Memory (LTM):
Can retain information for a long period of time
Elaboration rehearsal is required: Process involves thinking about a stimulus and relating it to information already in memory. A catchy slogan or a jingle can help us retrieve it.

33. Storing Information in Memory
Multiple Store Models of Memory:
Traditional perspective which assumes that STM & LTM are separate systems.
Activation Models of Memory:
Argues that different levels of processing occur depending on the nature of the processing task.
The more effort it takes to process information, the more likely that information will be placed in LTM.

34. Activation of Memory
Activation models propose that an incoming piece of information is stored in an association network containing many bits of related information organized according to some set of relationships. This is how the consumer can organize brands, manufacturers, and stores.

35. Storing Information in Memory (cont.)
Associative Networks:
Contains many bits of related information organized according to some set of relationships
Knowledge structures: Complex “spider webs” filled with pieces of data
Hierarchical processing model: Message is processed in a bottom-up fashion (i.e., starts at a basic level and is subject to increasingly complex processing which requires increased cognitive capacity)
Node: A concept related to a category
An associative network is developed as links form between nodes.

36. Information is Organized into Categories
Pieces of information that are seen as similar in some way are chunked together under some more abstract category.
The task of the marketer is to position itself as a category member and to provide cues that facilitate its placement in the proper category.

37. An Associative Network for Perfumes
Figure 3.6

38. Storing Information in Memory (conc.)
Spreading Activation:
A process which allows consumers to shift back and forth between levels of meaning
Levels of Knowledge:
Knowledge is coded at different levels of abstraction and complexity.
Proposition (a.k.a. belief): A larger unit of meaning (i.e., formed by combinations of nodes)
Schema: A cognitive framework (comprised of propositions) developed through experience
Script: A type of schema consisting of a sequence of events expected by an individual

39. Retrieving Information for Purchase Decisions
Factors Influencing Retrieval:
Physiological Factors (e.g. age)
Situational Factors:
Pioneering brand: First brand to enter a market. Is generally easier to retrieve from memory.
Descriptive brand names easier to recall than names that do no provide cues to what the product is.
Viewing environment: Commercials shown first in a series of ads are recalled better than those shown last.
Postexperience advertising effects:
When consumers confuse recently viewed ads with their own experiences.

40. Retrieving Information for Purchase Decisions (cont.)
State-Dependent Retrieval:
(a.k.a. mood congruence effect) A process by which consumers are better able to access info if their mood is the same at the time of their recall as when the info was learned.
A few marketing researchers use hypnosis to dredge up past memories of experiences with products.
Familiarity and Recall:
Prior familiarity enhances recall.
Salience and Recall:
Salience: The prominence or level of activation of stimuli in memory
Von Restorff Effect: Any technique that increases the novelty of a stimulus also improves recall.

41. Rice Suprise!
The salience of a brand refers to its prominence or level of activation in memory.
Almost any technique that increases the novelty of a stimulus also improves recall (called the von Restorff Effect).
Putting a surprise element in an ad can be effective.

42. Pictorial versus Verbal Cues
There is some evidence for the superiority of visual memory over verbal memory.
Pictorial ads may enhance recall, but do not necessarily improve comprehension.
How many of these Ad icons can you remember from the picture alone?

43. Factors Influencing Forgetting
Decay:
Structural changes in the brain produced by learning simply go away.
Retroactive Interference:
Consumers forget stimulus-response associations when new responses to the same or similar stimuli are learned.
Proactive Interference:
As new responses are learned, a stimulus loses its effectiveness in retrieving the old response.
Part-list Cueing Effect:
When only a portion of the items in a category are presented to consumers, the omitted items are not as easily recalled.

44. Forgetting process consists of…
Decay—the structural changes in the brain produced by learning simply go away.
Forgetting also occurs due to interference; as additional information is learned, it displaces the earlier information.
Part-list cueing effect allows marketers to strategically utilize the interference process (competitors, though known, are not easily recalled).

45. Products as Memory Markers
Products and ads can serve as powerful retrieval cues.
Autobiographical memories: Consumer memories related to their own past.
Mnemonic qualities: Aspects of a consumer’s possessions that serve as a form of external memory which prompts the retrieval of episodic memories.
The Marketing Power of Nostalgia
Spontaneous recovery: The ability of a stimulus to evoke a response years after it is initially perceived.
Memory and Aesthetic Preferences
Ads and products that remind consumers of their past also help to determine what they like now.

46. Memories of the Past as Retrieval Cues

47. Nostalgia Appeal
Fossil’s product designs evoke memories of earlier classic
designs

48. The impression made by an ad is called impact
Measures of impact are:
Recognition
Recall
Recall does not translate into preference.
Consumers do a poor job of recalling significant pieces of information about most products.

49. Measuring Memory for Marketing Stimuli
Recognition Versus Recall:
Two basic measures of impact.
Typical recognition test: Subjects are shown ads and asked if they have seen them before.
Typical recall test: Subjects are asked to independently think of what they have seen without being prompted first. Recall of Tv ads is poor.
The Starch Test
A widely used commercial measure of advertising recall for magazines.

50. Discussion Question
Ads with celebrities like Britney Spears tend to have very high recall rates.
Name some ads with celebrities that you can recall easily. Why does the celebrity association with the ad aid your recall?

51. Problems with Memory Measures
Response Biases
A contaminated result due to the instrument or the respondent, rather than the object that is being measured.
Memory Lapses
Unintentionally forgetting information:
Omitting: Leaving facts out
Averaging: “Normalizing” memories by not reporting extreme cases
Telescoping: Inaccurate recall of time
Memory for Facts Versus Feelings
Recall is important but not sufficient to alter consumer preferences
More sophisticated attitude-changing strategies are needed.