1. Marketing 334 Consumer Behavior
Chapter 9
Learning, Memory and product Positioning
From: Consumer Behavior by Hawkins, Mothersbaugh and Best

2. Positioning Strategy Product Position Repositioning
The perception consumers have about the product relative to competing products
Repositioning
Reinforce existing positive perceptions
Reduce any negative perceptions
Create new positive associations

3. Learning
A change in content or organization of long term memory or behavior
the result of information processing

4. Memory’s Role in Learning
Memory consists of two interrelated components:
Short-term Memory (STM) a.k.a. working memory
is that portion of total memory that is currently activated or in use.
Long-term Memory (LTM)
is that portion of total memory devoted to permanent information storage.
Semantic memory
Episodic memory

5. Memory’s Role in Learning
Short-Term Memory
STM is Short Lived
STM has Limited Capacity
Elaborative Activities Occur in STM
9-5

6. Fisher Price
Courtesy Fisher-Price

7. Memory’s Role in Learning
Long-Term Memory
Schemas (a.k.a. schematic memory)
Scripts
Retrieval from LTM
9-7

8. Memory’s Role in Learning
A Partial Schematic Memory for Mountain Dew

9. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
High Involvement Learning
The consumer is motivated to process or learn the material
Low Involvement Learning
The consumer has little or no motivation to process or learn the material

10. Nature's Way
© 1996 Nature’s Way Products, Inc.

11. Jell-O Pudding
© 1996 Kraft Foods, Inc.

12. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Classical conditioning is the process of using an established relationship between one stimulus (music) and response (pleasant feelings) to bring about the learning of the same response (pleasant feelings) to a different stimulus (the brand).

13. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Operant conditioning (or instrumental learning) involves rewarding desirable behaviors such as brand purchases with a positive outcome that serves to reinforce the behavior.

14. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Shaping Can Be Used in Operant Conditioning

15. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Cognitive Learning
Iconic Rote Learning
Vicarious Learning/Modeling
Analytical Reasoning
9-15

16. American Egg Board
© 1996 American Egg Board

17. Learning to Generalize and Differentiate
Stimulus Discrimination
Stimulus Generalization

18. Hershey Tastetations
© Hershey Corporation

19. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Marketers want consumers to learn and remember positive features, feelings, and behaviors associated with their brands.

20. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Strength of Learning
Memory Interference
Response Environment
9-20

21. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Strength of Learning
Strength of learning is enhanced by six factors:
Importance
Message Involvement
Mood
Reinforcement
Repetition
Dual Coding

22. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Memory interference occurs when consumers have difficulty retrieving a specific piece of information because other related information in memory gets in the way.
Avoid competing ads
Strengthen initial learning
Reduce similarity to competing ads
Provide external retrieval cues

23. Brand Image and Product Positioning
Brand image refers to the schematic memory of a brand.

24. Brand Image and Product Positioning
Product positioning strategy is a decision by a marketer to try to achieve a defined brand image relative to competition within a market segment.
An important component of brand image is the appropriate usage situations for the product or brand.
Perceptual mapping offers marketing managers a useful technique for measuring and developing a product’s position.

25. Brand Image and Product Positioning
Perceptual Map for Automobiles

26. Brand Image and Product Positioning
Product repositioning refers to a deliberate decision to significantly alter the way the market views a product. This can involve
level of performance
the feelings it evokes
the situations in which it should be used, or
who uses the product

27. Brand Equity and Brand Leverage
Brand equity is the value consumers assign to a brand above and beyond the functional characteristics of the product.
Brand leverage, often termed family branding, brand extensions, or umbrella branding, refers to marketers capitalizing on brand equity by using an existing brand name for new products.