2. Chapter 9: Learning and memory
1. Nature of learning
2. Differences between classical conditioning,
operant (instrumental) conditioning and
cognitive learning
3. Main characteristics of learning
4. Understand how consumers learn
5. How knowledge about learning can be
incorporated into marketing strategies
6. Importance of brand image and product
positioning
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3. The Nature of Learning
Learning is any change
in the content or Attitudes
organization of long-
Feelings Values
term memory or
behavior and is the
result of information Learning
Symbolic
processing. Meanings
Tastes
Consumer behavior is
largely learned Preferences Behaviors
behavior.
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7. Involvement and learning
• Learning under high-involvement conditions
– Consumer has a high motivation to learn
• Learning under low-involvement conditions
– Most consumer learning is in a low-involvement
context
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8. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
A High-involvement learning situation is one in which
the consumer is motivated to process or learn the
material.
A Low-involvement learning situation is one in which
the consumer has little or no motivation to process or
learn the material.
Most consumer learning occurs in relatively low
involvement contexts.
The way a communication should be structured differs
depending on the level of involvement the audience is
expected to have.
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11. Conditioning
•Conditioning is based on the association of a
stimulus (information) with a response
(behaviour or feeling)
•It is a set of procedures that marketers can
use to increase the chances that an
association between two stimuli is formed or
learned.
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12. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Conditioning
There are two types of conditioning:
1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning
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13. Classical conditioning
• Establishing a relationship between stimulus
and response to bring about the learning of
the same response to a different stimulus
• Most common in low-involvement situations
• Learning is more often a feeling or emotion
than information
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15. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning (or instrumental learning) involves
rewarding desirable behaviors such as brand purchases with a
positive outcome that serves to reinforce the behavior.
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16. Operant conditioning
• Trial precedes liking
– Reverse is often true for classical conditioning
– Product sampling is an example of this type of learning
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21. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Cognitive Learning
• Cognitive learning encompasses all the mental
activities of humans as they work to solve
problems or cope with situations.
• It involves learning ideas, concepts, attitudes, and
fact that contribute to our ability to reason, solve
problems, and learn relationships without direct
experience or reinforcement.
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22. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Cognitive Learning
1. Iconic Rote Learning
2. Vicarious Learning/Modeling
3. Analytical Reasoning
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23. Cognitive learning
• Iconic rote learning
– Association between two or more concepts in the
absence of conditioning
a substantial amount of low-involvement
learning involves iconic rote learning
achieved by repeated advertising messages
• In iconic rote learning there is neither an
unconditioned stimulus (classical) nor a direct reward
or reinforcement (operant) involved.
• Repetition tends to be critical to iconic rote learning.
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24. Cognitive learning (cont.)
• Vicarious learning/modelling
– Observe others' behaviour and adjust their own
accordingly
common in both high-involvement and low-
involvement situations
• Reasoning
– Most complex form of cognitive learning
most high-involvement decisions generate
some reasoning
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25. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Vicarious Learning/Modeling
Vicarious learning or modeling can include observing the
outcomes of others’ behaviors and adjusting their own
accordingly. In addition, they can use imagery to
anticipate the outcome of various courses of action.
This type of learning is common in both low- and high-
involvement situation.
Many ads encourage consumers to imagine the feeling
and experience of using a product. Such images not only
enhance learning about the product, but may even
influence how the product is evaluated after an actual trial.
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26. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Analytical Reasoning
Analytical reasoning is the most complex form of cognitive
learning.
learning
•Individuals engage in creative thinking to restructure and
recombine existing information as well as new information to
form new associations and concepts.
•Information from a credible source that contradicts or
challenges one’s existing beliefs will often trigger reasoning.
•Analogical reasoning allows consumers to use an existing
knowledge base to understand a new situation or object.
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28. General characteristics of learning
• The strength of learning is influenced by:
– Importance and relevance
separates high and low-involvement learning
situations
– Involvement
– Mood
– Reinforcement (or punishment)
– Stimulus repetitions (practice sessions)
– Imagery
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30. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Strength of Learning
Memory Interference
Response Environment
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31. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Strength of learning
What is required to bring about a long-lasting learned
response?
One factor is strength of learning.
learning
The stronger the original learning (e.g., of nodes and links
between nodes), the more likely relevant information will
be retrieved when required.
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32. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Strength of Learning
Strength of learning is enhanced by six factors:
1. Importance
2. Message Involvement
3. Mood
4. Reinforcement
5. Number of stimulus repititions
6. The amount of imagery contained in the material
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33. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Importance
Importance refers to the
value that consumers place
on the information to be
learned.
Importance might be driving
by inherent interest in the
product or brand, or might
be driven be the need to
make a decision in the near
future.
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34. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Message Involvement
When a consumer is not motivated to learn the material,
processing can be increased by causing the person to
become involved with the message itself.
• Example: Playing an instrumental version of a popular
song with lyrics related to product attributes may cause
people to “sing along,” either out loud or mentally.
Self referencing uses second-person pronouns (you, your)
in ads to encourage consumers to relate brand information
to themselves.
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35. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Mood
A positive mood during the presentation of information
such as brand names enhances learning.
A positive mood during the reception of information
appears to enhance its relational elaboration—it is
compared with and evaluated against more categories.
This produces a more complete and stronger set of
linkages among a variety of other brands and
concepts, which in turn enhances retrieval (access to
the information).
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36. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Reinforcement
Reinforcement involves anything that increases the likelihood
that a given response will be repeated in the future.
Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement
A pleasant or desired The removal or the
consequence avoidance of an unpleasant
consequence.
Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement. It is any
consequence that decreases the likelihood that a given response
will be repeated in the future.
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37. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Repetition
Repetition enhances learning and memory by increasing
accessibility of information or by strengthening the
associative linkages between concepts.
Repetition depends on importance and reinforcement.
Less repetition of an advertising message is needed if
importance is high or if there is a great deal of relevant
reinforcement.
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38. General characteristics of learning (cont.)
• Extinction
– Forgetting occurs when reinforcement for
learning is withdrawn
• Stimulus generalisation
– Brand equity
– Brand leverage
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42. Learning Under High and Low Involvement
Learning to Generalize and Differentiate
• Stimulus generalization or rub-off effect occurs
when a response to one stimulus is elicited by a
similar but distinct stimulus.
• Stimulus discrimination or differentiation refers
to the process of learning to respond differently to
similar but distinct stimuli.
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44. General characteristics of learning (cont.)
• Stimulus discrimination
– Why your brand is different
• Response environment
– Strength of original learning
– Similarity of original learning environment to the
retrieval environment
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45. The response environment
• Strength of original learning affects ability to
retrieve relevant information
• Similarity of the original learning and the type
of learning is important
• Marketers aim to replicate these situations
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46. Memory and its connection to Consumer Information
Processing (Perception- previous lecture)
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47. Memory’s Role in Learning
Memory consists of two interrelated components:
components
1. Short-term Memory (STM) a.k.a. working memory
• is that portion of total memory that is currently activated
or in use.
2. Long-term Memory (LTM)
• is that portion of total memory devoted to permanent
information storage.
• Semantic memory is the basic knowledge and
feelings an individual has about a concept.
• Episodic memory is the memory of a sequence of
events in which a person participated.
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49. Memory’s Role in Learning
Short-Term Memory
STM is Short Lived
• Consumers must constantly refresh information through
maintenance rehearsal or it will be lost.
STM has Limited Capacity
• Consumers can only hold so much information in
current memory.
Elaborative Activities Occur in STM
• Elaborative activities serve to redefine or add new
elements to memory and can involve both concepts and
imagery.
imagery
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50. Short term memory
Two kinds of information processing:
• Elaborative activities:
– Use of previously stored experiences, values,
attitudes, beliefs and feelings to interpret and
evaluate information in the working memory.
• Maintenance rehearsal:
– The continual repetition of a piece of information
in order to hold it in working memory to solve
problems. Repeating a brand name is an
example of this.
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51. Memory (cont.)
• Long-term memory
– Unlimited permanent storage
– Schematic memory
linking to ‘chunks’ of information
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52. Memory’s Role in Learning
Long-Term Memory
Schemas (a.k.a. schematic memory)
Scripts
Retrieval from LTM
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53. Mental Processes Assisting
Learning
Dual
Dual
Repetition
Repetition Coding
Coding
Meaningful
Meaningful Chunking
Chunking
Encoding
Encoding
These rely on making associations.
These rely on making associations.
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54. Cognitive Schemas
• Schema – a type of associative network
that works as a cognitive representation
of a phenomenon that provides meaning
to that entity.
• Exemplar – a concept within a schema
that is the single best representative of
some category.
• Prototype – characteristics more
associated with a concept.
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55. Memory’s Role in Learning
A Partial Schematic Memory for Mountain Dew
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57. Reaction to New Products/Brands
Whaa is
Wh tt isthis?
this?!?
!?
We find it strange if a brand doesn’t fit within the
given associative network of attributes 9-57
60. Memory’s Role in Learning
Retrieval: Knowing versus Remembering
Explicit memory is
characterized by the
conscious recollection of
an exposure event.
Implicit memory
involves the
nonconscious retrieval of
previously encountered
stimuli.
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61. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Marketers want consumers to learn and remember
positive features, feelings, and behaviors associated with
their brands.
What happens when
consumers forget?
Conditioned Learning Cognitive Learning
Extinction Retrieval Failure
Desired response decays or dies out Information that is available in LTM
if not reinforced. cannot be retrieved.
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62. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Forgetting over Time: Magazine Advertisement
Source: LAP Report #5260.1 (New York: Weeks McGraw-Hill, undated). Reprinted with
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permission from McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
63. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Impact of Repetition on Brand Awareness for High- and Low-Awareness Brands
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Source: A Study of the effectiveness of Advertising Frequency in Magazines, 1993 Time, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
64. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Repetition Timing and Advertising Recall
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Source: Reprinted from H. J. Zielski, “The Remembering and Forgetting of Advertising,” Journal of Marketing, January 1959, p. 240, with permission from The American Marketing Association. The actual
data and a refined analysis were presented in J. L. Simon, “What Do Zielski’s Data Really Show about Pulsing?” Journal of Marketing Research, August 1979, pp. 415-20.
65. 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.
A common form of interference in
marketing is due to competitive
advertising.
Competitive advertising makes it
harder for consumers to recall any
given advertisement and its
contents.
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66. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
What Can Marketers Do to Decrease
What Can Marketers Do to Decrease
Competitive Interference?
Competitive Interference?
Avoid Competing Advertising
Avoid Competing Advertising
Strengthen Initial learning
Strengthen Initial learning
Reduce Similarity to Competing Ads
Reduce Similarity to Competing Ads
Provide External Retrieval Cues
Provide External Retrieval Cues
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67. Learning, Memory, and Retrieval
Response Environment
Retrieval is also affected by the similarity of the retrieval
(response) environment to the original learning
environment and type of learning.
The more the retrieval situation offers cues similar to the
cues present during learning, the more likely effective
retrieval is to occur.
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69. Brand Image and Product Positioning
Brand image refers to the schematic memory of a brand.
Perceived Product
Attributes
Manufacturer
Marketer Benefits
Characteristics
Brand Image
Users Usage Situations
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70. Brand Image and Product Positioning
Product positioning 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.
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71. Brand Image and Product Positioning
Perceptual Map for Automobiles
Also refer to Figure 9.13 on page
286 of the text
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72. 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
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73. 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
leverage
extensions, or umbrella branding, refers to marketers
branding
capitalizing on brand equity by using an existing brand
name for new products.
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