Consumer learning

What is Consumer Learning?

• Consumer Learning is the process by which individuals acquire
the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience
they apply to future related behaviour.
• Most of the learning is incidental. Some of it is intentional.
Basic elements that contribute to an understanding of learning
are:
•  
• Motivation
• Cues
• Response
• Reinforcement
• There are 2 theories on how Individuals learn:
•  
• Behavioural Theory
• Cognitive Theory
•  
• Both contribute to an understanding of consumer
behaviour.
• Behavioural Theorists view learning as observable
responses to stimuli, whereas Cognitive Theorists believe
that learning is a function of mental processing
• 3 Major Behavioural Learning Theories are :
•  
• Classical Conditioning : Includes Repetition, Stimulus generalization and
Stimulus discrimination.                                          
• Instrumental Conditioning: Instrumental Learning theorists believe that
learning occurs through a trial and error process in which the positive
outcomes in the form of results or desired outcomes lead to repeat
behaviour like Repeat Purchase or Repeat Positive Word of Mouth.        
                               Both positive and negative reinforcement can be used
to encourage the desired behaviour. The timing of repetitions
influences how long the learned material is retained. Learning usually
persists longer with distributed re-inforcement schedule, while mass
repetitions produce more initial learnings.                                      
• Observational Conditioning or Vicarious Learning:
• Cognitive learning theory holds that the kind of learning most characteristics of
humans is PROBLEM SOLVING. Cognitive theorists are concerned with how
information is processes by the human mind: how it is stored, retained, and retrieved.
• Involvement theory proposes that people engage in limited information processing in
situations of low relevance to them and people engage in extensive information
processing in situations of high relevance.
• TV is a low involvement medium for learning and print and interactive media
encourage more cognitive information processing.
• Measures of consumer learning include recall and recognition tests, cognitive
responses to advertising, and attitudinal and behavioural measures of brand loyalty.
• A basic issue among researchers is whether to define brand loyalty in terms of
consumer’s behaviours or the consumer’s attitude towards the brand. Brand Equity
refers to the inherent value a brand name has in the marketplac
• brand Loyalty consists of both attitudes and
actual behaviours toward a brand and both
must be measured. For marketers, the major
reasons for understanding how consumers
learn are to teach them that their brand is best
and to develop brand loyalty.
• What does your brand mean to your
customers? Are they really loyal to your brand?
How do you increase their loyalty?