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CHAPTER 8
PERCEPTION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Describe the nature of perception and its relationship to

consumer memory and decisions
• Explain exposure, the types of exposure, and the resulting marketing
implications
• Explain attention, the factors that affect it, and the resulting marketing
implications
• Explain interpretation, the factors that affect it, and the resulting marketing
implications
• Discuss how perception can enhance strategies for retailing, branding,
advertising, and packaging

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INTERNAL INFLUENCES

PERCEPTION
• Perception is a process that begins with consumer exposure and
attention to marketing stimuli and ends with consumer interpretation

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THE NATURE OF
PERCEPTION

• Information processing is a series

of activities by which stimuli are
perceived, transformed into
information, and stored.
• Exposure
• Attention
• Interpretation
• Memory

EXPOSURE
• Exposure occurs when a stimulus is placed within a person’s relevant
environment and comes within range of his or her sensory receptor nerves
• Exposure provides consumers with the opportunity to pay attention to
available information but in no way guarantees it.
• Selective exposure: the highly selective nature of consumer exposure is a major
concern for marketers, since failure to gain exposure results in lost
communication and sales opportunities.
• Zipping
• Zapping Ad
avoidance
• Muting

• Voluntary exposure: Although consumers often avoid commercials and

other marketing stimuli, sometimes they actively seek them out for various
reasons including purchase goals, entertainment, and information.

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ATTENTION
• Attention occurs when the stimulus activates one or more sensory receptor nerves,
and the resulting sensations go to the brain for processing.

• Attention requires consumers to allocate limited mental resources toward the

processing of incoming stimuli, such as packages seen on store shelves or banner
ads on the web.
• Attention is determined by three factors:
1. Stimulus Factors: are physical characteristics of the stimulus itself
2. Individual Factors (motivation, ability): are characteristics which distinguish one
individual from another
3. Situational Factors (clutter, program involvement): Include stimuli in the
environment other than the focal stimulus and temporary characteristics of
the individual that are induced by the environment

ATTENTION (CONT.)
1. Stimulus factors:
• Size
• Intensity (loudness, brightness, length)
• Attractive visuals
• Color and movement
• Position: refers to the placement of an object in physical space or time
• Isolation
• Format
• Contrast and expectation:
✓ Consumers pay more attention to stimuli that contrast with their background.

✓ Expectations drive perceptions of contrast. Ads that differ from expectations for a product
category often motivate more attention.

✓ Adaptation level theory suggests that if a stimulus doesn’t change over time we habituate to it
and begin to notice it less.
• Interestingness
• Information Quantity: represents the number of cues in the stimulus field.

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ATTENTION (CONT.)
2. Individual factors: are characteristics that distinguish one individual from
another
• Motivation: is a drive state created by consumer interests and needs
• Ability:
✓
refers to the capacity of individuals to attend to and process
information. ✓is related to knowledge and familiarity with the product,
brand, or promotion ✓Brand familiarity is an ability factor related to attention
3. Situational factors: include stimuli in the environment other than the focal
stimulus (i.e., the ad or package) and temporary characteristics of the individual
that are induced by the environment, such as time pressures or a crowded store
• Clutter: represents the density of stimuli in the environment.
• Program involvement: refers to how interested viewers are in the program or
editorial content surrounding the ads.
✓
Program involvement has a positive influence on attention

ATTENTION (CONT.)
• Nonfocused attention: a host of stimuli at a subconscious level, and
mechanisms in our brain evaluate this information to decide what
warrants deliberate and conscious attention.
▪ Hemispheric lateralization is a term applied to activities that take place on
each side of the brain.
✓
The left side of the brain is primarily
responsible for verbal information, symbolic representation,
sequential analysis, and the ability to be conscious and report what is happening.
✓
The right side of the brain deals with pictorial,
geometric, timeless, and nonverbal information without the individual being able
to verbally report it. It works with images and impressions.

▪Subliminal Stimuli: a message presented so fast or so softly or so

masked by other messages that one is not aware of seeing or hearing it
is called a subliminal stimulus

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INTERPRETATION
• is the assignment of meaning to sensations
• is related to how we comprehend and make sense of incoming information based on
characteristics of the stimulus, the individual, and the situation.
• Three aspects of interpretation:
1. It is generally a relative process rather than absolute, referred to as perceptual relativity.
2. It tends to be subjective and open to a host of psychological biases.
✓ Semantic meaning: the conventional meaning assigned to a word such as found in the dictionary

✓ Psychological meaning: the specific meaning assigned a word by a given individual or group of

individuals based on their experiences, their expectations, and the context in which the term is used.

3. It can be a cognitive “thinking” process or an affective “emotional” process.

✓ Cognitive interpretation is a process whereby stimuli are placed into existing categories of
meaning

✓ Affective interpretation is the emotional or feeling response triggered by a stimulus such as an ad

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INTERPRETATION (CONT.)
Interpretation is determined by three characteristics :

1. Individual Characteristics:

2. Situational Characteristics

3. Stimulus Characteristics

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INTERPRETATION (CONT.)

1. Individual characteristics:
Marketing stimuli have
meaning only as individuals
interpret them. Individuals
are not passive interpreters
of marketing and other
messages but actively
assign meaning based on
their needs, desires,
experiences, and
expectations.
Trait
Physiological and
psychological traits drive
our needs and desires.
These traits influence how
a stimulus is interpreted.
Psychologically
Physiologically
Consumers have natural
Consumers differ in their
cognitive, emotional, and
sensitivity to stimuli, e.g.,
behavioral predispositions,
taste.
e.g., affect intensity.

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INTERPRETATION (CONT.)
1. Individual characteristics (cont.)
• Learning knowledge:
✓
The meanings attached to such “natural” things as time, space,
relationships, and colors are learned and vary widely across
cultures.
✓
Consumers also learn about marketer-created
stimuli like brands and promotions through their experiences with them.
• Expectation: Individuals’ interpretations of stimuli tend to be
consistent with their expectations, an effect referred to as
the expectation bias
✓
Consumers’ expectations are the result of learning
and can be formed very quickly, as the old saying “first impressions matter”
suggests.

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INTERPRETATION (CONT.)
2. Situational characteristics:
• The situation provides a context within which the focal
stimulus is interpreted.

• The contextual cues present in the situation play a role in

consumer interpretation independent of the actual stimulus.

• E.g: color, the nature of the programming surrounding a brand’s

advertisements.

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INTERPRETATION (CONT.)
3. Stimulus characteristics: is the basic entity to which an individual responds and
includes the product, package, advertisement, in-store display, and so on
• Traits: size, shape, and color, affect interpretation

• Organization: refers to the physical arrangement of the stimulus objects

✓ Proximity refers to the fact that stimuli positioned close together are perceived
as belonging to the same category

✓ Closure involves presenting an incomplete stimulus with the goal of getting

consumers to complete it and thus become more engaged and involved.

✓ Figure–ground involves presenting the stimulus in such a way that it is perceived

as the focal object to be attended to and all other stimuli are perceived as the background

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INTERPRETATION (CONT.)
3. Stimulus characteristics (cont.):
• Change: Interpreting change requires the ability to both detect
change and then assign meaning to that change
✓
Sensory discrimination: The
physiological ability of an individual to
distinguish between similar stimuli (e.g., the sound of stereo systems,
the taste of food products, or the clarity of display screens)

✓
Just noticeable difference: The minimum
amount that one brand can differ from another (or from its
previous version) with the difference still being noticed

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INTERPRETATION (CONT.)
• Consumer inferences: when it comes to marketing, “what you
see is not what you get.” That’s because interpretation often
requires consumers to make inferences. An inference goes beyond
what is directly stated or presented. Consumers use available data
and their own ideas to draw conclusions about information that is
not provided.
✓
Quality Signals (price-perceived quality,
advertising intensity, warranties)
✓
Interpreting Images
✓
Missing Information and Ethical Concerns

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PERCEPTION AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Retail Strategy
• Brand Name and Logo Development
✓
Linguistic Consideration
✓
Branding Strategies
✓
Logo Design and Typographics
• Media Strategy
• Advertisements
• Package Design and Labeling

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SUMMARY

• Information processing is
a series of activities by
which stimuli are
perceived, transformed into
information, and stored.
o Exposure
o Attention
o Interpretation

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THE STAGES OF PERCEPTION

Solomon (2020, p.83)

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SUMMARY (CONT.)
• LO1: Describe the nature of perception and its relationship to
consumer memory and decisions
• Perception is a process that begins with consumer exposure and
attention to marketing stimuli and ends with consumer interpretation
• Perception consists of those activities by which an individual acquires
and assigns meaning to stimuli.
• If and when perception occurs, the meaning derived from a stimulus
is typically transferred to memory, where it is stored and can be later
retrieved when consumers are making purchase decisions.

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SUMMARY (CONT.)
• LO2: Explain exposure, the types of exposure, and the resulting
marketing implications
o Exposure occurs when a stimulus comes within range of one of
an individual’s primary sensory receptors
o Selective exposure: the highly selective nature of consumer exposure is
a major concern for marketers, since failure to gain exposure results in lost
communication and sales opportunities.
o Zipping
o Zapping
o Muting
o Voluntary exposure: Although consumers often avoid commercials and
other marketing stimuli, sometimes they actively seek them out for various
reasons including purchase goals, entertainment, and information.

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SUMMARY (CONT.)
• LO3: Explain attention, the factors that affect it, and the resulting
marketing implications
o Attention occurs when the stimulus activates one or more of the sensory
receptors and the resulting sensations go into the brain for processing
• Attention is determined by three factors:
1. Stimulus Factors (contrast, size, intensity, attractiveness, color,
movement, position, isolation, format, and information quantity):
are physical characteristics of the stimulus itself
2. Individual Factors (motivation, ability): are characteristics
which distinguish one individual from another
3. Situational Factors (clutter, program involvement): Include stimuli
in the environment other than the focal stimulus and temporary
characteristics of the individual that are induced by the environment

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SUMMARY (CONT.)
• LO4: Explain interpretation, the factors that affect it, and the resulting
marketing implications
o Interpretation is the assignment of meaning to stimuli that have been attended to.
o Cognitive interpretation appears to involve a process whereby new stimuli
are placed into existing categories of meaning
o Affective interpretation is the emotional or feeling response triggered by
the stimulus.
o Interpretation is determined by three characteristics :
1. Individual Characteristics (traits, learning & knowledge, expectations)
2. Situational Characteristics
3. Stimulus Characteristics (traits- size, shape, color, affect
interpretation; organization, changes)
o Interpretation often involves consumer inferences.
o Inferences go beyond what is directly stated or presented and help explain
consumer use of quality signals (e.g., higher price means higher quality),
their interpretation of images, and how they deal with missing information

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SUMMARY (CONT.)
• LO5: Discuss how perception can enhance strategies for
retailing, branding, advertising, and packaging
o Marketers use their knowledge of perception to enhance strategies in a
number of areas including retailing, branding, advertising, and packaging.
✓
For retailing, issues surrounding store and shelf location are
important determinants of perception.
✓
For branding, issues surrounding the selection of brand names,
extensions, and appropriate logos have important implications for
perception.
✓
Advertising strategies and media selection are heavily influenced by
considering factors that enhance exposure and attention.
✓
Packaging is a functional aspect of products, but also perceptual
in that it can capture consumer attention and influence their brand
interpretations.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Interview one friend who plans to study Marketing major and one who
plans to study Finance major about the way they study Consumer
Behaviour unit and Corporate Finance unit. After that, draw up their
information processing for these units. Can you highlight any
conclusion after the interview?
2. Imaging you are a marketing manager of Cocoon, design a retail
strategy (e.g., retailer type, shelf design, shelf position, point of
purchase, …) that can attract attention from target group-
university students (female, 18-22 y.o, have part-time job).

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