CRT/Marketing/Retailing 20/30/40S

Consumer Behaviour

Learning in a consumer behaviour context

What is learning?

• This is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that is caused by experience

o Behavioural (doing)
o Cognitive (thinking)

What is a behavioural learning theory?

• The assumption that learning takes place as the result of responses to external events, as
opposed to internal thought processes

What is classical conditioning?

• Non-deliberate form of learning

• Introduced by Ivan Pavlov
• Involves 3 concepts:
o Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
o Conditioned stimulus (CS)
o Conditioned response (CR)
• Classical conditioning focuses on cues (visual, auditory, olfactory) that induce physiological
responses related to consumer needs

Real world examples

o Non profit organizations often use classical conditioning

o e.g., Humane society uses animals in their marketing along with something about how
the audience can improve the animal’s life
o Why does this work? It is appealing to certain values in their target audience and associating the
connection between image/video and feeling.

How can you use this to market products?

o Pairing the brand with something that produces a reward

o Offering a bonus deal or incentive for customers to receive a free product once they purchase a
certain amount
o E.g., 7/11 coffees (every 7th one free)
o The customer associates your brand with a good deal – they feel value even if you don’t have a
sale going
o Market your product in a way that forms an association with feelings of happiness, satisfaction,
and success
o E.g., how do you feel about Christmas? Warm and fuzzy? Joyful? Coke has been associating its
ads with Christmas since the 1920s

What other tricks do they use?

o Stimulus generalization
 CRT/Marketing/Retailing 20/30/40S
Consumer Behaviour

o This is the tendency for stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus (CS) to evoke similar
unconditioned responses
o Keys jangling can sound like a bell
o Family branding
o Look-alike packaging

Instrumental Conditioning

o This is operant conditioning

o It is deliberate learning through
▪ Positive reinforcement (reward)
▪ Negative reinforcement (removal of unpleasant stimulus)
▪ Punishment

Reinforcement can happen in 4 ways

o Fixed ratio – Tim Horton’s loyalty card

o Variable Ratio – slot machines/lotteries
o Fixed-interval seasonal sales at retail stores
o Variable interval – secret shoppers