Chap 8: Perception

1. The nature of perception:

Before leading consumers to a purchase decision of a product, the product has to go through an
information processing series in the mind of consumers which includes 4 stages: exposure,
attention, interpretation and memory. The first 3 stages constitute the perception of consumers.

Situational factors:

Situational factors include external stimuli in the environment and temporary characteristics of
the individual that are caused by the environment, such as time pressures or a crowded store.
There are 2 main situational factors which are clutter and program involvement.

Clutter represents the density of stimuli in the environment. Studies show that too many
advertisements in an environment will make people pay less attention to those ads.

Program involvement refers to how interested viewers are in the program or editorial content
surrounding the ads. The more interesting the program and content is, the more viewers will pay
attention to the ad.

Non Focused Attention

Beside paying attention to a stimuli because of the stimulus, situational or individual factors, we
can also pay attention to a stimuli without focusing on it consciously. This kind of attention is
called non-focused attention. For example, when surfing a website, we may spot a banner ad
but we don’t look at it directly. This is when we pay non-focused attention to the banner ad.

2. Exposure:
Exposure occurs when a stimulus such as a banner or an advertisement video comes into
contact with our vision and hearing. There are 2 types of exposure:

● Selective exposure:
Selective exposure occurs when people only seek out stimuli that interests them and avoid
those they are not interested in. For example, when we watch videos on YouTube, we tend to
skip the advertisement clips at the beginning of each video because what we seek is
entertainment, not the advertisement that pops up.

● Voluntary exposure:
Although consumers often avoid commercials, sometimes they actively seek them out for many
reasons including purchase goals, entertainment, and information. For example, when we want
to buy a skincare product, we will voluntarily visit skincare manufacturer websites such as
hasaki.vn or cocoonvietnam.com.

3. Attention:
Attention occurs when the stimulus activates our vision and hearing, and the brain will receive
what we see and hear to process it. Attention is determined by three factors: the stimulus,
individual, and situation.

● Stimulus factors:
Stimulus factors are physical characteristics of the stimulus that are used by marketers to attract
attention. These factors include size, intensity, attractive visuals, color and movement, position,
isolation, format, contrast, interestingness and information quantity. For example, this is a 3D
billboard of Samsung Galaxy that has used many stimulus factors to stand out including
attractive visuals, color and movement as well as positioning it on big screens outside shopping
malls where there are many passersby and can easily attract attention.

● Individual factors:
Individual factors are characteristics that distinguish one individual from another. Consumer
motivation and ability are the major individual factors that affect attention.
- Motivation is a drive state created by consumer interests and needs. When you are
interested in learning English, you tend to pay more attention to advertisements about
English courses. Particularly, you will become more focused on the advertisement
content than its images.
- Ability refers to the capacity of a person to pay attention and analyze information. It’s
related to the knowledge and how familiar that person is to the brand and product. For
example, people with extensive knowledge about skin health often pay close attention to
the chemical components on cosmetic products.

● Situational factors:
Situational factors include external stimuli in the environment and temporary characteristics of
the individual that are caused by the environment, such as time pressures or a crowded store.
There are 2 main situational factors which are clutter and program involvement.
- Clutter represents the density of stimuli in the environment. Studies show that too many
advertisements in an environment will make people pay less attention to those ads.
- Program involvement refers to how interested viewers are in the program or editorial
content surrounding the ads. The more interesting the program and content is, the more
viewers will pay attention to the ad.

● Non Focused Attention

Beside paying attention to a stimuli because of the stimulus, situational or individual factors, we
can also pay attention to a stimuli without focusing on it consciously. This kind of attention is
called non-focused attention. For example, when surfing a website, we may spot a banner ad
but we don’t look at it directly. This is when we pay non-focused attention to the banner ad.