Learning

(Behavioral Learning Theories)

 The Learning Process

•Learning: a relatively permanent change in

behavior caused by experience

•Incidental learning: casual, unintentional

acquisition of knowledge
 Behavioral Learning Theories
• Behavioral learning theories: Assume that
learning takes place as the result of
responses to external events.
Behavioral Learning Theories
Behavioral learning theories assume that learning takes place as the result of responses to external
events. Psychologists who subscribe to this viewpoint do not focus on internal thought processes.
Instead, they approach the mind as a “black box” and emphasize the observable aspects of behavior.

The observable aspects consist of things that go into the box (the stimuli or events perceived from the
outside world) and things that come out of the box (the responses, or reactions to these stimuli).

Two major approaches to learning represent this view:

• classical conditioning
• instrumental conditioning
Cont.
According to the behavioral learning perspective, the feedback we receive as we go through life
shapes our experiences. Similarly, we respond to brand names, scents, jingles, and other marketing
stimuli because of the learned connections we form over time.

People also learn that actions they take result in rewards and punishments; this feedback influences the
way they will respond in similar situations in the future. Consumers who receive compliments on a
product choice will be more likely to buy that brand again, whereas those who get food poisoning at a
new restaurant are not likely to patronize that restaurant in the future.
Classical conditioning
It occurs when a stimulus that elicits a response is paired with another stimulus that initially does
not elicit a response on its own. Over time, this second stimulus causes a similar response
because we associate it with the first stimulus.
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist who conducted a research on digestion in animals, first
demonstrated this phenomenon in dogs. Pavlov induced classically conditioned learning when
he paired a neutral stimulus (a bell) with a stimulus known to cause a salivation response
in dogs (he squirted dried meat powder into their mouths)
The powder was an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) because it was naturally capable of causing
the response. Over time, the bell became a conditioned stimulus (CS); it did not initially cause
salivation, but the dogs learned to associate the bell with the meat powder and began to salivate at
the sound of the bell only. The drooling of these canine consumers because of a sound, now
linked to feeding time, was a conditioned response (CR).
Cont.
Classical conditioning can have similar
effects for more complex reactions, too.
Even a credit card becomes a conditioned
cue that triggers greater spending, especially
because as a stimulus it’s present only in
situations where we spend money. People
learn they can make larger purchases with
credit cards.
Instrumental Conditioning
Instrumental conditioning (or operant conditioning) occurs when we learn to perform behaviors that
produce positive outcomes and avoid those that yield negative outcomes.

psychologist B.F. Skinner, who demonstrated the effects of instrumental conditioning by teaching
pigeons and other animals to dance, play Ping-Pong, and perform other activities when he
Systematically rewarded them for desired behaviors.

Whereas responses in classical conditioning are involuntary and fairly simple, we make those in
instrumental conditioning deliberately to obtain a goal, and these may be more complex. We may learn
the desired behavior over a period of time as a shaping process rewards our intermediate actions.

whereas classical conditioning involves the close pairing of two stimuli, instrumental learning occurs
when a learner receives a reward after he or she performs the desired behavior.
Cont.
Instrumental conditioning occurs in one of three ways:
1. When the environment provides positive reinforcement in the form of a reward, this strengthens
the response and we learn the appropriate behavior. For example, a woman who gets compliments
after wearing Obsession perfume learns that using this product has the desired effect, and she will
be more likely to keep buying the product.
2. Negative reinforcement also strengthens responses so that we learn the appropriate behavior. A
perfume company might run an ad showing a woman sitting home alone on a Saturday night
because she did not wear its fragrance. The message this conveys is that she could have avoided
this negative outcome if only she had used the perfume.
3. In contrast to situations where we learn to do certain things to avoid unpleasantness, punishment
occurs when unpleasant events follow a response (such as when our friends ridicule us if we wear a
nasty-smelling fragrance). We learn the hard way not to repeat these behaviors.
Cont.
Marketing Applications
Behavioral learning principles apply to many consumer phenomena, such as when a marketer creates
a distinctive brand image or links a product to an underlying need.

The transfer of meaning from an unconditioned stimulus to a conditioned stimulus explains why
“made-up” brand names, such as Marlboro, Coca-Cola, or Adidas, exert such powerful effects on
consumers. The association between the Marlboro man and the cigarette is so strong that in some cases
the
company no longer even bothers to include the brand name in its ads that feature the cowboy riding off
into the sunset.

Scans of children show how the pleasure and appetite centers of their brains light up when they view
advertising images of fast-food companies such as the McDonald’s logo.
Cont.
In classical conditioning, the advertiser
attempts to get consumers to associate their
product with a particular feeling or response,
in the hope that the consumer will then buy
the product. For example, an ad for a fast
food restaurant will usually make the food
look delicious and mouth-watering so that
consumers will feel hungry when they watch
the ad and want to go out and buy some of
the food.
 Marketing Applications of Repetition
• Repetition increases learning
• More exposures = increased brand
awareness
• When exposure decreases,
extinction occurs
Marketing Applications of Stimulus Generalization
• Stimulus generalization: tendency for stimuli similar to
a conditioned stimulus to remind similar, unconditioned
responses.

– Family branding
– Product line extensions
– Licensing
– Look-alike packaging
Family Branding
Family Branding
Product line extensions
Product Form Extensions
 Product Category
Extensions/Brand
Extension
Look-alike packaging
Look-alike packaging
Licensing
Marketing Applications
Principles of instrumental conditioning are at work when a marketer rewards or punishes a consumer
for a purchase decision. Businesspeople shape behavior when they gradually reinforce the appropriate
actions consumers take. A car dealer might encourage a reluctant buyer to simply sit in a floor model,
then suggest a test drive, and then try to close the deal.

Marketers have many ways to reinforce consumers’ behaviors, ranging from a simple “thank you” after
a purchase to substantial rebates and follow-up phone calls. For example, a life insurance company
obtained a much higher rate of policy renewal among a group of new customers who received a thank-
you letter after each payment.
Cont.

Ads emphasize the benefits or rewards a consumer

will receive from using the product or service. For
example, a paint company in their reinforcing that
the identity of person is reflected in how they paint
their home.
Cont.
Ad encourages consumers to use a particular
product or brand to avoid unpleasant
consequences. For example, the ad showing
conversation of two individuals where one is
rewarded by using the brand and the other is
facing consequences of not using the brand.

Marketers need to understand that when a learned

response is no longer reinforced, it diminishes to
the point of extinction and the link between
stimulus and the reward is eliminated. Forgetting
happens with the passage of time – process of
decay.
 Instrumental Conditioning
• Behaviors = positive outcomes or negative outcomes
• Instrumental conditions occurs in one of these ways:
– Positive reinforcement
– Negative reinforcement
– Punishment
– Extinction
Negative Reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement:
PUNISHMENT
Extinction
Thank you