Perception

Chapter 2

2-1
2-2
Perception

2-3
 Perception
• The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through
the senses.
• Perception is the process by which sensations are selected,
organized and interpreted
• Marketers contribute to an impressive display of stimulation
• Ads, radio, billboards, packaging--media is everywhere…

2-4
 Three Stages of Perception
• Exposure stage - consumers receive information through their
senses.
• Attention stage - consumers allocate processing capacity to a
stimulus.
• Comprehension stage - consumers organize and interpret the
information to obtain meaning from it.

2-5
 Sensation
• Refers to the immediate response of our sensory receptors(eyes,
ears, nose, mouth, fingers) to such basic stimuli as light, color,
sound, odors, and textures.

2-6
 Sensory Inputs
• Our senses react to touch, smell, taste and other stimulation
• People react to colour, noise and music
• Sensory inputs create many associations in terms of decisions,
memories and choices

• Think about it: would you buy a new sweater

without touching it? Why or why not?

2-7
• Psycho
physic
Sensory Thresholds
s: Scie
nce tha
t focus
es on h
ow the
physic
al
enviro
nment
is integ 2-8
 Differential Threshold and JND
• Differential Threshold: ability of sensory system to detect changes
or differences between 2 stimuli
• Minimum difference between two stimuli is the JND-- Just Notic
eable Difference
• Campbell’s change labels intentionally  over time so consumers
always recognize their product

2-9
• Used f
or two Weber’s Law
reasons
:
– Red
ucti
ons
are
not
rea
dily
noti
cea
2 - 10
Marketing Applications of the JND
• Need to determine the relevant JND for their products
– So that negative changes are not readily noticeable to the
public
– So that product improvements are very apparent to consumers

2 - 11
 Marketing examples of JND
• Pricing:
When raising price, move less than JND
When lowering the price for sale, move more than JND
• Sales Promotion:
Make coupons larger than JND
• Product Packaging :
Make decreases in size of packaging less than JN
when the word new is used make sure the product change is greater than JND
To update package styling and logo keep within JND
To change Image, make styling changes greater than JND

2 - 12
 Subliminal Perception
• Subliminal perception occurs when a stimulus is below the leve
l of a consumer’s awareness
• Subliminal techniques such as an embed (look for a tiny image
in the glass)

2 - 13
2 - 14
•
Stimulus
Gestalt Principles
Organization
• Explains how stimuli are organized:
Closure: people perceive an incomplete picture as complete
Similarity: consumers group together objects that share similar
characteristics
Figure Ground: one part of the stimulus will dominate the figure,
while other parts recede into the background
Proximity: The principle of proximity states that things that are
close together appear to be more related than things that are space
d farther apart.
2 - 15
Closure

2 - 16
2 - 17
 Similarity

• Here the little circles and squares are evenly spaced

both horizontally and vertically so proximity does
not come into play.
• However, we do tend to see alternating columns of
circles and squares.
• This is because of the principle of similarity features
which look similar are associated. Without the two
different recurrent features we would see either row
s or columns or both
2 - 19
Billboard for Coco Cola and Wrangler Jeans Makes Creative
use of the Figure-Ground Principle
Figure Ground
2 - 23
PROXIMITY RULE
2 - 25
 Positioning Strategy
• Marketing mix elements influence the consumer’s
interpretation of brand’s meaning
• Brand’s position as a function of:
– Lifestyle, price leadership, attributes, product
class, competitors, occasions, users, and quality
• Repositioning

2 - 26