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Consumer Behavior
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eleventh edition
Pearson Global Edition
Schiffman • Wisenblit
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ISBN-13: 978-0-273-78713-6
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Consumer Behavior
eleventh edition
Leon G. Schiffman • Joseph L. Wisenblit
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Chapter 5 • Consumer Learning 151
A response is not tied to a need in a one-to-one fashion. Indeed, as noted in Chapter 3, a need or
motive may evoke a whole variety of responses. For example, there are many ways to respond to the
need for physical exercise besides riding bicycles. Cues provide some direction, but there are many
cues competing for the consumer’s attention. Which response the consumer makes depends heavily
on previous learning; that, in turn, depends on how previous, related responses have been reinforced.
Reinforcement
F I G U R E 5 . 2 Procter &
Gamble’s Febreze
Product introduction
contradicted the four
elements of learning
Product introduction was
consistent with the
elements of learning
P&G launched and
positioned Febreze as a
colorless spray for
making stinky clothes and
rooms' interiors odorless
P&G’s researchers observed
that women cleaning rooms
and making beds sprayed
Febreze at the end
(for no apparent
reason, since the rooms were
already clean)
P&G assumed that
people living with bad
smells had a problem/
need for Febreze, which
they did not
Febreze was not selling
because people who live
with bad smells — such
as smoke or pets’ odors
do not notice them
P&G was trying to teach
consumers a new
behavior, but one of the
four elements of learning
— the cue — was missing
because the targeted
consumers did not notice
the bad odors.
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P&G interviewed women and
analyzed the observed
behavior according to
the elements of learning
Drive and Cue: a woman
walks into a dirty room
Response (learnt routine):
she cleans the room
Reinforcement: she sprays
Febreze in the cleaned room
and smells it. She feels good
about a job well. Spraying
Febreze at the end rewarded
her for her work and therefore
she will use it in the future.
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Source: Source: Charles Duhigg, “How Companies Learn Your Secrets,” nytimes.com February 16, 2012.
Reinforcement is the reward—the pleasure, enjoyment, and benefits—that the consumer receives
after buying and using a product or service. For the marketer, the challenge is to continue to provide
consumers with an ongoing positive product or service, thus reinforcing future purchases. To illustrate, if a person visits a restaurant for the first time, likes the food, service, and ambience, and also
feels he or she received value for the money paid, that customer was reinforced and is likely to dine at
the restaurant again. If that person becomes a regular customer, the restaurant’s owner should further
reinforce the customer’s continued patronage by, for example, giving the customer a free drink and
recognizing the person by name upon arrival. Of course, the quality of the food and service must be
maintained, as they are the key elements reinforcing the customer’s continued visits. In contrast, if a
patron leaves a restaurant disappointed with the quality of the food or the service or feels “ripped off,”
reinforcement has not occurred. Because of the absence of reinforcement, it is unlikely that the
customer will visit the restaurant again.
Figure 5.2 applies the four elements of learning to Procter & Gamble’s introduction of Febreze,
a spray that eliminates bad smells. The chart illustrates the effects of Febreze’s initial positioning,
which did not follow the principles of learning; the product did poorly. When the product was repositioned in a manner consistent with the principles of learning, it sold much better.1
There is no single, universal theory of how people learn. Broadly, there are two models of learning: behavioral and cognitive. Next, we describe these theories and their applications to consumer
behavior. Afterwards, we explain how consumers store, retain, and retrieve information, cognitive
learning, and how learning is measured.
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152 Part Ii • The Consumer as an Individual
Learning Objective
2 To understand behavioral
learning, classical conditioning, and the roles of
stimulus generalization
and discrimination in developing and branding
new products.
F I G U R E 5 . 3 A Classical
Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Behavioral learning is sometimes referred to as stimulus-response learning because it is based on
the premise that observable responses to specific external stimuli signal that learning has taken place.
Behavioral learning is not concerned with the process of learning, but rather with the inputs and outcomes of learning; that is, in the stimuli that consumers select from the environment and the observable
behaviors that result. Three forms of behavioral learning with great relevance to marketing are classical conditioning, instrumental (or operant) conditioning, and observational (or modeling) learning.
Classical conditioning is viewed as a “knee-jerk” (or automatic) response that builds up through
repeated exposure and reinforcement. For instance, if Tyler’s friends compliment him on his expensive Prada boots, he is likely to save money to buy a pair of Prada sneakers. If he sees a Prada ad
in a magazine, Tyler will immediately recall his friends’ compliments and feel good about himself
and his prior purchase. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, developed the concept of classical conditioning. Pavlov maintained that conditioned learning results when a stimulus that is paired with
another stimulus that elicits a known response produces the same response when used alone. Pavlov
demonstrated what he meant by “conditioned learning” in his studies with dogs. Genetically, dogs
are always hungry and highly motivated to eat. In his experiments, Pavlov sounded a bell and then
immediately applied a meat paste to the dogs’ tongues, which caused them to salivate. After a number
of such pairings, the dogs responded the same way—that is, they salivated—to the bell alone as they
did to the meat paste.
Applying Pavlov’s theory to human behavior, consider the following situation: For several years
during high school, you always watched your favorite TV sitcom—which begins with the show’s
musical theme—with your best friend and every night at 7:00 p.m. Then you and your best friend
went to different colleges. After you settled down in your new dorm, at 7:00 p.m. you turned on the
TV to watch your favorite sitcom and the show’s musical theme came on. You immediately thought
about your friend and felt sad about watching the show alone. Feeling sad when you think about
a best friend from whom you are now separated is a natural, human response and is therefore an
unconditioned stimulus (i.e., a stimulus that occurs naturally in response to given circumstances).
Furthermore, before you started watching the sitcom with your friend every night, the show’s musical
theme was a neutral stimulus that elicited neither behavior nor any feelings. Later on, while watching
the sitcom alone, the same music triggered a particular response—feeling sad—so it has become a
conditioned stimulus (i.e., a stimulus that became associated with a particular event or feeling as a result of repetition). Feeling sad whenever you hear the music is a conditioned response (i.e., a response
to conditioned stimulus). The music triggered sadness because of the role of repetition in the process
of conditioning. You heard the same musical theme while watching TV with your friend for years, and
always at the same time; if you had done so only occasionally, the music would not have triggered sadness. Figure 5.3 depicts Pavlov’s model and an analogous example of classical conditioning.
The strategic applications of classical conditioning to consumer behavior are associative learning, repetition, stimulus generalization, and stimulus discrimination.
Unconditioned Stimulus
Meat paste
Unconditioned Response
Salivation
Conditioned Stimulus
Bell
AFTER REPEATED PAIRINGS:
Conditioned Response
Salivation
Conditioned Stimulus
Bell
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Chapter 5 • Consumer Learning 153
FIGURE 5.3b
Unconditioned Stimulus
Dinner aromas
Unconditioned Response
Salivation
Conditioned Stimulus
6 o’clock news
AFTER REPEATED PAIRINGS:
Conditioned Stimulus
6 o’clock news
Conditioned Response
Salivation
Associative Learning
Contemporary behavioral scientists view classical conditioning as learning of associations among
events that enable consumers to expect and anticipate events. Rather than being a reflexive action,
this is seen as cognitive associative learning—not the acquisition of new reflexes, but the acquisition
of new knowledge about the world. From this viewpoint, the consumer is an information seeker who
uses logical and perceptual relations among events, along with his or her own preconceptions, to form
a sophisticated representation of the world.
The Role of Repetition
In advertising, repetition is the key to forming associations between brands and fulfillment of needs.
For example, having a healthy mouth and good oral hygiene are a human need (i.e., unconditioned
stimulus), which many consumers associate with the word “Crest.” Why? Because after more than
50 years of repetitive advertising and uncountable ads, upon hearing or seeing the name “Crest” consumers think of a premium product for keeping their mouth and teeth healthy and protected from bacteria, diseases, and deterioration. Crest is a conditioned stimulus and the consumers’ associations are
conditioned responses. Furthermore, consumers associate Crest with scores of versions of toothpaste,
toothbrushes, teeth whitening, flossing, and mouth-rinsing products, all marketed under the Crest
brand name. Both the conditioned stimulus and the response are results of hearing or seeing Crest’s
advertisements again and again—in other words, repetitively.
Repetition increases the strength of the association between two stimuli and slows down
forgetting this connection. However, the amount of repetition that aids retention is limited. Although repetition beyond what is necessary for the initial learning aids retention, at some point
an individual becomes satiated with numerous exposures, and both attention and retention decline. This effect is called advertising wear-out, and marketers reduce it by using different
ads expressing the same message or advertising themes, as illustrated by the two Fresh Step
ads in Figure 5.4 (although the furniture indicate that the ads target different socioeconomic
groups). As another example, HSBC positions itself as “the world’s local bank.” An advertising campaign, entitled “Different Values,” consisted of about 20 ads centered on the theme that
“different values make the world a richer place.” The ads illustrated that one’s point of view is
subjective and reflects one’s values and, therefore, the same object can have different meanings
depending on one’s culture and viewpoint. The featured objects varied, although the central
theme remained the same. For example, a container of pills (the object pictured in one of the ads)
may represent “prevention” (e.g., vitamins), “cure” (e.g., antibiotics), or “escape” (e.g., illegal
substances).
Although all advertisers use repetition in trying to teach consumers, not everyone agrees on how
much repetition is enough. Some marketing scholars believe that just three exposures to an advertisement are needed: One to make consumers aware of the product, a second to show consumers the
relevance of the product, and a third to remind them of its benefits. This exposure pattern is called the
three-hit theory. Other researchers suggest that as many as 11 to 12 repetitions are needed to achieve
the three objectives. One study indicated that email advertisements that consumers found relevant influenced their learning and attitudes much more than the number of exposures.2
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Source: (Left & Right) The Clorox Company
154 Part Ii • The Consumer as an Individual
F I G U R E 5 . 4 The Same Advertising Message Expressed Differently
Stimulus Generalization
According to classical conditioning theorists, learning depends not only on repetition but also on individuals’ ability to “generalize.” Pavlov found, for example, that a dog could learn to salivate not only
to the sound of a bell, but also to similar sounds such as jangling keys or coins. Responding the same
way to slightly different stimuli is called stimulus generalization.
Stimulus generalization explains why some imitative me-too products succeed in the marketplace: Consumers confuse them with the original product they have seen advertised. It also explains why manufacturers of private-label brands try to make their packaging closely resemble that
of the national brand leaders. They are hoping that consumers will confuse their packages with the
leading brand and buy their product rather than the leading brand.
There are four strategic applications of stimulus generalization to branding and managing product lines: product line extensions, product form extensions, family branding, and licensing.3
Product Line Extensions
Product line extensions are additions of related items to an established brand; these are likely
to be adopted because they come under a known and trusted brand name.4 For example, what
comes to one’s mind upon seeing the V8 symbol? The most likely answer is a small can of vegetable juice sold via vending machines and convenience stores and larger bottles of the brand
sold in supermarkets. Most consumers associate drinking vegetable juice and eating vegetables
with consuming vitamins, antioxidants, and agents boosting the immune system.
While most consumers associate V8 with vegetables, originally, they did not associate soups
with V8. Why did Campbell’s (which owns V8), “interfere” with consumers’ long-established cognitions by introducing the soups featured in Figure 5.5? Each time consumers bought V8 vegetable
juice, they were “rewarded” because the juice tasted good and they were consuming a healthy product. When new products carrying the V8 brand name are advertised, consumers are likely to associate them with the many, prior rewarding experiences of consuming V8 vegetable juice, including
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Chapter 5 • Consumer Learning 155
Source: Campbell Soup Company
F I G U R E 5 . 5 A Product Line Extension: V8 Soups
the perceived health benefits that are the core of this brand. In learning terms, consumers will apply
what they already know about V8 to its new product and probably try the new item. The extension of
the V8 line to other products is also a form of family branding, which consists of marketing different
products under the same brand name.
The two Mr. Clean products shown in Figure 5.6 are examples of line extensions under a brand
name that has been a best seller since the 1950s and represented by a mascot that consumers view as a
strong, tenacious, competent, dependable, and friendly “person” (see Figure 3.2).
Product Form Extensions
Offering the same product in a different form but under the same brand is a product form extension.
For example, Listerine, a mouthwash in the form of liquid and a leading brand, introduced Listerine
PocketPacks—a solid form of its product (see Figure 5.7). Clorox Bleach—one of the most recognized brand names among clothing care products—has been sold only as a liquid since its introduction many decades; building upon the brand’s universal recognition as a quality product, the company
introduced Bleach Gel.
Family Branding
Another strategy stemming from stimulus generalization is family branding, which consists of marketing different products under the same brand name. For example, Campbell’s, originally a marketer
of soups, continues to add new food products to its product line under the Campbell’s brand name,
such as chunky, condensed, kids, and lower sodium soups; frozen meals named Campbell’s Super
Bakes; and tomato juice.
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