Consumer Perception: Sensory Marketing, Attention, and Interpretation
Chapter 4: Perception
Consumers are constantly bombarded by colors, sounds, and odors from advertisements, product packaging, radio, and TV. Our decisions are influenced not only by external factors but also by our reactions to them. The three stages of stimuli are:
- Exposure/Sensation
- Attention
- Interpretation (meaning)
Sensation refers to the immediate response of sensory receptors (eyes, nose, ears, mouth, fingers).
Perception is the process by which these stimuli are selected, organized, and interpreted.
Schema: Organized collections of beliefs and feelings that shape interpretations and assumptions.
Sensory Marketing: Companies emphasize the impact of sensations on product experiences, recognizing that senses influence product appeal and provide a competitive advantage. Sensory inputs evoke historical imagery and are an important part of hedonic consumption, encompassing multi-sensory, fantasy, and emotional aspects of consumer interactions with products.
Sensory Elements
Colors can directly influence emotions; some create feelings or stimulate appetite, while others relax (e.g., Blue American Express for limitlessness and peace). Color reactions result from biological and cultural differences (male vs. female, color-blindness, Asian vs. American). Combinations also vary culturally.
Smell and odors can evoke emotions, create calm feelings, invoke memories, or relieve stress (e.g., Subway bread).
Sounds and music affect feelings and behaviors. Companies establish brand sounds (e.g., McDonald’s jingle). Functional music in stores relaxes and stimulates consumers.
Touch: Consumers touching a product for 30 seconds or less can create a greater attachment and increase their desire to pay.
Sensory Thresholds
The lowest intensity of a stimulus that can be registered is the absolute threshold. Is the text too small on a billboard?
Attention
Attention is the degree to which consumers focus on stimuli. Sensory overload occurs when exposed to more information than we can process. Multitasking releases dopamine, which is addictive, leading to focus issues and stress. Marketers seek attention, but consumers are selective. Perceptual selection means people attend to only a small portion of stimuli.
Perceptual vigilance: Consumers are more aware of stimuli related to current needs (e.g., noticing bikes when shopping for one).
Perceptual defense: Threatening stimuli may not be processed or may be rephrased.
Adaptation: Consumers stop paying attention to familiar stimuli due to:
- Intensity: Less intense stimuli
- Duration: Too long ignored
- Discrimination: Doesn’t require attention
- Exposure: Too frequent exposure
- Relevance: Not relevant to the consumer
Stimuli Impact
Stimuli have a greater impact when they stand out due to:
- Size: The bigger, the better
- Color: Powerful for attention
- Position: The more likely people look, the better
- Novelty: Stimulating in new, unexpected ways or places; unconventional advertisement
Interpretation
Interpretation is the meaning assigned to sensory stimuli, which varies among individuals. People don’t receive single stimuli in isolation. The Gestalt principle (German for “whole”) suggests people derive meaning from the totality of stimuli rather than individual ones (e.g., obesity ad before a McDonald’s ad).
Principle of closure: Consumers tend to perceive incomplete pictures as complete, aiding in reading broken words or interpreting incomplete jingles.
Principle of similarity: Consumers group objects with similar physical characteristics. Companies use familiar features in extended product lines (e.g., bottle shape) for brand recognition.
Symbolism in Interpretation
We interpret symbols personally and uniquely. Semiotics examines the correspondence between signs, symbols, and their role in assigning meaning. A marketing message (e.g., Marlboro) has an object (cigarettes), a sign (cowboy), and an interpretant (rugged man smoking). The interpretant becomes a sign for what is truly American, reinforcing the semiotic myth of America.
- Icon: A sign resembling the product
- Index: A sign connected to the product through a relationship
- Symbol: A sign related to the product through conventional associations
Semiotics is crucial in modern consumer behavior theory. Consumers are aware of how they communicate through consumption. Semiotic analysis of ads is linked to product and brand lifecycles to guide advertising strategies.
RECAP:
Perception involves selecting, organizing, and interpreting physical sensations (sight, sound, smell), assigning meaning. Consumers seek hedonic and functional value. We rely on colors, sounds, odors, and tastes when evaluating alternatives. Stimuli must reach a certain intensity to be detected. Symbols help us interpret stimuli. Marketers create relationships between products/services and desired attributes, establishing a correspondence between stimuli and signs.