Ans. Perception : Another important psychological
factor, which may influence the consumers, is perception. How a motivated
person acts depends on his or her perception of the prevailing situation. It
has been found quite often that two people with the same level of motivation
and in the same situation act differently because of differing perceptions. For
example a consumer who visits a superstore for the purpose of purchasing a
colour television, on being confronted with an over enthusiastic salesperson
may consider this sales person as being too pushy without understanding his
needs. Another consumer may perceive the same salesperson as being genuine and
sincere. This happens because the difference in the perception of the
salesperson by the two consumers.
Why do people have different perceptions
of the same situation? The answer is that people learn by the flow of
information through their five sense organs. However, they receive, organize
and interpret this sensory information according to their prior experiences in
an individual way. We may define perception as a process through which
individuals select, organize, and interpret information into a meaningful and
coherent picture of the world. Perception is an individual process; it depends
on internal factors such as a person's beliefs, experiences, needs, moods, and
expectations. The perception process is also influenced by the characteristics
of a stimulus (such as its size, colour, and intensity) and the context in
which it is received.
Learning
: Learning involves
changes in an individual's behaviour arising from observation and experience.
Learning plays an important role at every stage of the buying decision process.
No universally workable and acceptable learning theory has emerged. However,
from marketing perspective consumer learning can be thought of as the process
by which individuals acquire purchase and consumption knowledge and experience
that they apply to future purchase related behaviour.
Despite their different viewpoints,
learning experts in general agree that for occurring learning, certain basic
elements must be present. Four basic elements that are fundamental to learning
process are:
Drives
: A drive is a strong internal stimulus that calls
for action. A drive becomes a inotive when it is directed toward a particular
stimulus.
Cues : Are minor stimuli or signals from
the environment that determine the pattern of response. Cues are the stimuli
that give direction to the drives. For example an advertisement of a brand of
soft drink may serve as a cue for those who are feeling thirsty. Cues serve to
direct consumer drives when they are consistent with consumer expectations.
Therefore, it is necessary for the marketers to provide only those cues, which
are in tune with the consumer expectations.
Response
: How individuals react to drives and configuration
of cues-how they behave-constitute their response. It is the behavioural
reactions to the drives and cues. Learning can occur even when responses are
not overt. Many cues may lead to the formation of positive attitudes and in
future these attitudes may lead to behaviour.
Reinforcement
: This results when the response is rewarding.
Reinforcement can be either positive or negative. For example, if a consumer
purchases a specific brand and he finds it satisfying and next time he needs
that product there is likelihood that he may purchase the same brand. The
response has been reinforced. In addition the same consumer may develop a
positive attitude towards other brands manufactured by the same company. In
case the response is not rewarding, then the consumer may not purchase the
brand and may develop negative feelings towards other products manufactured by
that company.
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