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CHAPTER 8
PERCEPTION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO1: Describe the nature of perception and its relationship to consumer memory and
decisions
LO2: Explain exposure, the types of exposure, and the resulting marketing implications
LO3: Explain attention, the factors that affect it, and the resulting marketing
implications
LO4: Explain interpretation, the factors that affect it, and the resulting marketing
implications
LO5: Discuss how perception can enhance strategies for retailing, branding, advertising,
and packaging
SUMMARY
LO1: Describe the nature of perception and its relationship to consumer memory and decisions
Perception consists of those activities by which an individual acquires and assigns meaning to stimuli.
LO2: Explain exposure, the types of exposure, and the resulting marketing implications
Exposure occurs when a stimulus comes within range of one of an individual’s primary sensory
receptors. People are exposed to only a small fraction of the available stimuli. And when consumers
LO3: Explain attention, the factors that affect it, and the resulting marketing implications
Attention occurs when the stimulus activates one or more of the sensory receptors and the resulting
sensations go into the brain for processing. People selectively attend to stimuli as a function of
stimulus, individual, and situational factors. Stimulus factors are physical characteristics of the
LO4: Explain interpretation, the factors that affect it, and the resulting marketing implications
Interpretation is the assignment of meaning to stimuli that have been attended to. Interpretation tends
to be relative rather than absolute (perceptual relativity) and subjective rather than objective. Two
Interpretation often involves consumer inferences. Inferences go beyond what is directly stated or
presented and help explain consumer use of quality signals (e.g., higher price means higher quality),
their interpretation of images, and how they deal with missing information. Inferences also help
explain how consumers can be misled by marketing messages even when those messages are literally
true.
LO5: Discuss how perception can enhance strategies for retailing, branding, advertising, and
packaging
Marketers use their knowledge of perception to enhance strategies in a number of areas including
LECTURE TIPS AND AIDS
1) Students enjoy discussing subliminal advertising, and some believe very strongly that it is both
commonly used and very effective. These students will probably bring up the works of Wilson
Bryan Key - Subliminal Seduction (Signet, 1973) and/or Media Sexploitation (Signet, 1976) - as
2) Creating a sudden, loud noise or having a student talk loudly in the back of the room at a specified
time in the lecture can establish the attention attracting power of stimuli.
3) Have students list their favorite magazines, TV shows, and sections of the newspaper. Have them
4) The nature of interpretation can be shown by passing out the following statement to the class: “It
is absolutely essential that the worker make the key decisions in the workplace. He/she must
5) You can have students go to www.ftc.gov and search for deceptive ad cases and bring one or more
to class to discuss. You can work on distinguishing between false claims and claim-belief
discrepancy issues.
6) Student Handout 1: USING WEBERS LAW: Can be used to explore the idea of JND.
7) Student Handout 2: MARKETING CLASSIC: ATTRACTIVE MODELS: ATTRACTION OR
8) Assign and/or prepare one or more of the CB PRESS HIGHLIGHTS articles for class discussion.
9) Build a recent news story or commercial into your PowerPoints. The searchable Video and
Commercial Links Database can be found in the Instructor Resources in Connect.
Student Handout 1: USING WEBERS LAW
STIMULUS
WEBER’S
RATIO (K)
PITCH (at 2,000 cycles per second)
.0030
DEEP PRESSURE (at 400 grams)
.0130
VISUAL BRIGHTNESS (at 1,000 photons)
.0160
The following illustration of the j.n.d. for weight may be useful:
Weber’s Law: k =
I/I
For lifting weights, k = .020
Therefore,
a. If the original weight were 10 pounds (I), the change in weight needed
for one to detect a weight change is:
Student Handout 2: MARKETING CLASSIC – ATTRACTIVE MODELS:
ATTRACTION OR DISTRACTION
Marketers often use intriguing headlines or attractive models to attract attention to their
advertisements. How effective is this tactic?
An eye-tracking device is a combination of computer and video technology that allows one to
record eye movements in relation to a stimulus such as a website, package, or commercial.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1) What is information processing? How does it differ from perception?
Information processing is a series of activities by which stimuli are perceived, transformed into
2) What is meant by exposure? What determines which stimuli an individual will be exposed to?
How do marketers utilize this knowledge?
Exposure occurs when a stimulus is placed within range of sensory receptor nerves. The individual
3) What are zipping, zapping, and muting? Why are they a concern to marketers?
Zipping occurs when a viewer fast-forwards through a commercial on a prerecorded program.
4) What are infomercials? How effective are they?
Infomercials are long, often 30 minutes or more, commercials that frequently have an 800 number
5) What is ad avoidance? How is DVR technology affecting it? How are marketers dealing with
this phenomenon?
Ad avoidance occurs when the consumer selectively avoids exposure to advertising messages, e.g.,
6) What is meant by attention? What determines which stimuli an individual will attend to? How do
marketers utilize this?
Attention occurs when the stimulus activates one or more sensory receptor nerves and the resulting
7) What stimulus factors can be used to attract attention? What problems can arise when stimulus
factors are used to attract attention?
Stimulus Factors
Potential Problems
8) What is adaptation level theory?
9) What is information overload? How should marketers deal with information overload?
Information overload is when there is too much information available to be dealt with effectively.
10) What impact does program involvement have on the attention paid to commercials embedded in
the program?
11) What is a contextual cue? Why is it of interest to marketers?
Contextual cues present in a situation, such as the background color on a web page or the nature of
12) What is meant by nonfocused attention?
13) What is meant by hemispheric lateralization?
14) What is meant by subliminal perception? Is it a real phenomenon? Is it effective?
Perception below the conscious-awareness level (A subliminal stimulus is used in a message
15) What is meant by interpretation?
16) What determines how an individual will interpret a given stimulus?
Interpretation is a function of the gestalt, or pattern, formed by the characteristics of the stimulus,
17) What is the difference between cognitive and affective interpretation?
Cognitive interpretation involves the process whereby new stimuli are placed into existing
18) What is the difference between semantic and psychological meaning?
19) What is sensory discrimination? What is a just noticeable difference (j.n.d.)?
The ability of an individual to distinguish between similar stimuli is called sensory discrimination.
20) What is a consumer inference? Why is this of interest to marketers?
21) How does a knowledge of information processing assist the manager in the following:
a) Formulating retail strategy?
Retailers can structure the interior of their stores to minimize information overload, and to
b) Developing brand names and logos?
Knowledge of how words are interpreted, the visual images they convey, and the ease with
c) Formulating media strategy?
The fact that exposure is selective, and is correlated with demographics, lifestyle, and
product use, is the basis for media strategy.
d) Designing advertisements?
e) Package design and labels?
22) What is co-branding? Is it effective?
Co-branding (also referred to as co-marketing, brand alliances, and joint marketing) is when two
23) What is cross-promotion retail strategy? Provide two examples?
Cross-promotion involves placing signage in one area of the store to promote complementary
24) How can rhetorical figures enhance attention?
Rhetorical figures involve the use of an unexpected twist or artful deviation in how a message is
25) What is a smart banner? How does this relate to selective attention?
Smart banners are banner ads that are activated based on terms used in search engines. There is
26) What is figure-ground?
Figure-ground involves presenting the stimulus in such a way that it is perceived as the focal
object to be attended to and all other stimuli are perceived as the background.
27) What ethical concerns arise in applying knowledge of the perceptual process?
28) What is ambush marketing?
This is the term for a marketing approach in which firms attempt to associate their companies with
Discussion Questions
29) Given that smoking scenes in movies increase the positive image and intention to smoke among
youth, what regulations, if any, should apply to this?
This discussion is interesting when you develop a list of those groups or stakeholders that should
30) How could a marketing manager for (a) the Salvation Army, (b) smart phones, (c) Qdoba Mexican
Grill, (d) Lucky Jeans, or (e) Belkin Wi-Fi equipment use the material in this chapter to guide the
development of a national advertising campaign (choose one)? To assist local retailers or
organizations in developing their promotional activities? Would the usefulness of this material be
limited to advertising decisions?
A critical point that must be made is that the answer relies heavily on the definition of the target
market and the firm’s objective (attract new customers, retain existing customers, etc.). If you use
this for a written assignment, you may want to provide this information to the students.
31) Respond to the questions in Consumer Insight 8-1.
If the current owners of DVRs are any indication, continued skipping and fast forwarding of ads is
a valid concern for marketers. Although evidence to support that even “zipped” (fast forwarded)
ads are still noticed, and those who fast forward TV ads are more engaged with the ads than those
32) Hershey recently created a line of upscale chocolates called “Cacao Reserve by Hershey’s.” The
company created fancy packaging, priced the product at the high end and did little mass marketing
for its new product. Initial sales were disappointingly slow even though the premium chocolate
market is growing nicely with brands like Ghirardelli fairing well. As a consequence, Hershey
almost immediately (within six months) dropped its prices and started mass advertising. Using
concepts in the chapter, why do you think Hershey failed in the move into the premium chocolate
market? Do you think the adjustments were the most appropriate, or could Hershey have taken
other steps?
Cacao Reserve by Hershey’s is an example of a brand extension. The problem here is “perceived
33) Pick three brand names that utilize a morphemic approach and three that utilize a phonetic
approach. Are the morphemes and phonetics consistent with the overall position of these brands?
Examples of morphemic approaches include NutraSweet, OfficeMax, and Kleenex.
34) Develop a brand name for (a) an MP3 player, (b) an R & B music store, (c) an Internet grocery
shopping service, (d) a mobile app, or (e) a pet walking service. Justify your name.
This is an enjoyable classroom project when individual students or groups are assigned one of the
35) Develop a logo for (a) an MP3 player, (b) an R & B music store, (c) an Internet grocery shopping
service, (d) a mobile app, or (e) a pet walking service. Justify your design.
This is a very enjoyable classroom project when individual students or small groups are assigned
36) Evaluate the in-text ads in Illustrations 8-1 through 8-10. Analyze the attention-attracting
characteristics and the meaning they convey. Are they good ads? What risks are associated with
each?
This is a fun exercise. The students will have numerous opinions on the effectiveness of the ads.
37) Develop three co-branded products; one that would be beneficial to both individual brands, one
that would benefit one brand but not the other, and one that would benefit neither brand. Explain
your logic.
Because the effects of co-branding can be positive or negative and can differ for the two brands
38) Find an ad that you feel might mislead consumers through a claim-belief discrepancy. What
inference processes are you assuming?
This is a very enjoyable classroom project when individual students or small groups are assigned
