Chapter 2 - Perception Flashcards
What is perception?
Perception is the process by which physical sensations such as sights, sounds and smells are selected, organized and interpreted. The eventual interpretation of a stimulus allows it to be assigned meaning.
What is Affect?
Affect refers to human emotions, moods, feelings and evaluations that are triggered by either environmental stimuli such as objects and the behavior of others or by the individuals own behavior or even imagination which is termed cognitive imagery.
What is cognition?
Cognition is concerned with thinking and language processes. It is the mental process that individuals use to interpret their environment by making sense of stimuli and events that occur and by giving them meaning.
Cognition is also the process by which an individual forms plans of action which are used to assist in decision making.
To achieve these tasks the cognitive system creates cognitive representations that represent the meaning of objects, events or behavior. These are both individual and subjective, depending upon each persons interpretation. This is turn will vary depending upon their knowledge and previous experiences. These cognitive representations include symbolic meanings of objects, events and behavior including an individuals own behavior and even an individuals own affective reactions. Many cognitive processes are minimal and even automatic and unconscious, cognition still occurs.
What is the relationship between affect and cognition?
Both processes are closely interrelated and operate continuously as individuals come into contact with their environments.
We think about how we feel and we have feelings about what we think
What is the perceptual process?
The process by which individuals make sense of objects, events and behaviors based upon knowledge that is stored in our memory.
Sensation is the initial stage in the perception process which is where the immediate response of our five sensory receptors to the environmental stimuli. In this initial stage, individuals are exposed to sensory inputs yet are selective on attending to only a portion of stimuli for processing. It is in the second stage of the perception process that meaning is allocated through interpretation.
Sensory stimuli evoke either…
Historic imagery- where previous experiences are recalled from memory
Or
Fantasy imagery - in which completely new experiences are interpreted based upon previous experience, then added to knowledge in memory.
Which of the 5 sensory stimuli are most important?
Colours - have the ability to evoke strong emotional reactions and also hold both symbolic and cultural meanings, which make them important to marketing strategy
Odours - have a powerful influence upon each individuals memories. Again strongly influenced by cultural and symbolic factors
Sound - music has a strong influence upon consumers moods and behavior and is also closely linked to personal experiences
Touch - arguably the most sensual of all human sensations. In marketing terms such expressions as soft as a summer breeze and smooth as silk are used regularly to relay meaning.
Taste
What are sensory thresholds?
Absolute threshold- the lowest intensity of any stimulus which can be recognized by our sensory system. Refers to the size at which a symbol is visually recognizable or a sound audible for example.
Differential threshold- refers to the ability of our sensory systems to detect differences between various stimuli
What is subliminal persuasion
This concept argues that messages may be relayed by way of sensory stimuli which occur at a level below conscious awareness but which nevertheless perceived and interpreted by our subconscious
What is attention
Because we live in a society which constantly bombards us with more information that we are capable of attending to and interpreting at any one time, our cognitive system must select from the sensory offerings on hand. This initial onslaught of sensory stimuli is termed exposure but only a limited amount of these stimuli are selected by the individual for attention and subsequent interpretation
What is perceptual selection?
The portion of stimuli selected for processing, perceptual filtering, is determined by previous experiences and attitudes stored in memory. When an individual has a current need to satisfy they become more aware of, and actively interested in, stimuli which are directed toward solving these needs. This is termed perceptual vigilance. Likewise the individual often ignores a stimulus that is over-exposed or threatening. This is termed perceptual defense.
What is interpretation?
Interpretation is the process by which individuals assign meaning to sensory stimuli and this is the underlying concept in the first half of this course. Each person assigns meaning to stimuli according to their individual experiences, beliefs and attitudes. Interpretation can be described, then, as the interaction between new information and knowledge stored in memory. Each set of stimuli to which attention is given is organized into socially and culturally constructed categories
What are inferences?
When information is lacking, individuals tend to conform more readily to group attitudes. This goes some way to explaining why social attitudes often become so widespread. Marketers sometimes exploit the natural tendency of individuals to construct inferences by using promotional material to stimulate inference about the attributes and benefits of using a product.
What are semiotics?
Signs may take the form of words, pictures, sounds or scents. They are strongly associated with culture and evoke cognitions and emotions through association with previous experiences. Some signs are objective and represent a specific meaning that is accepted and recognized by all members or a particular society or group. Signs may be used by marketers to convey positive or negative meaning about the attributes of a product.
The study of the relationship between signs and their assigned meaning is termed semiotics.
The semiotic system includes three components: the object, the sign and the interpretant
An icon is a sign which resembles the product itself such as the Sydney harbor bridge or the Sydney opera house
An index is a sign which shares a property with the associated product usually as the result of promotion. Examples include pine trees or lemons with the packaging of products such as detergents
A symbol is a sign associated with a product or behavior through convention or agreement. Think about most road signs or the symbols associated with Mercedes or jaguar
