CHP 3 Learning & Memory Flashcards
What is Learning?
- Relatively permanent change in behaviour that is caused by experience
- Ongoing process
- Can learn intentionally, incidentally, & through experience (ourselves & others)
Behavioural vs. Cognitive Learning
Behaviour - learning takes place as the result of response to external events
- observable aspects of behaviour
Cognitive - focus on internal mental processes
- conscious info processing
- stress memory as the core of learning
What is classical conditioning?
Stimulus that naturally elicits a response is paired with another stimulus that initially does not elicit a response on its own
Describe the process of classical conditioning
- Unconditioned stimulus (e.g. image, music) - > Unconditioned response (e.g. desired reactions)
- US + Neutral stimulus (e.g. product, brand) - > UR
- Conditioned Stimulus (e.g. product, brand) - > Conditioned responses
What is instrumental/operant conditioning?
learning through reward & punishment
What are the 4 types of instrumental conditioning?
Positive Reinforcement - in the form of a reward, the response is strengthened and appropriate behaviour is learned
EXAMPLE: a user who gets a large number of “likes” on his Facebook status
Negative Reinforcement - removes something negative in a way that increases a desired response
EXAMPLE: when the retailer offers to pay the tax for the consumer, it is removing a negative stimulus (the tax) in a way that encourages the desired behaviour
Punishment - occurs when a response is followed by an unpleasant event; learn to not repeat these behaviours
Extinction - when a positive outcome is no longer received, extinction of the behaviour is likely to occur
Types of learning schedules
○ Fixed Ratio Reinforcement - occurs after a fixed number of responses
E.g. consumers might keep buying at the same store to earn a prize
○ Variable Ratio Reinforcement - behaviour is reinforced after a certain number of responses, but he or she does not know how many responses are required
E.g. Roll-up the Rim - don’t know how many times you have to buy until you win a prize
○ Fixed Interval Reinforcement - After a specified time period has passed, the first response that is made brings the reward
E.g. Seasonal Sales
○ Variable Interval Reinforcement - time that must pass before reinforcement is delivered varies around some average
E.g. a loyalty club member at a spa who gets mailed a coupon for a free facial once every eight to ten months
How is instrumental conditioning applied in the market?
- builds consumer loyalty
- Frequency marketing - reinforces the behaviour of regular purchasers by giving them prizes with values that increase along with the amount purchased
○ E.g. PC Optimum - Gamification - capitalizes on the desire for people to achieve increasing levels of mastery at tasks
○ It can involve awarding points, achievement badges, or levels; filling a progress bar; or showing the performance of the self and others on leader boards
E.g. Sephora Loyalty
What is observational learning & its marketing applications?
○ Learning occurs as a result of vicarious rather than direct experience
○ people watch the actions of others and note the reinforcements they receive for their behaviours
○ Modelling - imitating the behaviour of others
APPLICATIONS:
- influence consumers by not necessarily directing rewards or punishing consumers
- learn benefits of new products (e.g. demonstrations, reviews)
What is Memory?
involves a process of acquiring information and storing it over time so that it will be available when needed
Describe the memory process
- Encoding - links new info to existing info to add meaning; info is integrated into the brain
- Storage - knowledge is integrated with what is already in memory and “warehoused” until needed
○ Sensory Memory - permits storage of the information we receive from our senses
- Temporary
○ Short-term memory - stores info for a limited period of time, and its capacity is limited (includes working memory - info we are currently processing); done through chunking
○ Long Term Memory - allows us to retain info for long periods of time; requires elaborate rehearsal - Retrieval - mind accesses the desired information
- influenced by physiological ability, situational factors, affective state, familiarity, salience, visual vs. verbal memory
How is memory measured? What errors may occur
- Recognition - subjects are shown ads one at a time and asked whether they have seen them before
- Recall - ask consumers to think independently of what they have seen, without being prompted for this information first
ERRORS:
* Response Bias - results obtained from a measuring instrument are not necessarily caused by what is being measured, but rather by something else about the instrument or the respondent
- Memory Lapse - unintentionally forgetting info
- Includes omitting facts, averaging/normalizing things & not reporting extreme cases, & telescoping (inaccurate recall of time)
