Memory and knowledge; Attitudes

Question 1

What is cognitive psychology?

Answer 1

• Explores internal mental processes – how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems.
• Uses highly scientific methods, and the assumptions of cognitive psychology are supported by developments cognitive neuroscience. [See part 2 of Lecture 13 in semester 2 - Modern research methods]
  Covers:
• Understanding and interpreting stimuli and events
• Thinking and reasoning
• Problem solving
• Learning, memory
• Internal mental states: belief, desire, knowledge, attitude

Question 2

What is information process theory?

Answer 2

• External inputs –> Encoding –> Storage –> Retrieval.
• Encoding is information placed in memory.
• Storage is information retained in memory.
• Retrieval is where information stored in memory is found as needed.
• The memory types is LT and ST.

Question 3

What is the memory systems diagram made up of?

Answer 3

• Sensory memory
• STM
• LTM
• Attention
• Elaborative rehearsal

Question 4

What are the types of sensory memory

Answer 4

• Visual (sights)
• Auditory (sounds)
• Olfactory (smells)
• Gustatory (taste)
• Haptic (textures)

Question 5

How is attention directed?

Answer 5

• Voluntarily
• Involuntarily: Salient stimuli, Vivid stimuli

Question 6

What is STM?

Answer 6

Working memory:
- Where most conscious info processing takes place; incoming info is encoded or interpreted in the context of existing knowledge, and kept available for more processing.
- Discursive processing (representing stimulus in words).
- Imagery processing (representing stimulus in five senses).

Question 7

What is elaborative rehearsal?

Answer 7

A technique that helps to transfer short-term memory into long-term memory.

Question 8

What is LT memory?

Answer 8

• Declarative memory.
• Episodic (autobiographical) memory; e.g. experienced
  events.
• Semantic memory; e.g. knowledge and concepts
• Non-Declarative memory; e.g. skills and actions like riding a bike or driving or procedural.

Question 9

The storage and retrieval part is known as the knowledge section. What does this mean?

Answer 9

• Topic knowledge/product knowledge refers to an individual’s knowledge of a topic or product.
• Importance of prior knowledge for consumer behaviour (Bettman & Park, 1980; Alba, 1983; Carlson et al., 2009).
• Prior Knowledge= total knowledge of an individual as of now; about a topic, a product, a market, etc.

Question 10

What is subjective and objective knowledge?

Answer 10

• Knowledge stored in consumers’ memory ≠ consumers’ assessment of their knowledge (Brucks, 1985)
• Objective Knowledge (OK)
• “What is actually stored in memory” (Brucks, 1985: 2).
• Subjective Knowledge (SK)
• “What individuals perceive that they know” (Brucks, 1985: 2).
• Conceptualised to include “an individual’s degree of confidence in his/her knowledge” (Brucks, 1985: 2).
• “Miscalibration” refers to the difference between objective knowledge and subjective knowledge (Alba & Hutchinson, 2000).

Question 11

What are the marketing implications of knowledge?

Answer 11

• Prior Knowledge → Influences differently information search (Brucks, 1985; Moore and Lehman, 1980).
• OK facilitates the deliberation and use of newly acquired information (Rudell, 1979; Brucks, 1985).
• SK increases reliance on previously stored information (Rudell, 1979).

Question 12

What does knowledge have to do with endorsement and advertising?

Answer 12

• Empirical evidence (Biswas, Biswas & Das, 2006):
• A consumer who is highly knowledgeable about a product will trust more the claims made in an advert when they come from an expert rather than a celebrity who is not perceived to be an expert on the product.
• A consumer with low product knowledge will have a greater reliance on the use of peripheral cues as diagnostic signals to analyse the risks associated with a product purchase (Rao and Monroe 1988). Celebrity endorsement and expert endorsements have the same effect in reducing risk perceptions.

Question 13

What is high and low technology in relation to knowledge, endorsement and advertising?

Answer 13

• Application to high/low technology oriented products in Biswas, Biswas & Das’s (2006) study:
• High technology oriented products: expert endorsement èmagnified effect on high-knowledge consumers.
• Low technology oriented products: differences were not found between types of endorsements Biswas, D., Biswas, A., & Das, N. (2006). Journal of Advertising.

Question 14

What is an attitude?

Answer 14

• “the individual predisposition to evaluate an object or an aspect of the world in a favourable or unfavourable manner”. Antonides and van Raaij (1998)
• “a predisposition to respond in a consistent or predictable manner to a stimulus”. Evans, Jamal and Foxall (2006)

Question 15

What can attitudes be towards?

Answer 15

• An object e.g. product, service (branded or nonbranded).
• An action e.g. buying FT; boycotting unethical companies.
• Intangible objects such as concepts e.g. gender equality; freedom of speech.
• Marketing e.g. sexist or persuasive advertising, hard sell.
• Exist at an unobservable level [hence surveys/questionnaires] and stored in memory
• Can be formed during information processing [e.g. John Lewis – recycling service for electricals]

Question 16

Where are attitudes learnt from?

Answer 16

• Personal experience (e.g. usage experience; life experience).
• Information provided by others.
• Marketing communications (i.e. market controlled sources).

Question 17

What are Kat’z function of attitudes (Kat’z classifciation)?

Answer 17

• Utilitarian function
• Ego- defensive function
• Value expressive function
• Knowledge function

Question 18

What is the utilitarian function?

Answer 18

• The utilitarian function stems from the belief that consumers’ attitudes reflect the utilities that objects (brands) provide.
• Based on Behaviouristic Learning Theories à people strive to maximise rewards and minimise punishments.
• If the object is rewarding – develop favourable attitude.
• Advert stresses benefits to imply rewards - aim of creating positive attitudes before purchase.

Question 19

What is the knowledge function?

Answer 19

• Based on Gestalt Psychology à need to give structure to the universe.
• We want order & meaning, clarity & consistency.
• The mind forms a global whole with self-organising tendencies.
• e.g. brands we like/dislike; products or shops to avoid; rankings, organising apps.

Question 20

What is the value- expressive function?

Answer 20

• Based on Ego (Humanistic) Psychology à expressing appropriate attitudes to showcase central values (self-identity).
• Attitude is not so much based on intrinsic product attributes but on what the product ‘says’ about
  you (self-concept theory).
• Dove is a good example.

Question 21

What is the ego defensive function?

Answer 21

• Based on Freudian & neo-Freudian thinking à many of our attitudes serve as defense mechanisms for our self-image.
• Develop attitudes that protect our self-image.

Question 22

why is defining and measuring attitudes important to developing marketing strategy? What must the promotional strategy reflect?

Answer 22

1.Identify the benefit segments.
- NPD.
- Formulate & evaluate promotional strategy.
2. The benefits delivered by the product.
- The attitude function fulfilled by the product.

Question 23

Why are attitudes difficult to change?

Answer 23

• Strategies for changing attitudes usually require brand
  repositioning.
• Skoda – reliable
• Milk – healthy and ‘cool’
• Old spice – modern, trendy
• Seat – experience (‘Auto emocion’)

Question 24

What are problems with measuring attitudes - Cognitive models of decision making?

Answer 24

• The interviewer
• The bandwagon effect
• Attitudes and intentions
• Social desirability bias

Question 25

What is the Theory of reasoned action?

Answer 25

• Attitude to target behaviour: Beliefs that the behaviour leads to certain outcomes. Evaluations of these outcomes.
• Subjective norm: Beliefs that others think the subject should or shouldn’t perform the behaviour. Subjects motivation to comply with these other people.
• Behavioural intentions
• Behavioural targets

Answer 26

• Beliefs that the behaviour leads to certain outcomes. Evaluations of these outcomes - Environmental influences e.g physical, social and marketing environment.
• Beliefs that others think the subject should or shouldn’t perform the behaviour. Subjects motivation to comply with these other people - Personal variables e.g Lifestyle patterns, demographic characteristics, personality traits etc.

Question 27

What is the TPB?

Answer 27

• Attitude to target behaviour
• Subjective norm
• Perceived behavioural control
• Behavioural intention
• Target behaviour

Question 28

What are the applications of TRA and TPB?

Answer 28

• TRA explains alcohol consumption on college football game day (Glassman et al., 2010).
• Perceived behavioural control (PBC) doesn’t predict intentions so TPB is not appropriate.
• Possible explanation for insignificant of PBC: the sample included only “non-problem drinkers”.
  Examples of other applications of TPB
• Adolescent food choice (Dennison and Shepherd, 1995) investment decisions (East, 1993).
• Mothers’ intentions to limit frequency of infants’ sugar intake (Beale and Manstead, 1991).
• Participation in cancer screening (de Vellis et al., 1990).