CONSUMER PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION

 The process by which an individual

selects, organizes, and interprets
stimuli into a meaningful and
coherent picture of the world
ASPECTS OF PERCEPTION

Selection

Organization

Interpretation
Selection Depends Upon:
Nature of the stimulus - Includes the product’s physical
attributes, package design, brand name, advertising and more…

Based on attention which can be brought into communication

through Contrast

Expectations- Based on familiarity, previous experience or

expectations

Motives -Needs or wants for a product or service.

 ORGANIZATION
 Organization refers to how people organize
stimuli into groups and perceive them as a whole.

 Figure and Ground Principle- People tend to

organize perceptions into figure-and-ground
relationships.

 The ground is usually hazy.

 Marketers usually design so the figure is the

noticed stimuli.
FIGURE-GROUND PRINCIPLE

 This billboard for Wrangler jeans makes creative use

of the figure-ground principle.
FIGURE-GROUND PRINCIPLE
 Product placement- when advertised product (figure)
integrated into TV show
 ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTION
 Sensation - Immediate response of our sensory
receptors…
➢ …eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin…

…to basic stimuli…

➢ …such as light, colour, sound, odour, and texture
➢ …advertisements, brand names, commercials, and
packages

 …depends on the sensitivity of the individual

 Inputs picked up by our five senses are the raw
data that begin the perceptual process.
SENSORY SYSTEMS

Eye Ear Nose Mouth Skin

Sight Sound Smell Taste Touch

Exposure to
Raw Data

Processing
of Inputs

Interpretation
of Inputs
 SENSORY MARKETING
 Visual Branding: Sight is the most used sense for
marketing because it is the one most responsive to the
environment. Colour has big influence on visual branding

 Sound: Sound is used in branding to evoke emotions and

feelings to influence brand experiences and interpretations.
 Background music

 Olfactory: Smell is used in branding because it

increases the customers' remembrance of the
brand.
 Impact of fragrance on store choice
 SENSORY MARKETING
 Taste: Taste fuses all the different senses
together to create a holistic brand experience.

 Touch: Touch strengthens brand identity and

image by appealing to this sense.
 Touching a product influences persuasion
PERCEPTIONS OF COLOR (SENSORY SYSTEM-
VISION)

This ad campaign by
the San Francisco
Ballet uses color
perceptions to get urban
sophisticates to add
classical dance to their
packed entertainment
itineraries.
SENSORY MARKETING- USE OF COLOUR
 EXAMPLE OF SENSORY MARKETING
 Advertisement which appeal to our senses
 MULTISENSORY BRANDING
 The best solution to gain brand dominance in the market
today is multi-sensory branding. A multi-sensory branding
strategy encompasses all the senses:
ADVERTISEMENTS APPEAL TO OUR SENSORY
SYSTEMS

 This ad for a luxury car emphasizes the contribution made by all

of our senses to the evaluation of a driving experience.
AIRFRANCE: A CASE OF MULTI-SENSORIAL
EXPERIENCE
MULTISENSORY BRANDING
Multisensory Branding
 ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTION

Absolute Threshold is the lowest level at which

an individual can experience the sensation

➢ Two individuals have different threshold

➢ Sensory adaptation: “getting used to” – a problem

that concern many advertisers.
EXAMPLE OF BRAND LOGO ABOVE TO
ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD
 ELEMENT OF PERCEPTION- JUST
NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE

 Just noticeable difference (differential threshold)-

minimum amount of change that can be detected

 Why is it a 10% off sale fails to get your attention

while a 30% off sale brings in consumers from the
surrounding counties?
 DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD
(JUST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE – J.N.D.)

• Minimal difference that can be detected between two

similar stimuli
• Weber’s law
– The j.n.d. between two stimuli is not an absolute
amount but an amount relative to the intensity of the
first stimulus

– The stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the

additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be
perceived as different.
 MARKETING APPLICATIONS OF THE JND

 Need to determine the relevant j.n.d. for their products

 so that negative changes (reduction in product size or quantity or

increase in product price) are not readily discernible to the public

 so that product improvements are very apparent to consumers

 JND can be applied to marketing mix decisions-

 Product improvements- equal to JND
 Price increase- less than JND
 Packaging/logo- below to JND

 Marketers should not go beyond JND

 Marketers use JND to determine the amount of improvement
in product
Gradual Changes in Brand Name Fall Below the J.N.D.
 QUESTION????
 How might a cereal manufacturer such as Kellogg’s used
the j.n.d. for Frosted Flakes in terms of:

 Product decisions
 Packaging decisions
 Advertising decisions
 Sales promotion decisions