POM: Session 8 Psychological Processes

At every stage of this decision making model, there is one predominated psychological process that goes along. At need recognition stage, motivation is main psychological force. At information search stage, it the perception that makes consumers considers few brands and not all of them. Evaluation of alternatives is highly influenced by attitudes and beliefs. Purchase decision dominated by decision rules and post purchase results in learning.

Motivation

A motive (or drive) is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction. Buying motives are classified as rational motives i.e. utilitarian object approach and emotional motives i.e. psychological approach. 

Some of the important contributions were made by Abraham Maslow and Sigmund Freud in the field of human psychology and very much applicable to consumer markets. Maslow in Theory of Need Hierarchy suggested that individuals have different level of needs, namely – physiological, social, safety, esteem and self-actualization need. Once lower level needs are satisfied, consumers look for higher level of needs.

Sigmund Freud suggested that most needs are hidden and they will only come out after probing the sub-conscious minds.

These theories suggests that depending upon the scale and level of need, consumer will seek satisfaction and hence differently motivated towards product purchase.

Perception

It is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Everyone differently perceives things around them. When consumers receive a stimulus from environment they recognize it differently. They are likely to perceive it close to something that they have experienced previously and the level of attention they have to the given stimulus.

Selective attention is the tendency for people to screen out most of the information to which they are exposed.. 

Selective distortion describes the tendency of people to interpret information in a way that will support what they already believe. 

Selective retention is the retaining of information that supports their attitudes and beliefs. 

Dynamics of Perception

As individuals are continuously bombarded with number of stimuli from the environment, a few of them are received by senses. The individuals interpret them according to their knowledge and exposures. 

Perceptual Process

Perceptual Selection: An individual may look at same things, ignore others, and turn away from still others. Which stimuli get selected depends on consumer’s previous experience as it reflects on expectations & motives.

Marketers try different things in order to get selected. They use colours, sounds, effects, claims, testimonials, credentials to attract attention of the target audience. 

Perceptual Organization: Marketers help their target audience to organize the stimuli in the way they want to position it. The important decisions are:

•  Figure and Ground: How the product or product features are to be placed, what should be the background, musical settings and jingle. 
• Grouping The attributes are grouped together to provide meaningful cues to the consumers. 
• Closure Whether is complete the message or leave it incomplete. Incomplete and ambiguous messages generates curiosity and hence consumer involvement. 

Apple is the Colour

Consumers can prefer any colour for the home appliances as long as it is apple! Realizing the craze for apple products, appliances companies are adapting to iphone's metallic tone and glass body for their products. Known as iphone effect, is now giving inspiration to companies to come up with new hues and finishes. Consumers associate these colours as something premium and hence add to their aspirations. Companies also hoping to reduce the price gap of such variants as the demand grow.

Perceptual Interpretation: Individual consumers will have different interpretation of stimuli is unique, individuals view them in the light of his past experience. If stimulus is highly ambiguous, individual will usually try to interpret in such a way that it fulfils its personal needs, wishes, interests and so on.

Beliefs and Attitudes

Beliefs are buyer’s knowledge, opinion or faith on a company, product or even a country. Product and Brand Image are based on beliefs. Attitude is related to customer’s judgments, feelings, frame of mind of linking or disliking things, and tendencies. For marketers, responding to current attitude is easier than changing the attitude. 

Attitudes are defined as expression of inner feelings that reflect whether a person is favourably or unfavourably predisposed to some object. Objects can be product or any attribute of product like product category, websites, brand, ads, price, medium, product Use or retailer.

Attitudes are learned predispositions. Attitude relevant to purchase behaviour are formed as a result of direct experience with the product, information from others / mass media. They are consistent though can be changed by the efforts of the marketer. Attitudes are situational as specific situations can cause consumers to behave in ways seemingly inconsistent with their attitude.

Learning

It describes changes in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience. Consumers seek different level of learning for different products. For more expensive products, consumers make conscious effort to learn about the various alternative products. For less expensive products, learning happens with behaviour. For such products, marketers induce learning by creating and establishing associations and reinforcements.