INFORMATION PROCESSING
Memory Functions
- Defined as the content of what consumers received from the outside
world and the reactions that are generated.
Consumer information is obtained through the different senses of
(vision, hearing, taste, smell, touch).
CONSUMER INFORMATION PROCESSING
- Is the process through which consumers are exposed to information
and they become involve with it. Consumers attend to it and try to
comprehend the information and retrieve it later when need arises.
3 Factors that influence information processing:
1. Perception
- Is the process through which individuals are exposed to information,
attend to that information and comprehend it.
- Initial stage = the consumers are exposed and receive information
through their senses.
- Second stage = the consumer goes through the process of attention
where they allocate certain amount of processing capacity to the perceived
stimuli.
- Third stage = the consumers organize and interpret the information in
order to obtain meaning from it.
Comprehension – is the process of making sense of stimuli so they may be
understood.
2. Influence information processing
- It is the degree of involvement of the consumer to the task.
- It is the process where the consumer will move from the exposure
stage to the attention stage and finally to the comprehension stage of
perception.
- This process involved the influence of memory functions and their
reaction to the perceived stimuli.
3.
- It is the process where the consumer uses the mental information
processing of assimilating into active stimulus response as guide in decision
making towards a particular product or service.
- The memory places a vital role in this stage of perception. It guides
the exposure and attention process by allowing consumer to anticipate stimuli
they may encounter.
INFORMATION EXPOSURE AND STIMULUS RESPONSE
- Information exposure activates the consumer’s sensory organ so that
the entire mechanism of information processing can begin.
- Marketing communication through advertisements and other medium
must be used by marketers to activate the sensory organs of the
consumers to develop favorable response to the product or brand.
Selectivity is one salient characteristics of consumer information processing
which is developed during the exposure stage.
- Selective exposure is important for marketers as it is useless to spend
money for advertising when the consumer does not respond favorably
to the product being advertised.
- When the customer becomes more involve with the product or brand
they pay more attention to it and seek further information to know
more about the product attributes.
- Short but meaningful advertising creates imagination and developed
customers’ interest.
CONSUMERS SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
- Consumers’ exposure to the product stimulates the sensory organs.
- The study of sensation reveals that people react to new sensory
information through their sense organ of taste, smell, hearing, or their
visual perception.
- The goal of marketing organization is to analyze how customer
responds to raw information and how they are stimulated towards the
product.
 - When the customers are exposed to the information their sense
organs’ response is either favorable or unfavorable to the stimulus.
CONSUMERS ATTENTION
- Attention is the allocation of cognitive capacity to an object or task so
that information is commonly processed.
- The process goes through when the consumer is observing a television
ad or reading an advertisement about a product or brand, thus
allocating his mental capacity towards the task.
- The more demanding the task, the person is more involved.
- The greater the amount of attention the consumer will focus on the
information about the product.
TYPES OF ATTENTION
1. THE PRE-ATTENTION STAGE
- It is an unconscious process in which consumers automatically scan
the features of the product or brand.
- It is an intermediary stage between exposure and conscious attention
to stimulate interest or unfavorable attention.
- During pre-attention stage the consumers initially evaluates the
information obtained to determine whether it is important to process further
the initial data.
- If the consumer feels it is important, he allocates additional cognitive
resources to the stimulus and moves into the attention stage of information
processing.
2. THE ATTENTION STAGE
- It is the process where the consumers actively search for information
of the product or brand that has personal relevance to them.
- The attention stage could either be voluntary or selective.
- Consumers tendency to selectivity is a major problem of marketers
when the exposure to customer exposure is in low involvement level as they
tend to ignore the message.
3. Capturing the consumers attention
- The nature of the stimulus is an important component.
- The goal of the marketer is to activate the orientation reflex of the
consumer towards favorable stimulus either through surprise or violent
expectations.
1. Movement attracts attention
- These are done with neon signs that stimulate motions. Neon signs in
stores and highways attract the attention of the consumer and create positive
information about the product or brand.
2. Unusual sounds can activate the orientation response
- Television advertisers have taken to use distinctive sounds in their
commercials. The advertising agency creates some kind of noise that grows
louder as the commercial progresses thereby creating attention.
3. The size of the advertising stimulus
- Large print advertisements are more attention-grabber than small
print ads. It stimulates attention of the consumer about the product or brand.
Consumers’ attention is usually attracted to large ads in billboards.
4. The color of the advertisements
- The graphic artists have applied the Gestalt principles of contrast in
print or television advertising. Contrast will likely increase the attention and
interest of the consumer and they will attend to the message of the
advertisements.
5. The placement of the advertisements
- Advertisements in theaters develop a capture audience as movie
goers have no choice but to view the advertisements before the film begins.
While they are costly in production, the product exposure tends to create more
attention.
CONSUMERS’ COMPREHENSION STAGE
- Comprehension stage of information processing is the period when the
customer begins to perceptually organize and interpret the information
in order to derive meaning about the product or brand.
- Perceptual organization – refers to the process where the consumer
perceived the shapes, forms, figures and color of the product in their
visual world. – It is the interpretation process that consumers draw
their experiences and expectations to attach meaning to the desired
stimulus response.
- Interest in the product or brand could attract perceptual attention and
involvement, and this will increase consumer comprehension.
THE ROLE OF CONSUMER EXPECTATION
- Expectations – are the consumers’ belief about what should happen in
a given situation.
- Advertisements flouted in many commercials about innovation of
products created in the mind of the consumer that the product being
advertised is much better in quality. – They expect that when they buy
the new product, it serves their needs and desires.
THE EXPECTATION OF PRICE-QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS
- Consumer expectation can also have important impact on the pricing
strategies. Consumers will usually avoid the product that is highly
priced especially when alternative products are available in the market.
- On the other hand consumers who developed brand loyalty will not
look at the price of the product as they perceive that the products is
price higher because of its perceived quality.
The Price – Quality relationships are indicated in the ff.:
1. Consumer confidence on the price predicts quality.
2. Price quality variations among different brands.
3. The perceived quality of the brand remains constant overtime.
4. Larger price differentials have greater impact for familiar brands.
5. Consumers use price as an indicator of higher perceived value.
CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT
- Is the perceived personal importance and the interest that consumers
attach to the acquisition, consumption, and the disposition of goods or
service.
- When consumer involvement increases, the consumer develops a
greater motivation to attend to the comprehension process and make
an elaborate interpretation about the product or service.
- Involvement is a motivational state that energies and directs
consumer’s cognitive and affective process and behavior as they make
decision.
4 important factors that influence involvement level are:
1. The type of product under consideration
- The consumer involvement generally increases when the product or
service under consideration is more expensive, socially visible as branded and
difficult to purchase.
2. The characteristic of the communication or medium used
- The type of media and quality of advertisement used arouses the
consumers’ emotions and the perceived value of the product or service as
highly desirable.
3. The situation where the consumer operates
- The situation refers to whom the product is to be given. It is more
important when the product will be given to someone special, a girlfriend or
fiancée. The level of interest or involvement increases as the importance of the
situation increases.
4. The consumer’s personality
- The consumer’s personality governs involvement to some extent. It
has something to do with the level of income and his capacity to spend his peso
or his attitudes towards money as the consumer maybe stingy or extravagant.
CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT RESPONSE
1. SITUATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
- It occurs over a short period and commonly associated with specific
situation. It appears to the person when the equipment he used suddenly
breaks down and needs immediate replacement.
- The consumer involvement response becomes immediate as the
equipment needs immediate replacement. The situational involvement became
apparent.
2. ENDURING INVOLVEMENT
- It occurs when the consumers show a consistent high level of interest
about the product. The consumers spend time thinking of buying the product.
He spends time shopping and every time he sees the product, the urge to buy
the product remains at the back of his mind. A craving to buy a new model of
cell phone could be an example.
- The enduring involvement stops when the consumers purchased the
product.
3. SELF-EXPRESSIVE IMPORTANCE INVOLVEMENT
- This occurs when the consumer felt that owning a new product will
express their self-concept with other people in the neighborhood.
- At this point the involvement level becomes apparent as the
consumer would like to impress with other people that he has acquired a new
product which boosts his self-expression.
4. THE HEDONIC IMPORTANCE INVOLVEMENT
- This involvement occurs when the product under consideration
appears pleasurable and interesting. The advent of new technology in
communication makes fun and fascinating experience with consumers.
- The excitement of owning the new gadgets increases the involvement
response of the target consumer.
5. PRACTICAL RELEVANCE INVOLVEMENT
- This involvement occurs when the consumer sees products that have
utilitarian value and beneficial for their daily use.
- The involvement response appears to the consumer while shopping
and notices a product that he needs for his daily use. Example of these goods is
home tools that have utilitarian value.
THE EFFECTS OF HIGH INVOLVEMENT
- The purchasing decision of the consumer is affected by his level of
involvement.
- As the level of consumer involvement goes up, the consumers’
processing information is more depth thus arousal becomes more
intense.
- High involvement circumstances are more likely to develop in the mind
of the consumers a high frequency decision-making process.
- Low involvement will create in the perception of the consumer a low
decision making process. (vice versa)
- The effects of high level involvement include greater depth of
information processing.
THE CONSUMER - PRODUCT RELATIONSHIP
1. Strong intrinsic self-relevance
 Brand loyalist – has strong affective ties to one favorite brand that they
regularly buy as they perceive that the product category provides
relevant consequences to their type of personality.
 Routine Brand Buyers – have low intrinsic relevance for the product
category but they do have favorite brand that they buy regularly.
2. Lower levels of intrinsic self-relevance
 Information seekers – they have positive means-end knowledge about
the product category, but in their minds there is no particular brand
that stands out superior. They try to use various information medium
searching for good brands and tend to buy variety of brands in the
product category.
 Brand Switchers – they have low intrinsic self-relevance for both brand
and the product category. Consumers of these types do not see
important consequences and they have no interest in buying the best.