Chapter 4

4-1 What is the difference between an unconditioned stimulus and a conditioned stimulus?

The powder was an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) because it was naturally capable of causing the
response. Over time, the bell became a conditioned stimulus (CS); it did not initially cause salivation,
but the dogs learned to associate the bell with the meat powder and began to salivate at the sound
of the bell only.

Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus that naturally elicits a response (an unconditioned
stimulus) is paired with another stimulus that does not initially elicit this response. Over time, the
second stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) elicits the response even in the absence of the first.

4-2 People react to other, similar stimuli in much the same way as they responded to an original
stimulus. What is this phenomenon, and how does it work?

People also react to other, similar stimuli in much the same way they responded to the original
stimulus; we call this generalization a halo effect. A drugstore’s bottle of private-brand mouthwash
that is deliberately packaged to resemble Listerine mouthwash may evoke a similar response among
consumers, who assume that this “me-too” product shares other characteristics of the original.
Indeed, consumers in one study on shampoo brands tended to rate those with similar packages as
similar in quality and performance as well.

4-3 What are the dangers of advertising wear-out, and how might a marketer avoid it?

it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Consumers can become so used to hearing or
seeing a marketing stimulus that they no longer pay attention to it.

One solution is to create variations of the same basic message to alleviate this problem of
advertising wear-out.
Recent research indicates that the answer depends on whether the ad relates to the Web
site’s content, and whether or not competing ads are also present on the site. The study
found support for the general idea that repetitive ad messages resulted in higher recall and
interest in learning more about the advertised product (in this case, a laptop). However,
repeating the same ad was primarily effective when competitors also showed ads on the site.
Otherwise, it was better to vary the ad messages for the laptop (presumably because people
tuned out the ad if it appeared repeatedly). These ads were also more effective when they
appeared on a site where the content related to the advertised product.

4-4 Advertisers like to use celebrities and well-known faces to help promote their products and
services. Is this a good idea?

we tend to remember brand names that we link to physical characteristics of a product category
(e.g., Coffee-Mate creamer or Sani-Flush toilet bowl cleaner) or that we can easily visualize (e.g.,
Tide detergent or Ford Mustang cars) compared to more abstract brand names.71 Similarly, our
brains automatically react to images of familiar celebrities and use them to guide how we think
about them to ascribe meaning to other images of people or products with which they appear
Sometimes we process a stimulus simply in terms of its sensory meaning, such as the literal color or
shape of a package. We may experience a feeling of familiarity when, for example, we see an ad for
a new snack food we have recently tasted. In many cases, though, we encode meanings at a more
abstract level. Semantic meaning refers to symbolic associations, such as the idea that rich people
drink champagne or that fashionable women have navel piercings. Let’s take a closer look at how we
encode these deeper meanings.
4-5 Why are brand marketers concerned with stimulus discrimination?

Companies with a well-established brand image try to encourage stimulus discrimination when they
promote the unique attributes of their brand—hence the constant reminders for American Express
Travelers Cheques: “Ask for them by name.” However, a brand name that a firm uses so widely that
it is no longer distinctive becomes part of the public domain and competitors are free to borrow it:
think of well-worn names such as aspirin, cellophane, yo-yo, escalator, and even google (which
started as a noun and is now also a verb). This high degree of acceptance can be a tough barrier to
jump when you’re a competitor: Microsoft hopes that over time we will choose to “bing” rather than
“google” when we want information.

4-6 What is the major difference between behavioral and cognitive theories of learning?

Behavioral learning theories assume that learning takes place as the result of responses to external
events. Psychologists who subscribe to this viewpoint do not focus on internal thought processes.

Instead, they approach the mind as a “black box” and emphasize the observable aspects of behavior.
The observable aspects consist of things that go into the box (the stimuli or events perceived from
the outside world) and things that come out of the box

(the responses, or reactions to these stimuli).

Unlike behavioral theories of learning, cognitive learning theory approaches stress the importance of
internal mental processes. This perspective views people as problem-solvers who actively use
information from the world around them to master their environments. Supporters of this view also
stress the role of creativity and insight during the learning process.

4-7 Name the three stages of information processing as we commit information about products to
memory.

Contemporary approaches to the study of memory employ an information-processing approach.

1 In the encoding stage, information enters in a way the system will recognize.

2 In the storage stage, we integrate this knowledge with what is already in memory and
“warehouse” it until it is needed.

3 During retrieval, we access the desired information.

4-8 What is external memory, and why is it important to marketers?

Marketers rely on consumers to retain information they collect about products and services so they
will apply it to future purchase decisions. We combine this internal memory with external memory
when we decide what to buy. This includes all the product details on packages and other marketing
stimuli that permit us to identify and evaluate brand alternatives in the marketplace.68

The grocery-shopping list is a good example of a powerful external memory aid. When consumers
use shopping lists, they buy approximately 80 percent of the items on the list. The likelihood that a
shopper will purchase a particular list item is higher if the person who wrote the list also participates
in the shopping trip. This means that if marketers can induce consumers to plan to purchase an item
before they go shopping, there is a high probability that they will buy it. One way to encourage this
kind of advance planning is to provide peel-off stickers on packages so that, when consumers notice
the supply is low, they can simply peel off the label and place it directly on a shopping list. Or, a
retailer can support a phone app that generates a shopping list for the user

4-9 How can marketers use sensory memory?

Sensory memory stores the information we receive from our senses. This storage is temporary; it
lasts a couple of seconds at most. For example, a man who walks past a donut shop gets a quick,
enticing whiff of something baking inside. Although this sensation lasts only a few seconds, it is
sufficient to allow him to consider whether he should investigate further. If he retains this
information for further processing, it transfers to shortterm memory.

4-10 What advantages does narrative bring to advertising?

A narrative, or a description of a product that is written as a story, is often an effective way to

4-11 List the three types of memory, and explain how they work together.

SENSORY MEMORY Temporary storage of sensory information Less than 1 second

LONG-TERM MEMORY Relatively permanent storage of information Unlimited Long or permanent Researchers
describe three distinct memory systems: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory
(LTM). Each plays a role in processing brand-related information

Sensory Memory
Sensory memory stores the information we receive from our senses. This storage is temporary; it lasts a couple
of seconds at most. For example, a man who walks past a donut shop gets a quick, enticing whiff of something
baking inside. Although this sensation lasts only a few seconds, it is sufficient to allow him to consider whether
he should investigate further. If he retains this information for further processing, it transfers to short term
memory.

Short-term Memory
Short-term memory (STM) also stores information for a limited period of time, and it has limited capacity.
Similar to a computer, this system is working memory; it holds the information we are currently processing. Our
memories can store verbal input acoustically (in terms of how it sounds) or semantically (in terms of what it
means).
We store this information as we combine small pieces into larger ones in a process we call chunking. A chunk is
a configuration that is familiar to the person and that he or she can think about as a unit. For example, a brand
name like 7 For All Mankind is a chunk that represents a great deal of detailed information about the product.
Initially, researchers believed that our STM was capable of processing between five and nine chunks of
information at a time; they described this basic property as
“the magical number 7+/–2.” This is the reason our phone numbers today (at least in the United States) have
seven digits.76 It now appears that three to four chunks is the optimal size for efficient retrieval (we remember
seven-digit phone numbers because we chunk the individual digits, so we may remember a three-digit
exchange as one piece of information).77 Phone calls aside, chunking is important to marketers because it
helps determine how consumers keep prices in short-term memory when they comparison-shop
Long-term Memory
Long-term memory (LTM) is the system that allows us to retain information for a long period of time. A
cognitive process of elaborative rehearsal allows information to move from STM into LTM. This involves thinking
about the meaning of a stimulus and relating it to other information already in memory. Marketers assist in the
process when they devise catchy slogans or jingles that consumers repeat on their own.

The relationship between STM and LTM is a source of some controversy. The traditional multiple-store
perspective assumes that STM and LTM are separate systems. More recent research has moved away from the
distinction between the two types of memory; it emphasizes the interdependence of the systems. According to
activation models of memory, depending on the nature of the processing task different levels of processing
occur that activate some aspects of memory rather than others.81 The more effort it takes to process
information (so-called deep processing), the more likely it is that information will transfer into LTM.
4-12 How is associative memory like a spider web?

Think of these storage units, or knowledge structures, as complex spider webs filled with pieces of
data. Incoming information gets put into nodes that connect to one another (if you haven’t guessed,
this is also why we call cyberspace the World Wide Web). When we view separate pieces of
information as similar for some reason, we chunk them together under some more abstract
category. Then, we interpret new, incoming information to be consistent with the structure we have
created. helps explain why we are better able to remember brands or stores that we believe “go

together”; for example, when Titleist golf balls rather than Chanel fragrances sponsors a

golf tournament.83 In the associative network, links form between nodes. For example, a consumer
might have a network for “perfumes.” Each node represents a concept related to the category.

This node can be an attribute, a specific brand, a celebrity the consumer identifies with a specific
perfume brand, or even a related product. A network for perfumes might include concepts such as
the brand names Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture, Calvin Klein Eternity, and Elizabeth Arden Red Door,
as well as attributes such as sexy and elegant.

4-13 How does the likelihood that a person wants to use an ATM machine relate to a schema?

One type of schema especially relevant to consumer behavior is a script; a sequence of events an
individual expects to occur. As consumers we learn service scripts that guide our behavior in
commercial settings. We expect a certain sequence of events, and we may become uncomfortable if
the service departs from our script. A service script for a visit to the dentist might include such
events as (1) drive to the dentist, (2) read old magazines in the waiting room, (3) hear name called
and sit in dentist’s chair, (4) dentist injects something into gums, (5) dentist turns on high-pitched
drill, and so on. This desire to follow a script helps to explain why such service innovations as
automatic bank machines, self-service gas stations, or “scan-your-own” grocery checkouts have met
with resistance by some consumers who have trouble adapting to new sequences of events

4-14 Why does a pioneering brand have a memory advantage over follower brands?

Not surprisingly, recall is enhanced when we pay more attention to the message in the first place.
Some evidence indicates that we can more easily retrieve information about a pioneering brand (the
first brand to enter a market) from memory than we can for follower brands that ride their coattails
because the first product’s introduction is likely to be distinctive, and for the time being, no
competitors divert our attention