Consumer Behavior
Week 1: What are the psychological factors that influence our
choices?
From exposure to action:
Stimuli response
Perception
Perception is the awareness or understanding of sensory information.
Elements of consumers’ perceptions
Exposure= bringing the stimulus to the consumer
Attention
Comprehension
How do we process what we’re exposed
Sensing: immediate response
Organizing: assembling sensory evidence into something recognizable
Reacting: physical and mental responses to the stimuli
How do we organize:
,Theories about perception
Is awareness of the stimulus necessary to influence consumers?
The traditional dissociation paradigm suggests that consumers are
influenced by stimuli even when they are not aware of them (Erdelyi
1985).
Problem: how can we measure something that consumers are not aware
of?
Whenever an indirect measure of responding is more strongly influenced
by stimulus exposure than is a comparable direct measure of responding,
perception without awareness can be inferred.
*Article 1: Bornstein, Robert F., and Paul R. D'agostino. (1992) "Stimulus
recognition and the mere exposure effect."
Mere exposure effect
,Unreinforced exposure is sufficient to enhance attitude toward the
stimulus.
Proven in different context:
- Advertising
- Social perceptions and behavior
- Prejudice
The mere exposure effects can be obtained by stimuli that are neither
recalled nor recognized by subjects
Research problem:
Bornstein (1989):
The mere exposure effect produced by stimuli that are not recognized at
better-than-chance accuracy are substantially larger than mere exposure
effects produced by clearly recognized stimuli.
RQ: comparing the magnitude of the mere exposure effect produced by
subliminal stimuli vs supraliminal stimuli that are consciously perceived
Experimental procedure:
- Different stimuli ( abstract, meaningful social stimulus)
- Different exposures (0, 1, 5, 10, 20 repetition per stimulus)
- Half of the stimuli were exposed at a subliminal exposure duration
(5 ms), half of the stimuli were exposed at a supraliminal exposure
duration (500 ms)
- After exposure subjects made affect and recognition judgements
Experiment one:
120 participants, stimuli: 25 polygons and 25 photographs of woman
5ms: subliminal 500ms: supraliminal
, Main effect of exposure frequency on liking ratings:
- Frequently exposed stimuli received more positive ratings than
infrequently exposed stimuli
Main effect of exposure duration on liking ratings:
- 5ms receiving hinger ratings than 500 ms
Interaction between exposure duration and exposure frequency
- 5-ms stimuli showed a rapid increase in liking ratings with increasing
exposure frequency than the 500ms stimuli
- 5ms stimuli produced a significantly stronger exposure effect than
the 500ms
Mere exposure effect?
- Increase in liking with increasing exposure frequency in the 5ms
condition
- But not significant effect for the 500 ms condition
Overall 500ms condition received significantly higher recognition ratings
overall than the 5 ms condition.
Key takeaways:
- Subliminal stimuli produce significantly stronger mere exposure
effects than stimuli that is clearly recognized
- These findings held true for both polygon and photograph stimuli,
attesting generalizability of the effect
Only the 5-ms condition showed a significant increase in liking with more
exposures.
The 500-ms condition did not show a statistically reliable increase — even
if the line looks slightly upward.
Subliminal is mere exposure effect
What is the limitation of experiment 1?
How did the researchers solve the problem in experiment 2?
Week 1: What are the psychological factors that influence our
choices?
From exposure to action:
Stimuli response
Perception
Perception is the awareness or understanding of sensory information.
Elements of consumers’ perceptions
Exposure= bringing the stimulus to the consumer
Attention
Comprehension
How do we process what we’re exposed
Sensing: immediate response
Organizing: assembling sensory evidence into something recognizable
Reacting: physical and mental responses to the stimuli
How do we organize:
,Theories about perception
Is awareness of the stimulus necessary to influence consumers?
The traditional dissociation paradigm suggests that consumers are
influenced by stimuli even when they are not aware of them (Erdelyi
1985).
Problem: how can we measure something that consumers are not aware
of?
Whenever an indirect measure of responding is more strongly influenced
by stimulus exposure than is a comparable direct measure of responding,
perception without awareness can be inferred.
*Article 1: Bornstein, Robert F., and Paul R. D'agostino. (1992) "Stimulus
recognition and the mere exposure effect."
Mere exposure effect
,Unreinforced exposure is sufficient to enhance attitude toward the
stimulus.
Proven in different context:
- Advertising
- Social perceptions and behavior
- Prejudice
The mere exposure effects can be obtained by stimuli that are neither
recalled nor recognized by subjects
Research problem:
Bornstein (1989):
The mere exposure effect produced by stimuli that are not recognized at
better-than-chance accuracy are substantially larger than mere exposure
effects produced by clearly recognized stimuli.
RQ: comparing the magnitude of the mere exposure effect produced by
subliminal stimuli vs supraliminal stimuli that are consciously perceived
Experimental procedure:
- Different stimuli ( abstract, meaningful social stimulus)
- Different exposures (0, 1, 5, 10, 20 repetition per stimulus)
- Half of the stimuli were exposed at a subliminal exposure duration
(5 ms), half of the stimuli were exposed at a supraliminal exposure
duration (500 ms)
- After exposure subjects made affect and recognition judgements
Experiment one:
120 participants, stimuli: 25 polygons and 25 photographs of woman
5ms: subliminal 500ms: supraliminal
, Main effect of exposure frequency on liking ratings:
- Frequently exposed stimuli received more positive ratings than
infrequently exposed stimuli
Main effect of exposure duration on liking ratings:
- 5ms receiving hinger ratings than 500 ms
Interaction between exposure duration and exposure frequency
- 5-ms stimuli showed a rapid increase in liking ratings with increasing
exposure frequency than the 500ms stimuli
- 5ms stimuli produced a significantly stronger exposure effect than
the 500ms
Mere exposure effect?
- Increase in liking with increasing exposure frequency in the 5ms
condition
- But not significant effect for the 500 ms condition
Overall 500ms condition received significantly higher recognition ratings
overall than the 5 ms condition.
Key takeaways:
- Subliminal stimuli produce significantly stronger mere exposure
effects than stimuli that is clearly recognized
- These findings held true for both polygon and photograph stimuli,
attesting generalizability of the effect
Only the 5-ms condition showed a significant increase in liking with more
exposures.
The 500-ms condition did not show a statistically reliable increase — even
if the line looks slightly upward.
Subliminal is mere exposure effect
What is the limitation of experiment 1?
How did the researchers solve the problem in experiment 2?
