What is learning explain the importance of learning in understanding the consumer Behaviour?

Learning by Consumers: Meaning, Theories and Marketing Strategies!

Meaning of Learning:

Since the days of the psychologist Johan Hall learning has been defined as response changes of consumers arising from experience. Modern theorists have defined learning in a number of ways but the basic of all definitions is impact of learning / or experience on the behaviour of a consumer. Domjan and Burkhard defined learning in 1986 “as enduring change in the mechanism of behaviour that results from expertise with environmental events”.

Holyoak, Koh and Nibsett see learning as a process of adaptation where by an individual alters goal directed behaviour in response to changing environmental conditions.

According to Hoch and Deighton in the market learning occurs when consumers adopt their beliefs to make sense of new data. It should be remembered that learning is a psychological attribute. It includes the learning of attitudes of consumers. The learning as defined by Engel, Blackwell, Mineral, Hawkins, Best, Coney, Ray, Wilkie has two major types of learning called (1) cognitive orientation and (2) stimulus response i.e. behavioural orientation.

Congenial orientation is deeply associated with consumer information and his behaviour. This is very important for marketer because it studies consumer response to information where by the forms his opinion about alternatives, offer acquiring the information and integrating it with the information already in store with the consumer.

For instance, a consumer is using ‘X’ brand razor blades. He learns that better or cheaper blades have been introduced by another company. When he collects informa­tion about it, integrates it with his existing knowledge and whether alternative should be used or not it is called cognitive learning. The manufacturer and marketer make all possible efforts through adver­tisements and other methods that information reaches the consumers and they may be compelled to consider alternatives.

When conclusions are drawn between environmental events it is called associative learning. “It does not depend wholly on advertisement of marketer but also on other factors through research that smoking causes cancer, and heart diseases, it is associative learning.

Similarly, when it is found by environmentalists that synthetic fibre are harmful to skin or when it were found that vegetables and fruits having insecticides or pesticides it is associative learning. In such cases either consumer themselves may think to educate public In spite of various definitions of learning there is one accept­able definition.

However from marketer point of view consumer learning “is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behaviour”.

From this definition following points emerge:

1. The consumer learning is a process.

2. Through this process consumers acquire knowledge and experience.

3. The knowledge and experience acquired is the basis of future behaviour.

The process through which consumers acquire ‘knowledge and experience is of immense impor­tance to marketer. It is because marketers want to track the consumer about products, services, their attributes, qualities, benefits in using them. They also teach how a product is used, maintained and disposed off when they do not remain useable.

For instance, a producer of refrigerator tells its attributes, the qualities which it possess, how to use it to minimize cost of operations and how to maintain it so that one may get trouble free service and when it needs service how to get it. Same is the case with washing machine, TV, air-conditioner, automobiles or other durables. This is done by demon­strations at shop and in items like automobiles by allowing free test driving.

Marketing strategies depend a lot on learning theory. The advertisement, packaging pamphlets, stores, distribution channels all are based on the understanding how consumers learn and keep it in memory. It is always effort of marketer that their communication should not only be noticed but they should be believed, remembered and recalled when occasion arises to buy that product. But as yet there is no single theory which is universally acceptable and applicable theory to find out how consumers learn and behave.

Learning Theories:

There are a number of variations of learning theories but basically they are two theories:

1. Behavioural learning theories

2. Cognitive learning theories

The former is based on conditioning and depends upon thinking and problem solving.

Behavioural Learning Theories:

Learning behaviour theories depend upon response tendencies resulting from experience. If someone is conditioned by a particular experience, he behaves in a similar fashion again and again For instance, if workers in a factory are conditioned to loud noise; they start liking high pitch music.

If people in villages are served milk with large quantity of sugar repeatedly they become accustomed to it and they afterwards do not like milk with less sugar. If one drinks particular brand of coffee repeat­edly, he does not enjoy other brand of coffee. This is called behavioural learning.

The marketer studies these phenomena and uses them in sales campaign, advertising strategy, product development, demonstration of product, free samples and serving product free. In order to take advantage of behavioural theories Nescafé Coffee serves free coffee from time to time to develop taste for it.

In 1955 when Coke was introduced in India small free bottles were supplied to consumers and by repeated tasting people became used to it. In other words when people are conditioned to a particular situation they become accustomed to it. This in other languages is called the stimulous response, the behavioural or the associative orientation.

Marketers stimulate consumers in various ways to take advantage of their behavioural psychol­ogy by repeating advertisements. But psychologies also came to the conclusion that learning de­pends not merely on repetition but also ability to generalization. Because of stimulus generalization people also buy products which look a like and therefore competitors produce similar products.

Stimulus generation also help promote sales of other products under same brand name. If one be­comes accustomed to one product of one brand when other products are introduced with same brand name they also attract same attention as the first product.

The classical conditioning or Pavlarian conditioning is a dumb sort of learning. However, modem view of classical conditioning is somewhat different. It is now believed that individuals do not behave in a purely identical manner i.e. they are not purely passive in their behaviour and conditioning can be changed after a number of trials of a product.

For instance, if one consumer is habituated to use ‘X’ tea by trials he can be persuaded to use another tea. The theory has under gone revolutionary change during last 20 years, now researchers are convinced that the behaviour and conditioning behaviour and cognitive one. It’s felt that consumers are not passive and they use rational even when they are accustomed to use a particular brand or a product.

Cognitive Learning Theory:

This theory “holds that learning involves complex mental processing of information. This theory gives great weightage to information, motivation and mental process on which response depends. According to this theory repetition gets a back seat. The consumer collects information on various competitive products with regard to their price, performance and other aspects.

The consumer feeds that the collected information on various competitive products with regard to their price, performance and other aspects of information into his human computer, process them logically and then only arrives at a conclusion. If one decides to buy a refrigerator he collects the information on various refrigerators available in the market, their features, performance, reputation of the supplier i.e. brand and after sales service.

The information however is not collected only when one decides to buy a product; he goes on getting information from various sources such as, magazines and journals and retains in his memory and uses it when required. It is felt by some psychologists that when one gets too much information he is overloaded and encounters difficulties in decision taken. But capacity to retain and keep the information in memory differs from individual to individual depending largely on his education and sophistication.

Therefore, marketers try to provide information to different groups of people as per their retention power as perceived by marketer. For instance, if the consumer is technocrat, he will be supplied much more information as compared a general customer specially in case of technical prod­ucts like computer, automobile, photo copier, electronic and electrical goods. If someone is provided more information than what he can understand or retain it will be waste of efforts and resources.

Involvement Theory:

According to this theory the left and right side of the brain act differently. It is of the view that the brain is primarily responsible for cognitive activities reading, speaking and attributional information is processed in this part of the brain. This part of the brain also forms images According to this theory right part of the brain processes non-verbal, timeless pictorial and holistic information according to Flemming Hassen.

The believer of this theory state that brain acts in spilt manner. However, whether information is processed in right or left side of the brain seems of little consequence for the marketer. What is relevant to note is that what is the level of involvement of consumer in products and their purchase and how it can be influenced.

Social Judgment Theory:

There is another cognitive theory, called Judgment Theory. The central point of the theory is that individuals processing of information about an issue are determined by ones involvement with the issue. According to this theory consumers who are involved has a strong positive or negative opinion about a product or service based on information processing and experience. It requires lot of efforts to change their judgment.

Marketing Strategies:

Marketing strategies require proper study and use of consumers perceptions and learning and divides it into various segments so that different consumers may be approached differently to influ­ence them and make for them effective promotional programmes for different segments of consumers. They have to be conditioned and approached differently according to information processing level.

If we have to promote a particular brand of ice-cream or chocolate different consumers have to be approached according to their perception. Those who do not consume ice-cream at all will have to be tackled differently than those who are consuming some other brand of ice-cream. Those who do not consume ice-cream have to be conditioned to its use first not only by advertisement but by free trial.

Those who are consuming some other brand may be attracted by price, flavour, taste or concessional trial. If for instance ice-cream market share of X is more than Y, then Y will have to find-out why X has higher share and accordingly formulate marketing strategies.

The marketing strategy can also be region-wise in case of items which are more popular in certain parts of the country but not so much demanded in other parts. The marketer will have to study the psychology of consumers and will have to concentrate efforts in areas where it is not demanded or less demanded by conveying them information of the product.

The differences in consumption level can also be due to differences in level of income or using some alternative product. For instance, ladies in India often use herbs for cleansing their hairs rather than shampoo. Other set is which cannot buy big expensive shampoo packs.

They may be induced to try by supplying them free samples and / or small cheap pouch in Re. 1 or Rs. 2 packs to be used ones or twice. When this method has been used sales of shampoos have increased substantially and many more customers have been attracted. Same strategy has worked for many other consumer products like pan masala.

Market segmentation also becomes necessary based on different perceptions of consumers. Some consumers believe that expensive products have better quality than similar cheaper product.

They go by price rather than performance. Therefore to cater them expensive cars, fabrics are mar­keted. There is another group who feels that they must show of their wealth by owning expensive automobiles, jewellery, furniture and houses. This group is segmented so that their egos may be satisfied.

There is another group of consumers who prefer utility and for them cheaper products are produced and utility angle is emphasized in ads and other sales promotion schemes. Thus markets have to be segmented on various factors like psychology of consumers, income level, regional factors and so on even for the same product with same price different consumer groups are approached differently.

The major factors on which markets are segmented may briefly be mentioned below:

1. Perception

2. Psychology

3. Region

4. Income

5. Conditioning of consumers

6. Level of information which they can retain i.e. knowledge

7. Level of education