Learning and Consumer Involvement

1. How does sensory adaptation affect advertising comprehension? How can marketers overcome sensory adaptation and increase the likelihood that consumers will notice their ads?
Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to simple stimuli such as advertising. Sensory receptors are human organs that receive sensory inputs. Human sensitivity refers to the experience of sensation. Sensitivity to stimuli varies with the quality of our sensory receptors and the amount or intensity of the stimuli to which we are exposed. It means that when we see the ads, our sensory system is respond accordingly for seeing, thinking, feel movement and so on.
In an effort to cut through the advertising clutter and ensure that consumers note their ads, some marketers try to increase sensory inputs. For example, Cadbury once bought all the advertising space at a railway station in Richmond, Victoria, to ensure that commuter would notice its Cherry Ripe ads. In addition, some marketers seek unusual or technological media to gain attention and some have advertised their products on bus shelters.
2. Describe how manufacturers of chocolate bars can apply their knowledge of differential threshold to packages and prices during periods of:
a) Rising ingredient costs: because of rising costs, manufacturers are faced with the choice of increasing prices or reducing the quantity of the product offered at the existing price. A chocolate bar is relatively inexpensive to begin with, price increases are very noticeable, so decreasing the size of such a product to just under the j.n.d is a simpler strategy for product producers.
b) Increasing competition: decreased the package size or even maintained the package size but decreased the contents. The adjusted quantity was listed on the label, but most consumers probably did not notice it because the container size remained similar.
c) Heightened consumer awareness regarding nutrition and ingredient labelling: looking for substances that can mimic the creamy and palate-pleasing taste of chocolate. The challenge is to create fat substitutes with a taste that is below, or at least not significantly above, consumers’ j.n.d for the original chocolate.
3. Using Weber's Law as a guideline, develop reasonable j.n.d.s for a sales price of:
(a) a smartphone: $6
(b) a personal computer: $15
(c) a pair of denim jeans: $3
(d) a tube of toothpaste: $1
Weber’s law states that the stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different. 4. What roles do actual product attributes and perceptions of attributes play in positioning a product? Find three different toothpaste advertisements that stress different product attributes and discuss whether the marketers have effectively positioned their products to communicate a specific image.
Positioning is the image that a product or service has in the mind of the consumer. Marketers try to differentiate their brands by stressing attributes they claim will fulfil the consumer’s needs better than competing brands. They strive to create a positioning consistent with the relevant self-image of the targeted consumer segment.
Herbal toothpaste from Croatia: it avoids synthetic and artificial flavors that are commonly found in regular toothpastes. Supersmile Professional Whitening Toothpaste: it can remove stains on the teeth brought about by tobacco, coffee, wine and plaque in a very safe and effective manner and without harmful abrasives or bleaches to boot. Colgate Total: it helps the bristles reach up under your gum line, where bacteria burrow. Marketers of different brands in the same category can effectively differentiate their offering only if they stress the benefits that their brands provide rather than their products’ physical features. These three different toothpaste advertisements reflect attributes that are important to and congruent with the perceptions of the targeted consumer segment.
5. Select a restaurant that you have recently been to. Analyse the atmosphere and physical environment of this service establishment. What image does the environment convey? Should the owner change anything to make the environment more appealing to customers? Do the people who eat there affect your evaluation of quality and value? Explain.
A Chinese restaurant use more symmetric layout, modeling simple and beautiful, strong and mature color indoor. It provides Chinese-style diet for consumers. Consumers here can feel a deep sense of Chinese culture. The owner can provide Chinese style uniforms to employees, so that it can make consumers have a more intense cultural feeling and find it interesting. The people who eat there will affect my evaluation of quality and value. When I saw them feel satisfied, I will think this restaurant has very good quality.