The concept of ‘learning’ has been embedded in each and every one of us from the day we were born. Since, the beginning of man, learning has been incorporated into our very nature whether we are conscious of it or not; from learning how to control fire to noticing how that fire provides us with warmth and security to ward of wild animals. Learning as defined by the
Merriam-Webster dictionary is ‘the activity or process of gaining knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something’.
Over the years, psychologists have come up with different theories on how we learn.
Marketers have taken these theories and applied them to gain a better understanding of how consumers learn and behave, in order to develop better marketing strategies to satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. This is commonly known today as consumer behaviour. The rapid increases of millennial consumers over the years have intrigued marketers to further understand and analyse this new breed of consumers. Hence, to understand their behaviours is to understand how they learn and process information.
There are many ways to learn and along with that, many different learning theories. In this research, I will be focusing on three main learning theories related to young adult learning and what are the implications of these theories to marketing.
Learning Theories of Young Adults & How Marketers Apply Them
To analyse how young adults learn, we have to first understand the term ‘young adult’. In actuality, there is no definition to the term; however it is widely used these days to describe an individual who lies within the transition period between the adolescence to adulthood period. The term is also typically used to better categorize this segment of individuals in researches, studies and even marketing. According to Erikson’s Stages of Development, the young adult stage ranges between the ages of