PERCEPTION

Chapter 2

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 Learning Objectives
4.1 To define the perception
4.2 To understand the sensory systems.
4.3 To differentiate between perception and
sensation
4.4 To analyze the perceptual process

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 What is Perception ?
• The study of perception focuses on what we add to
raw sensations in order to give them meaning. Each
individual interprets the meaning of a stimulus to be
consistent with his or her own unique biases, needs,
and experience

• Two individuals may be exposed to the same stimuli

but recognize, select, organize and interpret them
differently based on their own needs, values and
expectations

Perception is all about consumers’ subjective

understandings and not objective realities
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 Sensory Systems
Sensory receptors are specialized neurons that
respond to specific types of stimuli.
When sensory information is detected by a sensory
receptor, sensation has occurred.

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 Sensory Systems
• Smell : Smell, good or bad (i.e. aroma or odour), can
stir up emotions or create a calming effect. They can
also evoke memories or relieve stress, as in the case of
aromatherapy (where scents are used for healing)
• Brands utilize scent easily and effectively
Exposure to familiar childhood scents can evoke nostalgic
moods. Marketers use this by incorporating these scents into
products to create mood-enhancing experiences

Scent marketing has become a way for

brick-and-mortar stores to enhance the
shopping experience and boost sales.
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 Sensory Systems

• Sound : The sense of sound is linked to emotions

and feelings and the sense impacts brand
experiences and interpretations
• Sound, in the form of speech and music, is
important to marketers. Research shows a positive
connection between the use of popular songs in ads
and consumers’ recall of those ads.
• Research also shows a positive connection
between music and store sales and a negative
connection between noise and sales
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 Key Concepts in Use of Sound
• Sonic branding or sound branding
( expression of the brand through
the sound)
Coca cola example :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ
7LCMXezl4

• Audio watermarking
(Audio watermarking are silent unique identifiers
embedded within an audio or video signal)
• Sound symbolism
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 Sensory Systems
• Taste Our taste receptors obviously contribute to our
experience of many products.
• Food companies go to great lengths to ensure that their
products taste as they should.

• Sampling : One of the best ways to sell food and

beverage products is to allow consumers to taste them.
Sampling—whether it’s at your favourite farmer’s
market or Costco—is an effective way to engage
consumers with their taste receptors so they can
evaluate a product beyond their visual interpretation of
it.
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 Taste example

This ad metaphorically illustrates the natural quality and taste sensation of a

lemon as a substitute for salt.
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 Sensory Systems
• Touch Although relatively little research has been
done on the effects of tactile stimulation on consumer
behaviour, 20 common observation tells us that this
sensory channel is important.

• Physical contact with a product often provides

consumers with vital information

• People associate the textures of fabrics and other

products with underlying product qualities. The
perceived richness or quality of the material in clothing,
bedding or upholstery is linked to its ‘feel’, whether it is
rough or smooth, soft or stiff.
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 Sensory Systems

Vision
• Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in
advertising, store design, and packaging.
• They communicate meanings on the visual channel
through a product’s colour, size, and styling
• Because colors are so powerful, they are an
important concern in packaging. Ultimately, they
are become a part of company’s trade dress

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Almost all of them use red, the most
“appetizing” and hunger-inspiring
color.

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McDonald’s has been turning green since 2009 because
they “want to clarify responsibility for the preservation
of natural resources.” The lush green attempts to
communicate an eco-friendly image.

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Example of shape

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 Reflection Questions
• Which of the five senses do you think is
most influential in the perception of
products? Justify your answer

• What’s the difference between sensation and

perception ?

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 Answer keys : Question 1

• You can argue the importance of all our

senses to grab consumer’s perception. Their
relative importance depends on the product
category, the target, the environment.
• You can choose one sense over another, BUT
you have to argue for your opinion using
strong arguments like statistics or scientific
studies

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 Answer keys : Question 2
• Sensation and perception are two separate processes
that are very closely related. Sensation is input about
the physical world obtained by our sensory receptors,
and perception is the process by which the brain
selects, organizes, and interprets these sensations.
• In other words, senses are the physiological basis of
perception. Perception of the same senses may vary
from one person to another because each person’s
brain interprets stimuli differently based on that
individual’s learning, memory, emotions, and
expectations.
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 Seen alone, your brain engages in bottom-up processing. There are two thick vertical lines
and three thin horizontal lines. There is no context to give it a specific meaning, so there is
no top-down processing involved.

look at the same shape in two different contexts. Surrounded by sequential letters, your brain
expects the shape to be a letter and to complete the sequence. In that context, you perceive the
lines to form the shape of the letter “B.”

Surrounded by numbers, the same shape now looks like the number “13.

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 Perceptual Process

The process by which individuals

select, organize, and interpret stimuli
into a meaningful and coherent
picture of the world.

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Perception is a three-stage process that translates raw stimuli into
meaning
•

These three stages of exposure (or sensation), attention

and interpretation make up the process of perception
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Perceptual Process – Exposure

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Perceptual Process – Exposure
• Exposure ( or Sensation ) is the degree to which
people notice a stimulus that is within range of their
sensory receptors.
• Consumers concentrate on certain stimuli, are
unaware of others, and sometimes they actively
avoid certain messages.
• When we deliberately choose to come in contact
with information from particular sources (e.g. social
media, videos, advertisements, podcasts) we are
engaging in selective exposure
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 Sensory Thresholds

• The ability of consumers to detect variations

in light, sound, smell, or other stimuli is
determined by their sensory threshold.

• Sensory threshold is the point at which it is

strong enough to make a conscious impact in
his or her awareness.

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The Absolute Threshold

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 The Absolute Threshold
• The lowest level at which an individual can
experience a sensation, often referred to as the
lower threshold. (The minimum intensity of light we can see. The
lowest volume of a sound we can hear.)

• This means that the point where a difference can

be detected between "something" and "nothing"
is a person's absolute threshold for that stimulus.
• It means that the stimulation used by marketers
must be sufficient to register

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 The Differential Threshold

• The ability of a sensory system to detect

changes or differences between two stimuli

• The minimum difference we can detect

between two stimuli is the Just Noticeable
Difference or JND

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EX; packaging updates must be subtle enough over time to keep current customers
 The Differential Threshold
(Weber’s Law)
• Ernst Weber discovered that the JND between
two stimuli was relative (not absolute), but
varied according to the intensity of the first
stimulus

• Weber’s Law thus states that the greater the

initial stimulus, the greater the additional
stimulus needs to be in order to be noticeable
( perceived as different)

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 Implications for Marketers
Marketers try to determine the JND for their
products
There are two primary reasons :
• So that negative changes (e.g., reduction in
product size or quality or increases in price) are not
noticeable
• So that positive changes like product
improvements (improved packaging, larger
quantities, lower price) are very apparent
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 Subliminal Perception
"Perception of a stimulus below the conscious
level. If the stimulus is beneath the
threshold of conscious awareness, but above
the absolute threshold of perception, it is
known as subliminal perception.“

That people are stimulated below their level of

conscious awareness—they can perceive
stimuli without being consciously aware
they are doing so ( it’s a kind of ads not
declared)
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Subliminal Advertising is not Capable of Influencing
the Individual for these Factors
• The effects of subliminal stimuli are extremely weak and most
certainly are overridden by a host of more powerful messages
• Perceptual thresholds differ from person to person, and even from
time to time
• Symbols that are subliminal to one person might be perceived
consciously by another. A message that is guaranteed to be
subliminal to an entire audience would probably be so weak that
any effect would be limited
• Another problem is the lack of control that the advertiser would
have over the distance and position of the message, for this can
also affect the recognisability of the subliminal stimulus
• The recognisable (supraliminal) material, such as the commercial
or the movie used in conjunction with the subliminal message has
different effects on people. 33
Examples

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Perceptual Process – Attention
• Attention refers to the extent to which
processing activity is devoted to a particular
stimulus within their range of exposure

• The attention process can therefore be

viewed as an information filter - a screening
mechanism that controls the quantity and
nature of information any individual
receives
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Perceptual Process – Attention

Selective Attention Test

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U
2Mvo&t=12s

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 Factors Determining Attention
Personal Selection Factors
Perceptual filters
•Perceptual vigilance means consumers are a
more likely to be aware of stimuli that relate to
their currents needs (Personal interests or
needs)
•Perceptual defense tendency to distort or
ignore information that is either personally
threatening or culturally unacceptable.
(Personal beliefs, values or cultural)
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 Factors Determining Attention
Personal Selection Factors
Sensory adaptation is a decreased sensitivity to a
stimulus after prolonged and constant exposure to .
It’s a loss of responsiveness in receptors cells after
constant stimulation.

Habituation : Learning not to respond to repeated

presentation of a stimulus (is the decrease in
response to a repeated stimulus)

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 Factors Determining Attention
Stimulus Selection Factors :
• Size and Intensity Large stimuli are more likely to attract
attention than smaller ones. Loud noises, strong scents and
brighter lights are all commonly used for this purpose.
• Color and Contrast : bright color and contrast are more
noticeable
• Position : Position refers to the placement of an object in a
person's visual field. This explains why consumer goods
manufacturers compete fiercely for eye-level space in
grocery stores.
• Shock and Novelty : Provocative content and eye-catching
design can increase attention, benefit memory, and
positively influence consumer behaviour (Dahl, et.al.,
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2003). Like guerilla marketing
 Perceptual Process – Interpretation

• A process whereby people draw upon their

experience, memory, and expectations to
interpret and attach meaning to a stimulus.

• Interpretation refers to the meaning that we

assign to sensory stimuli. Just as people differ in
terms of the stimuli that they perceive, the
meanings we assign to these stimuli vary as well.

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 Perceptual Process – Interpretation
Interpretation is related to :

❖Gestalt principles
❖ Semiotic

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Stimulus Organization ( Gestalt Principles)
• These principles are based on work in gestalt
psychology, a school of thought maintaining
that people derive meaning from the totality
of a set of stimuli, rather than from any
individual stimulus (the whole is different
from the sum of its parts).

• The gestalt perspective provides several

principles relating to the way stimuli are
organized .
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 Closure
Implies that consumers tend to perceive an incomplete picture as
complete

Utilization of the principle of closure in marketing strategies encourages

audience participation, which increases the chance that people will
attend to the message
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 Similarity
The principle of similarity tells us that consumers tend to group together objects that share
similar physical characteristics.

Museum of Contemporary Art

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 Figure-ground
In which one part of a stimulus (the figure) will dominate while other parts recede
into the background.

In marketing, messages that use the figure-ground principle, a stimulus can be made the
focal point of the message or merely the context that surrounds the focus.

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 Other Principles
• Proximity
When things are placed close
to each other

• Symetry :
Elements that are symetrical to each other tend
to be perceived as unified whole

• Continuity
Occurs when the object is compelled to move
from one object to another
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Reflection : what are the principles used
in this logo ?

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The Role of Symbolism in Interpretation :
Semiotics
• Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. It
explains meaning through our social and cultural
background, revealing how we interpret messages
instinctively.

• For assistance in understanding how consumers

interpret the meanings of symbols, some
marketers are turning to semiotics field

• Example : When is an apple more than an apple?

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 Figure 3.4 Semiotic Relationships

• Object
• Sign
• Interpretant
• Symbol

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The Role of Symbolism in Interpretation

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 For Reflection
Think of a commercial you have recently seen
and explain the object, sign and interpretant.

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 Positionning -Perceptual Map
• Ultimately, the perceptual process develops a
consumer’s perception of a brand and
formulates the brand’s position vis-à-vis the
competition on what marketers call
a positioning strategy.
• Marketers can use many dimensions to carve
out a brand’s position in the market place
including lifestyle, price leadership, attributes,
product class, competitors, occasions, users,
and quality

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 Positionning -Perceptual map

Consumer perceptions of automobiles can be mapped by comparing (X axis) how conservative

they are versus how sporty they are; and (Y axis) how classy and distinct they are versus how
practical and affordable they are. Based on the
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 Reflection Question
What are the main factors regarding
perception that marketers should
take into consideration when setting
their strategy

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Perception and Marketing Strategy
• Increase accidental exposure
• Use the j.n.d
• Draw attention to your ad using contrast and
other principles
• Find creative ways to reduce sensory adaptation
• Ensure that consumers organize and interpret
messages correctly
• Develop suitable consumer imagery ( perceived
price, quality, risk )

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 Assess the factors discussed in class
that the pink ribbon campaign uses to
enhance its perception

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