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Consumer perception is an important aspect of marketing because it shapes the meaning of a purchase to a consumer. The process by which consumers develop these perceptions is characterized by the use of different aspects of communication senses, such as attention, interpretation, retention, and sensation (Solomon et al., 2016; Eryandra, Sjabadhyni, and Mustika, 2018). This paper shows that marketers use these aspects of sensory engagement to draw attention to their products or services by manipulating consumer perception using environmental stimuli. This statement is justified through the application of the classical conditioning theory in market development.
The classical conditioning theory highlights the need to understand processes that lead to the creation of positive or negative perceptions about a product or service based on the manipulation of environmental stimuli. Its advocates characterize the business environment as an amalgamation of different factors that influence how consumers develop perceptions about the environment (Gehart, 2015). Therefore, marketers manipulate several factors in the environment to accomplish their objectives.
By acknowledging the existence of these environmental stimuli and their roles in shaping consumer perceptions, the classical conditioning theory presupposes that one type of environmental stimuli is likely to affect another and in the end, there will be a hegemony of ideas, which create the overall idea that consumers would have of a good or service. For example, when an unconditioned stimulus is paired with another one that does not have the same type of response, the second stimulus will elicit the same type of response as the first one, after some time. This is how perceptions about companies and their brands are created because consumers react to specific stimuli in the business environment differently, but after a while, there is a common idea held by the majority, which is eventually adopted and dictates how people perceive it (Rubio, Villaseñor and Oubiña, 2015). In turn, it shapes their thoughts and feelings about a brand.
The development of consumer perceptions using the aforementioned way stems from the existence of known natural responses that people have to specific information in the environment that dictates how consumers react to a brand, knowingly or unknowingly. For example, for a long time, marketers have used people’s natural response to sexual imagery to increase their sales (James, 2017). This manipulative strategy has been used to generate attention through the infusion of sexual stimuli in advertisements to appeal to people’s sensory desires. Its application is rooted in the fact that human beings are naturally sexual creatures. Therefore, they respond to such stimuli with excitement, which could be translated to sales. Most marketers know this fact and seek to get consumers’ attention by packaging their products in a sexually appealing way.
Different industries have used the sexual imagery approach to increase brand awareness. For instance, models have been used to sell hamburgers, cars, and household goods despite the “loose” relationship between sex and the products sold. Therefore, in most advertisements, the image of a beautiful woman or handsome man is used to attract the attention of consumers even if they have no relation with the product sold. This type of manipulation is a common type of social conditioning that is predicated on studies that show how men and women react differently to advertisements that have a strong sexual appeal (Lanseng, 2016). While there may be differences between how both genders respond to such advertisements, there is little doubt that the use of sex in advertisements is a type of classical conditioning strategy adopted by marketers to attract consumers.
Further evidence of this claim was observed in Pavlov’s dog experiment, which demonstrated that dogs salivated whenever they heard the footsteps of the lab assistant bringing food to them before the actual product was delivered. From this behavior, the food was regarded as an unconditional stimulus, and the salivation process a similarly unconditioned response (McCleod, 2018). From this example, the response to food (salivation) was hard-wired in the dog and they did not need to learn how to respond to it. Human beings have a similar response to market stimuli and marketers exploit this type of conditioning to increase sales through perceptual manipulation. Overall, the classical conditioning theory explains how marketers try to get the attention of customers by introducing unconditional stimuli in the environment that would automatically evoke a reaction from them.
Reference List
Eryandra, A., Sjabadhyni, B. and Mustika, M. D. (2018) ‘How older consumers’ perceived ethicality influences brand loyalty’, SAGE Open, 4(1), pp. 1-10.
Gehart, D. R. (2015) Case documentation in counseling and psychotherapy: a theory-informed, competency-based approach. London: Cengage Learning.
James, C. D. (2017) Sell your sex: how to market your erotica and romance book on social media. London: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Lanseng E. J. (2016) ‘Relevant sex appeals in advertising: gender and commitment context differences’, Frontiers in Psychology, 7(1), 1456-1463.
McCleod, S. (2018) Pavlov’s dogs.
Rubio, N., Villaseñor, N. and Oubiña, J. (2015) ‘Consumer identification with store brands: differences between consumers according to their brand loyalty’, BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 18(2), pp. 111-126.
Solomon, M. R. et al. (2016) Consumer behaviour: a European perspective. 6th edn. London: Pearson.
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