What are the 4 stages of the perception process in marketing?
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When understanding consumer behavior models and theories, one of the internal factors reviewed is the consumer’s perceptual process. This process outlines the steps of how consumers gain knowledge and information. Different marketing textbooks will have slightly different variations of the perceptual process model, as shown below. Click on the model to enlarge it As you can see from the model, a consumer will move through various stages in terms of developing their understanding of the differing brands and offers in the market. ExposureInitially the consumer is exposed to brand in some manner. This may be from advertising or some other form of promotion, or it may be from other consumers who are using the brand, or it may be from visiting a store where the brand is sold. If it is from advertising, this is referred to as an impression. The best way to think about exposure is by using the term “opportunity to see”, which means that an exposure is a chance for the consumer to see the brand or its communication. AttentionAttention occurs when the consumer dedicates some time towards the brand or its communication. This may be as simple as glancing at a billboard advertisement for a split second, or perhaps closely watching a 3 minute cinema commercial, or simply observing other people with the brand. If it is quite casual, or passive, attention then the process is usually complete without any real change in the consumer’s perception of the brand and its potential benefits. InterpretationIf the consumer pays close attention, or the brand and/or its communication gains the attention of the consumer on several occasions, then the consumer is likely to process the ‘message’ to some extent. Despite the general meaning of the word ‘interpretation’, the process in this case tends to be quite simplistic. The consumer will usually process the main benefit or a key feature of a brand, such as:
Unless the consumer has had prior experience with this brand (through personal consumption or via word-of-mouth), the consumer will generally form a weak attitude (opinion) to this extent. It will remain a weak view/opinion until reinforced by usage or further communication. Memory/KnowledgeWhile the consumer has gained some understanding of a brand at this stage of the overall perceptual process, it needs to be developed into a memory that can be recalled. Consumers in their everyday life are exposed to a lot of information, the vast amount of which they do not remember for a long period of time. A consumer’s ability to remember information on any subject typically depends upon the extent of repetition (rehearsal) and the effort taken to understand the material. In academic courses, students will try to understand the material, however, consumers primarily learn and remember initially through simple repetition and reinforcement of marketing communications and later through brand usage/consumption. It is this stage of the perceptual process that is mapped onto perceptual maps. As marketers, we are quite interested to understand how target market consumers perceive (that is, remember and understand = their knowledge) our brands versus our competitors. This is because (usually) we want our brand to have clear points-of-difference (that is, clear differentiation) so that we gain a loyal customer following, loyalty and repeat sales. In this article, I’ll be discussing the perceptual process, selective exposure, and how it contributes to consumer behaviour. You’ll learn what truly impacts consumers from a marketing and advertising perspective and how you can leverage it in your marketing campaigns. Before exploring the influence of the perceptual process on consumer behaviour, we need to understand two things. Firstly, we need to understand what the perceptual process is
and how it applies to everyday life. Secondly, we need to define consumer behaviour and recognise its significance on how the mass market responds to marketing and advertising efforts. Doing so will allow us to analyse how both factors contribute to the way people perceive brands. As a business owner, you must consider how the perceptual process and its influence on consumer behaviour could collectively be affecting your brand, positively or negatively. The truth is, human beings are highly susceptible to influence, and the best brands know this - which is why you need to know it too! What is The Perceptual Process?By definition, the perceptual process is a sequence of steps a person will go through when identifying and responding to stimuli from the environment. As seen above, the first step in the process is “exposure to stimuli”. So, before we do anything else, let’s break that down. Step 1: Exposure To StimuliWe receive stimuli through the body’s 5 Sensory Receptors in the following order:
Businesses can utilise each one to convey a message to the consumer, which is what makes it so powerful that each sensory receptor becomes a channel for communication. Step 2: The Sensory ReceptorsSensory receptors are present all over the body, and as mentioned above, they exist to help the body make sense of the information coming from the environment. Biologically,
a sensory receptor is considered to be something like a ‘pain receptor’, a neuron responsible for signalling the brain that the body has been damaged in one form or another. However, in the context of the perceptual process, sensory receptors are the big five mentioned above: sight, sound, smell, texture and taste, so let’s explore them and their significance a little more. SightA human’s eyes translate light into images for the brain to process so that
we can see and make sense of everything we come into contact with throughout our day, When we think of how we consume marketing and advertising campaigns, sight is the one that probably comes to mind first. It’s a strong indication of where we are placing our attention. SoundSound waves are sent through the ears into the brain, where they are interpreted to become the everyday sounds we hear, such as music and laughter. From a marketing and advertising perspective, sound is most commonly leveraged through channels like Spotify adverts or the radio, which are excellent for getting a message across with only sound. SmellOlfactory receptors in the nose are responsible for catching the various chemicals we inhale, which the brain processes, doing what it can to identify what the smell is. Smells contribute to the feeling you might get when walking into a restaurant you like or when you’re passing street vendors, for instance. This might not seem like a marketing tactic, but think about how you feel when you smell a McDonald’s restaurant and how that contributes to your decision to eat a McDonalds. TasteWhen eating, chemicals become embedded in the tongue and eventually reach our taste buds, which then send sensory information to the brain as a means of identifying what we’re eating. For restaurants, taste is everything, which might seem
obvious. However, the reason it’s so essential is because taste and feeling are strongly linked. Taste is the difference between someone loving a restaurant and hating it. Much like smell, taste might not seem like a blatant marketing channel, but it heavily contributes to customer satisfaction and retention for the likes of restaurants. TextureReceptors in our skin detect changes in sensation and relay these signals to the brain. Different receptors on
the body are more sensitive than others. This is how we detect texture. Texture contributes to how we perceive physical objects. While we might see what the recent iPad Pro looks like, the ultimate sensory experience is when we have our hands on it, when we can feel the beauty of its design in our hands. Learn more about the five senses here. Step 3: Attention StageAttention can be easily explained as the thought any person gives to stimuli they've come into contact with. It is impossible to focus on every piece of stimuli we’re exposed to daily. As a result, we naturally filter stimuli that doesn’t matter to us. We interpret stimuli in different ways at different times. Below outlines some of the different ways we process stimuli, all of which contribute to where we place our attention at any given time. Selective ExposureSelective exposure is the act of only focusing on stimuli that meet our needs or interests. Children may pay attention to adverts for toys, whereas someone looking for a car might notice a dealership's billboard, and a football fan might notice a poster for a game shown in a pub. SalienceSalience refers to stimuli that we notice at a time convenient to us that may have gone unnoticed before. Whilst driving, noticing any potential hazards such as a pedestrian walking on to the road is an example of salient attention. We wouldn’t necessarily pay attention to the pedestrian crossing the road if we were walking on the sidewalk, for instance, which is precisely what makes it salient. Selective RetentionIf paying attention at a convenient time is salience, forgetting what isn’t convenient is called selective retention. This information often contradicts a person's
beliefs or would force them to confront a habit. For example, a smoker ignoring a “smoking kills” poster. Both of these concepts are linked to very similar ideas about perception - perceptual defence and vigilance. Perceptual DefensePerceptual Defense is defined as inhibiting unwanted stimuli to avoid a personal issue. Like selective retention, someone harming themselves via bad habits will filter out the consequences of the habit.. Perceptual VigilancePerceptual Vigilance refers to filtering stimuli someone receives due to personal relevance. In this case, someone goes out their way to receive positive stimuli matching their own preferences. Read more on these concepts here. Step 4: InterpretationInterpretation is a much more deliberate step in the process, where
consumers consciously assign meaning to what they have experienced. It is said to derive from the Gestalt framework primarily. This is where stimulus takes on an organised shape or form rather than being observed as multiple sensations with no meaningful connection. Below illustrates what the Gestalt framework looks like:  It is similar to the entire perceptual process, but focuses much more on how we interpret stimuli. The Gestalt framework is also the precursor to many principles of interpretation that you can see below. Principles of InterpretationPrinciple of ClosureThis is where any stimulus presented to us unfinished is completed mentally by the person exposed to it. This occurs when stimulus fails to hold our attention, we try to remember what was presented to us and fill in blanks ourselves. Principle of SimilarityThis is where items we see as being relatively similar are perceived by us to be related. An example of this would be asking for Coca Cola at KFC, and they give you Pepsi because that’s what they sell, and it is perceived as being related. Principle of ProximityThis occurs within items stacked or sat close together when viewed by
consumers. For example, walking down the canned goods aisle in a supermarket, we perceive all soups to be related, all tinned beans to be connected and so forth. Schemata aid these principles; this is due to the reliance on past experience to make sense of what’s around us. SchemataSchemata is pockets of information stored in our brain. They hold information on past experiences, which help us interpret new ones. These small pieces of data compound over time, allowing us to make sense of new stimuli faster than what we might have done in the past. Step 5: ResponseThe ‘Response’ step is precisely that, the way we react when exposed to stimuli. The way we respond to various stimuli can change over time depending on sensitised we are to it. Sensory AdaptationThis is when consumers become increasingly desensitised to a stimulus over time given prolonged exposure. This is why action movies continually become more outlandish because we have become desensitised to ordinary violence. A Round-up of The Perceptual ProcessAs you’re reading this blog post, you’re experiencing the perceptual process first hand. It's simply the process we use to navigate the world around us, and it’s never-ending. It helps filter out the stuff that isn’t important and pay attention to the property that is important. It’s responsible for helping you decide
what products you like and don’t like, what brands you love and hate, and much more. Now that you know step-by-step what the perceptual process is, let's move on to chatting about consumer behaviour and how the perceptual process contributes to it. What is Consumer Behaviour?Consumer Behaviour is the study of consumers and why they choose the things they buy. Consumers often buy based on their own emotions or beliefs. Consumer behaviour is multi-faceted
and includes:
Factors Affecting Consumer BehaviourPersonal FactorsA person’s own interests and beliefs can affect their buying behaviour. If someone, for instance, identifies with a particular brand, they are much more likely to buy from them. For example, I prefer Coca-Cola to Pepsi; this is a personal factor influencing my purchase. Psychological FactorsPsychological
factors affect a consumer's ability to understand communications or stimulus. The way they interpret it, along with past experiences, will all affect their buying behaviour. Psychologically, ‘drive’ is what makes us do something. If we are not in our desired state or don’t have something we want, we become driven to bring whatever it is into existence. This might occur when we desire to be seen in a certain way or have a particular product. For example, there might be strong emotional sentiment for someone to be a “BMW owner”, resulting in them doing whatever they can to achieve that goal. Social FactorsA consumer’s friends, peers, relatives, social background, or perceived class can affect their purchase. The influence of social factors is seen most in teens. Where being seen with the “wrong” brand of trainers can open a person up to mockery. This contributes to “group behaviour”, where multiple people will seek products from the same brand to fit in. How The Perceptual Process Influences Consumer BehaviourThis section will take real-world examples of the perceptual process and analyse how it influences consumer behaviour. Two of which come from my personal experiences. An Example of How The Perceptual Process Impacts Consumer Behaviour in Film: Edgar WrightTake the film Baby Driver. I saw the trailer for this film at the cinema before another Fast
and Furious movie. Nothing stood out; I wasn’t interested. I would not pay to see this movie. Then, right at the end: Straight away, I fall on previous
experiences of his films. The Cornetto Trilogy made up of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End are classics. This director puts lots of little easter eggs through his films. So maybe I should give this film a try because it has to be good now, right? Selective exposure takes effect; I have ignored all the previous information and decided based on one particular element. Then perceptual vigilance occurs. Most people would overlook the directors' name; I noticed
it because I was already a fan of his work. Gladly, I did see Baby Driver after this and recommend it to anyone - it's terrific! Film advertisements show actors' names in big, bold letters as standard practice when marketing films to curb consumer behaviour— evoking perceptions gained through previous experiences. Take the poster for one of the greatest films ever made, Goodfellas. Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta's names are in capital letters for all to see. Why?
Because their names are held in high regard. This is a clear example of how the perceptual process is leveraged in film, but it doesn’t stop there. An Example of How The Perceptual Process Impacts Consumer Behaviour in Sports Marketing: Adidas Tennis RacquetAdidas is a highly reputable brand. They make clothes, shoes and are considered to be a sign of quality for all sports enthusiasts. Hence, in 2008, when they attempted to re-enter the racquet business, consumers hyped them. They had already been in the racquet business in the 1980s, but it didn’t work out. Most people conveniently overlooked the
company’s previous failure in this sector when this racquet was launched. Instead, previous experience of Adidas led people to believe this would be a good quality piece of equipment. Perceptual vigilance resulted in consumers noticing the Adidas name more than its physical attributes. Unfortunately, the venture failed, and Adidas quietly retracted the racquet as if it never existed. Is Adidas now considered to be of low quality? No. Why? Due to perceptual
defence. People choose to ignore this failure because it potentially threatens their idea of Adidas’s brand image. We want to believe when we buy their clothes and shoes that they are of high quality. However, it isn’t always the case. An Example of How The Perceptual Process Impacts Consumer Behaviour Relating To Global Brands: EA SportsThis example will show that it doesn't have to be a particular item that causes a perception; an entire brand can
provoke adverse reactions. EA is a company universally renowned as one of if not the most hated companies in the world. Why? Well, they're known for always being on the wrong side of the coin.
These are specific examples of why EA is hated, but the brand image they hold remains the same. Let's say EA created a new game, it has the best graphics, great gameplay, they come up with a fantastic trailer, but in the end, guaranteed is "EASports: it’s in the game" with their unmistakable logo. Perception is the process everyone watching goes through, and in that one moment of seeing that logo, everything changes. Selective perception instantly occurs; we do not care about the enticing sensory stimuli provided to us. “EA is
involved!” We have perceived all we need. This game, on the back of previous experiences, will be a money-grabbing disappointment. The perceptual defence returns once again; I will safeguard my views on the company as a whole by disregarding anything that looked good in that trailer. Regardless of the marketing efforts made, it cannot possibly be good whilst EA is involved. What Can You Do Leverage The Perceptual Process For Your Brand?How can you leverage the perceptual process to improve your business in the eyes of consumers? The perceptual process doesn’t just affect the big brands; it has an impact on small businesses too. This section discusses things you should consider when analysing how the perceptual process might positively or negatively affect your brand. Consumer BehaviourThis is tricky, but you’ve got to try and imagine how consumers will think and act when
engaging with your brand. You should consider:
Exposure to StimuliWhen considering your ‘stimuli’ and how consumers are exposed to it, you’ve got to think about how your customers will come across your brand. Below are some questions you should ask yourself:
The Sensory ProcessThis is how you’ll catch your consumer’s attention. Consider the following questions:
AttentionHow can you
retain the consumers' attention? Consider the following questions:
InterpretationYou need to know how consumers interpret the information you give them and how this could affect your brand image.
ResponseHow will consumers respond to the marketing or your product? Consider the following questions:
These are just some of the questions you have to ask yourself about your product or service. Asking yourself these questions before implementing marketing efforts will most certainly improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. ConclusionThe perceptual process is so important to consider when
marketing a product or service because of the massive effect it can have on your success. You've got to understand the thresholds we can detect, be it absolute - the minimum stimulation our senses detect or differential - differentiating between two stimuli. You've got to know the connotations of your brand and what emotions it will invoke in your customers. All in all, understanding this process is critical to the success of any brand, and it should be considered
at the very least when it comes to marketing your product or service. The better we understand our customers, the better we can serve them. What are the 4 stages of perception?The perception process consists of four steps: selection, organization, interpretation and negotiation. In the third chapter of our textbook, it defines selection as the stimuli that we choose to attend to.
What are the 3 stages of perception marketing?The Perceptual Process. Every consumer goes through a process comprised of three stages for them to create a perception of something: Exposure, Attention, and Comprehension.
What is the first stage in the perception process marketing?Stimulation
The stimulation stage is the initial moment that a consumer experiences a piece of marketing. It involves the sensory processing phase of recognition, where the element appeals to the consumer's sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste.
What are the 5 stages of perception?The five stages of perception are stimulation, organization, interpretation, memory, and recall. These stages are the way for one to experience and give meaning to their surroundings.
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