The presentation describes the perceptual process of consumers. It also briefly discusses the marketing implications of the perception. The slides also contain a quick class activity and possible assignment for students. With multiple examples, the presentation is an easy-to-use class teaching material.

1. PERCEPTION
P R O F. D E E PA R O H I T
L L I M , 2 0 1 8
1

2. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 2

3. MEANING OF PERCEPTION
• It is defined as the process by which an individual selects,
organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and
coherent picture of the world
• “How we see the world around us”
• The process starts from exposure and attention to
marketing stimuli and ends with consumer interpretation
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 3

4. PERCEPTION PROCESS
Selection Organization Interpretation
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 4
Sensory
Stimuli
Sights
Sounds
Smells
Taste
Textures
Sensory
Receptors
Eyes
Ears
Nose
Mouth
Skins

5. QUICK ACTIVITY
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 5

6. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 6
Daag Acche Hai
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

7. 7
Sweetest Part of India

8. ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTION
1. Selection of stimuli
2. Organization
3. Interpretation
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 8

9. 1. SELECTION OF STIMULI
• Stimuli could be in form
–Products /Packages /Brand names/ Ads /Smell
• Consumers subconsciously exercise a great deal of
selectivity as stimuli they would perceive
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 9

10. 1. SELECTION OF STIMULI
• depends on
–Nature of stimuli (physical attributes, brand name, ads, pckg
etc.)
–Consumers’ previous experience thus their expectations
–Motives of the viewer (needs, desires, interests etc.)
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 10

11. SELECTIVE PERCEPTION
•Selective exposure
•Selective attention
•Perceptual defence
•Perceptual blocking
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 11

12. 2. PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
• Consumers tend to organize various stimuli into different
groups and perceive them as a whole
• Gestalt Psychology (pattern or configuration in German)
–Figure & Ground
–Grouping
–Closure
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 12

13. THE FIGURE & GROUND PRINCIPLE
• Either one part of stimulus will dominate
• In advertising, product or brand should always be figure
• Creativity, humor, jingle, graphic should take a role of ground
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 13

14. EXAMPLES OF FIGURE AND GROUND
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 14

15. PRINCIPLE OF SIMILARITY/ GROUPING
• People group objects that share similar characteristics
• Grouping helps to recall and memory
• Implications in brand imagery
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 15

16. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 16

17. THE CLOSURE PRINCIPLE
• The tendency to perceive unseen parts of a pattern as
continuing in a predictable and simple manner
• Incomplete message are remembered more
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 17

18. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 18

19. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 19

20. MARKETING APPLICATIONS
• Figure & Ground
–Advertising
• Use of celebrity endorsement
• Copy & visual balance
• Colour balance
–Product placement
• Grouping
–To build category aura & brand imagery
• Closure
–Build teaser campaign
–Cutting ad commercial from 60 sec to 10 sec
–Use of TV commercial to radioProf. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 20

21. 3. PERCEPTUAL INTERPRETATION
• Perception is a personal phenomenon
• Process of the assignment of meaning to sensations
• Stimuli are often ambiguous, weak due to poor visibility,
brief exposure, high noise level or fluctuations
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 21

22. STEREOTYPES & HALO EFFECT
• Individuals tend to carry biased pictures in their minds of
various stimuli
• Stereotypes : Sometimes, when presented with sensory
stimuli, people ‘add’ these biases to what they see or hear
and form distorted impressions
• Halo : situations in which the evaluation of a single object
or person on a multitude of dimensions is based on the
evaluation of just one or a few dimensions
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 22

23. PHYSICAL APPEARANCES &
DESCRIPTIVE TERMS
• People tend to attribute the qualities they associate with
certain types of people
– E.g. Models in the advertisement
• Physical appearance of the product often influence consumers’
judgment
• Names and terms associated with the brand names e.g.
Aquaguard –Pani ka doctor
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 23

24. APPLICATION TO MARKETING
– Physical Appearance
• Role of packaging
• Selection of ad models
– Stereotypes
• Use in building brand imagery and advertising
• Can create sustained brand association
– Halo effect
–To get into new category like brand extension
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 24

25. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 25
ADDITIONAL CONCEPTS
• The AbsoluteThreshold
• The differential threshold / Just noticeable
difference
• Subliminal perception

26. THE ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD
• The lowest level at which an individual can experience a
sensation
• The point at which a person can detect a difference between
‘something’ and ‘nothing’
• As the level of exposure to the stimulus increases, we notice
less
• Sensory Adaptation – ‘getting used to’
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 26

27. THE DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD / JUST NOTICEABLE
DIFFERENCE (J.N.D.)
• Differential threshold is the smallest detectable difference
between two values of same stimulus
• Weber’s Law
–J.N.D. between two stimuli is not an absolute amount but an
amount relative to the intensity of the first stimulus
–Stronger the initial stimulus, greater the additional intensity
needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 27

28. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 28

29. MARKETING APPLICATIONS OF JND
 Marketers use Weber’s law to predict how consumers will respond
to differences between marketing variables and changes in these
variables
 When marketers want consumers to notice the changes (just
above j.n.d)
 improved / updated packaging/ quality, logo change, price decrease
 When marketers want consumers not to notice the
changes (just below j.n.d)
 (price increase, quantity / size reduction)
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 29

30. SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION
• People can also perceive stimuli, which are below their
level of conscious awareness
• When the stimulus is below the threshold of awareness
and is perceived the process is called subliminal perception
• Usage in advertising
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 30

31. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 31

32. PERCEPTION
AND
MARKETING STRATEGY
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 32

33. APPLICATIONS OF A STUDY OF
CONSUMERS’ PERCEPTION
• Retail Strategy
• Brand name and logo
• Media strategy
• Advertisement
• Package design
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 33

34. RETAIL STRATEGY
• Store layout and interiors
• Shelf position and amount of shelf space allocated to
various products and brands
• Cross promotion
• Creating retail environment – ambient scent
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 34

35. BRAND NAME & LOGO DEVELOPMENT
• Linguistic considerations
• Typography
• Attractive colours (e.g.Yellow of Maggi, Idea, Red of ICICI
Bank)
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 35

36. MEDIA STRATEGY
• Media vehicle selection
• Media schedule
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 36

37. ADVERTISEMENT
• Creative designing
–Colours
–Contrast
–Use of humour, jingles, animation, sex appeal or celebrities to
grab attention
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 37

38. PACKAGE DESIGN & LABELING
• Packages must attract attention and convey information
• E.g. Kellogg’s Chocos
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 38

39. PERCEPTUAL MAPPING
• Brand Perception = Brand attributes + symbolic attributes
• Helps to understand how the consumers perceive their offerings in
relation to competitive brands on certain chosen parameters
• Helps to assess how consumers view different brands in a product
category
• Marketers can identify unexplored areas in terms of consumer needs
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 39

40. Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 40

41. BRAND POSITIONING
• Creating distinct image in minds of the consumers
• Umbrella positioning – e.g. Maggi
• Positioning leads to distinctive brand image
• Digital Marketing & Product positioning
• Packaging as a positioning element
• Product repositioning
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 41

42. PERCEIVED PRICE
• Perceived price should reflect the value that the customer
receives from the purchase
• How a customer perceives price –high/low/ fair will influence
on purchase intentions and purchase satisfaction
• Reference price – any price that a consumer uses as a basis for
comparison in judging another price
– External / internal
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 42

43. PERCEIVED QUALITY OF PRODUCT / SERVICE
• Perceived quality of a product/ service is based on a variety
of informational cues that they associate with the product
• Intrinsic –physical characteristics (size, colour, aroma etc)
• Extrinsic – price/ Quality Relationship, brand image,
manufacturer's image, retail store image or country of
origin
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 43

44. PERCEIVED RISK
• The degree of uncertainty perceived by the consumer about the consequence
(outcome) of a specific purchase decision
• Perception risk varies with product categories, shopping situation and personal
risk tolerance
–Functional risk
–Physical risk
–Financial risk
–Time risk
–Social risk
–Psychological risk Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 44

45. PROJECTS
• A study of perceptual mapping for a category of your
choice
Prof. Deepa Rohit, LLIM 45