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APsychologicalLookatPriming&
ConsumerBehavior
Asyouveprobablyrealized,varioustenetsofpsychologyarecrucialtoeffective
marketing.Afterall,psychologyisaboutunderstandinghumanbehaviorandmarketingis
aboutapplyingthatknowledge.Therearemanyfactorsthatinfluencethisbehavior,and
whileatleastpartofthehumandecisionmakingprocessisconscious,manyofthese
factorsinfluencebehavioratanonconsciouslevel.Aswehavediscussedpreviouslyon
thisblog,personalitytraitscanserveasnonconsciousmotivationsofbehavior.Inthis
post,Iwillintroducethepsychologicalconceptofpriming,whichcanalsohavenotso
subtleinfluencesonhumanbehavior.more
Part1:Whatispriming?
AquickWikipediasearchwillofferthefollowingdefinition:Primingisanimplicit
memoryeffectinwhichexposuretoastimulusinfluencesaresponsetoalaterstimulus.
Letsunpackthat.
implicitmemoryeffectwhateverprimingis,itisoccurringbelowthesurfaceof
consciousthought.
exposuretoastimulusthisstimuluscanbeauditory,visual,tactile,etc.andwecallit
aprime'.
influencesaresponsetheaforementionedstimulusisaffectinglaterbehaviorin
someway
toalaterstimulusanditisaffectingbehaviorinacertainenvironment
So,toputthisallbacktogether,primingiswhatwecallitwhenexposuretosomething
influencesthebehaviorofanindividuallateron,withoutthatindividualbeingawarethat
thefirstthingisguidingtheirbehaviortoacertainextent.
Part2:Psychologicalstudiesthatillustratetheeffectsofpriming
A)WordCompletionTask
Inthestandardvariationofthistask,participantsaregivenalonglistofwordstoread.
Thelistislongenoughthatparticipantswouldnoteasilybeabletomemorizeitandthey
alsodonotknowthatthewordsmightbehelpfullateron.Then,theparticipantsare
askedtocompletewordsthathavesomelettersleftout.Forexample_EX_G__,which
canbecompletedtoHEXAGON.Participantswhoreadhexagononthelistofwords
earlieraremorelikelytogetthistaskcorrectandalsocompleteitmorequickly.Another
variantofthistaskasksparticipantstocompletesimplewordsthatcouldbecompletedin
variousways.ForexampleD__KcouldbecompleteasDORKorDARK.Participants
responsesaredependentnotonlyonwhethertheyhadreadthewordearlier,butalsoby
thematicschemeofthewords.ForexampleiftheyhadreadthewordsNIGHT,MOON
andSLEEP,theywouldbemorelikelytocompleteitasDARK.
Intheseexamples,thefirstlistofwordsservesastheprimetoinfluencelaterbehavioron
thewordcompletiontask.
B)LexicalDecisionTask
Inthistask,participantsaretoldtodecidewhetherawordtheyareshownisrealormade
up.Themadeupwordsfollowgeneralspellingandphoneticrules(ex.ksjfhdwouldnot
appearonthetest,butblarghmight).Theparticipantsaretoldtorespondasquickly,but
asaccuratelyaspossibleandarescoredalongthesetwodimensions.Ithasbeennoted
thatwhenaparticipanthasseentherealwordrecentlytheyarefastertoclassifyitasreal.
Additionally,theclassificationisalsofasteriftherealwordrelatesthematicallytoother
wordstheparticipantshaveseenrecently.Forexample,iftheparticipantshadbeen
studyingalistofmedicallyrelatedwordstheymightclassifyNURSEasarealword
fasterthaniftheyhadbeenstudyingschoolrelatedwords.
Theexplanationoftenofferedforthisisthat,whenwordsareread,aschemarelating
thosewordsthematically,isactivatedinthebrain.Forexample,ifyoureadthewords
HOMEWORK,STUDYandEXAM,theschoolschemainyourbrainmightbe
activated.Later,whenyouareaskedtodeterminewhetherBOOKisarealword,your
braingetstoskipthestepinthewordclassificationprocessthatrequiresthematic
activationandthustheprocessingspeedisfaster.Inotherwords,becauseyourbrainwas
alreadyprimedtobethinkingaboutschool,itwas,onsomelevel,alreadythinkingabout
thewordbook.
C)Stereotyping
Severalstudieshaveshownthatprimingcanhaveaneffectonsocialbehavioraswellas
cognitivebehavior.TipTapLabadvisor,JohnBargh,workedtoexplorethisinastudy
consistingofthreeexperiments.Inthefirstexperimenttheyprimedparticipantswith
wordsrelatedtoelderlypeople,butnevermentionedageordisabilitiesofanykind.They
foundthattheseparticipantsactuallywalkedslowerwhenleavingtheexperimentthan
didtheircontrolgrouppeers.
Inthesecondexperiment,theyfoundthatparticipantswhohadbeenprimedwithwords
relatingtorudenessweremorelikelytointerrupttheexperimenter,andinthethird
experimenttheyfoundthatparticipantsforwhomtheAfricanAmericanstereotypewas
primedsubliminallyreactedwithmorehostilitytoavexatiousrequestofthe
experimenter.Primingisalsobelievedtobeapotentialmechanismbehindstereotype
threat.
Part3:Priminginmarketing
Althoughmanyprimesworkbetterwhenthestimuliareofthesamemodality(i.e.both
spoken,orbothwritten,orbothheard,etc.),theycanstillbeeffectiveinothersituations,
whichhasimportantimplicationsformarketing.
A)MusicandWine
In1999,Northetal.conductedafieldexperimentinagrocerystore.Fortwoweeks,
stereotypicallyFrenchandGermanmusicwereplayedonalternatingdaysandthe
amountofFrenchwineversusGermanwinesoldwasmeasured.Additionally,purchasers
ofwinewereaskedtofilloutabriefsurvey,theresultsofwhichrevealedthattheywere
unawareof[the]effectsofmusicontheirproductchoices.Asyoucanprobablypredict
basedonthetopicofthisblog,moreFrenchwinewassoldondayswhenFrenchmusic
wasplayingandmoreGermanwinewassoldontheGermanmusicdays.Asimple,
auditoryprimehadasignificanteffectonbuyingbehavior,thatconsumerswerenot
consciouslyawareof!
InanotherstudybyNorth(2011)itwasfoundthatparticipantsdescribedthetasteof
winesdifferently,dependingonwhattypeofmusicwasbeingplayed.Morespecifically,
theyhadthetendencytodescribewinesinaccordancewithwhattypeofmusicwasbeing
played.Theychose4piecesofmusicwhichcorrespondedto4setsofcharacteristics:
CarminaBuranabyOrff(powerfulandheavy),WaltzoftheFlowersfromTchaikovsky's
Nutcracker(subtleandrefined),JustCan'tGetEnoughbyNouvelleVague(zingyand
refreshing),andSlowBreakdownbyMichaelBrook(mellowandsoft).
Participantsdrankwinethesamewinewhileoneoftheseplayedinthebackground.
ThosewhoheardCarminaBuranaweremorelikelytodescribethewineaspowerfuland
heavy,thosewhoheardWaltzoftheFlowersweremorelikelytodescribeitassubtleand
refined,andsoon.Onceagain,thisisanexampleofasubtlecuedictatingtheoutcomeof
behavior.
B)LessPain,SameGain
Aquestionthathasalwaysandwillalwaysplagueproducersandretailersishowto
chargeasmuchaspossiblewhilenotdecreasingcustomersatisfaction.Turnsout,
primingcanofferaninsightintohowtodojustthat.Intheir1999study,Maxwelletal.
toldparticipantstoimaginetheywerebuyingausedcarandgavethemthefollowing
dataregardingpricesthatsimilarvehicleshadsoldfor:
Additionally,onegroupofparticipantswasprimedforfairnessbybeingaskedtostate
whatthelowestandhighestfairpricesforthecarwouldbe.Sinceallparticipantsplayed
theroleofthebuyer,thismanipulationforcedthemtoconsiderfairnessfrombothsides
ofthedeal.Allparticipantsthenbargainedoverthepriceforthecarwithwhothey
thoughtwasarealpersonbutwasactuallyacomputerprogrammedtorespondwithan
amountof60%morethanwhatevertheparticipantstated.Theresultsofthebargaining
processrevealedthattherangeofpricesthatfairnessprimedbuyersconsideredfairwas
higherthantherangeconsideredacceptableandthefirstconcession(i.e.stepinthe
bargainingprocessafterthefirstbid)was24%largerforthefairnessprimedgroupthan
forthecontrolgroup.Lastly,thefairnessprimedgroupreportedthattheeventual
settlementexceededtheirexpectationswhereasthecontrolgroupreportedthatitfell
shortoftheirexpectations.Thisallrevealsthat,whenprimedforfairness,consumer
behaviorisinfluencedsuchthatconsumersactmorecooperativelyandhaveanincreased
senseofsatisfaction,regardlessofthepricepaid.
C)WhatWeSeeMakesUsWhoWeAre
Ina2001study,ForehandandDeshpandexploredtheimpactofethnicprimeson
participantsbehaviorandresponsetoadvertisements.Theirstudypoolconsistedofboth
AsianandCaucasianparticipantswhowereaskedtofilloutashortquestionnaireand
watchashorttelevisiontapewhichincludedbriefnewssegmentsandadvertisements.In
theexperimentalgroup,oneoftheseadvertisementswasforhairproductsspecifically
designedforAsianhairthiswasconsideredtheethnicprime.Theyfoundthat
consumerswithanethnicitythatmatchedtheethnicityusedintheethnicprime(i.e.
Asians)weremorelikelytomentiontheirethnicitywhenaskedtodescribethemselves
(demonstratingthattheadprimedethnicselfawareness).Furthermore,oneoftheother
advertisementswatchedwasperformedbyanAsianspokesperson.Asianswhohadbeen
exposedtotheethnicprimeadvertisementreportedlikingthisspokespersonmorethan
Caucasianswhohadbeenexposedtotheethnicprime.Inotherwords,therewasamain
effectofethnicselfawarenessatplay,notjustaneffectofaprime.
Thisgoestoshowthatactivationofthisselfawarenessmaydirectlyinfluenceconsumer
reactionstogrouprelevantinformationandthereforemayinfluenceconsumerbehavior
byprimingconsumerstoreceiveandinterpretadvertisementinformationmore
positively.
Thefundamentalsofprimingprovideasimpleviewintooneaspectofnonconscious
behavior.Theclearimplicationsofprimingonourdailybehavior,posessomegreat
questionsformarketers:Howcanwebestusepriminginanethicalwaytoinfluence
purchasingdecisions?Howsignificantisthedistributionchanneltothesuccessofan
emergingproductorbrand?Howcanmarketersandconsumerinsightteamsutilize
psychologyforapositivebrandexperience?
MadelineFord,TipTapLab06/01/2013