Chapter 4:

Memory and Cognitive

Learning

Memory . . .
. . . affects the exposure,
attention, and comprehension
stages
. . . allows consumers to
anticipate the stimuli they might
encounter

Multiple-Store Model of
Memory

Three different types of memory

storage:

Sensory Memory

Short-Term Memory

Long-Term Memory

Sensory memory-

Preattention stage
where a stimulus briefly analyzed to
determine if it will receive additional
processing.
Short-term memory-Information
temporarily stored while people are actively
processing it. E.g.RAM in a computer.
Long-term memory- Connected to shortterm memory through encoding and
retrieval processes.
E.g. disk drive in a computer.
Memory works like parallel processors.

Encoding -Transfer of information

from short-term to long-term for
permanent storage.
Retrieval -Process of accessing
information from long-term
memory to be utilized in short-term
memory.
Constructive process.
Information in ads received after
product experience can change the
perception.

Sensory Memory . . .
. . . consists of
firing of nerve
cells, short-term
in duration,
usually less than
a second.

Short-Term Memory. . .
. . . is the site where information is
temporarily stored while being
processed. Is also called working
memory.

Rehearsal is silently repeating

information to encode it into long-term
memory.
If information in short-term memory is
not rehearsed it is lost within 30 seconds.

Involvement & Short-Term

Capacity

High involvement -more arousal,

attentive, expanding the short-term
memory
capacity to full 7 +/-2 bits.
Low involvement -low arousal levels
,consumer focuses relatively little
memory capacity on the stimulus.
capacity is at 5 +/1 bits.

Time Required to Transfer

Information Is Influenced
by . . .
. . . the consumer's
goal to either
recognize or recall a
task. It requires more
time to encode
information sufficiently
for a recall task.

Recognition and Recall

Recognition tasks -information placed

before the consumer.Goal --to determine if
the information has been seen before.
Recall tasks ---Consumer must retrieve
the information from long-term memory
without any prompting.
Requires greater depth of encoding.
Recall impacts size of the consideration
set, (deemed satisfactory options)

Long-Term Memory
. . . has essentially unlimited capacity to
store information permanently.

Stored information -- semantic or visual.

Semantic --encoding & storage of words &
meanings.
Visual --- images.
Long term memory -Permanent.

Relative Superiority of
Picture Versus Word
Visuals- more memorable than verbal
Memory
counterparts, especially for low-involvement
Words with high-imagery content easier to
encode and retrieve than words low in
imagery and concreteness.
Words and pictures should complement
each other in ads.
Verbal material is better recalled in high
involvement conditions.

Memory-Control
Processes . . .
. . . are the methods
of handling
information which
may operate
consciously or
unconsciously to
influence the
encoding, placement,
and retrieval of
information.

Retrieval and Response

Generation

Response generation-Person develops a

response by actively reconstructing the
stimulus.
Information received after exposure to a
stimulus (e.g., ads) impacts response
generation of original stimulus.
Retrieval cues create a response by
providing a means of assisting active
reconstruction of stimulus.

Consumer Knowledge . . .
. . . is the amount of experience with
and information a person has about
particular products or services.

As knowledge increases, a consumer can

think about a product across a greater
number of dimensions and make finer
distinctions between brands.

Three Types of Knowledge:

Objective -- correct information

about a product class that a
consumer has stored in long-term
memory

Subjective--- consumers perception

of what or how much he or she
knows about a product class.

Knowledge of others --what

information a consumer knows about
another.

How Do Consumers Gain

Knowledge?

Cognitive Learning: process

of forming associations,
solving problems, and
gaining insights.
Learning Through Education.
Learning Through
Experience. Actual
contact/use of products.

Gestalt Theory of Cognitive

Knowledge

11 3

Gestalt psychologists believe that biological

and psychological events do not influence
behavior
in isolation of each other.

People perceive the inputs from the

environment as part of the total context.
Focused on the active, creative nature of
learning and action.
Key idea: whole is greater than sum of parts.

Associationist
Approaches to
Cognitive Knowledge

Serial learning concerns how people put into

memory and recall information that is
received in a sequential manner.
Serial-position effect occurs when the order
of presentation of information in a list
influences recall of the information in the list.
The S-P effect is the basis for the higher price
paid for book-end adsI.e., ads at the
beginning and end of a commercial TV break.

Serial Position Effect

Many
Trials
to
Learn
Few
early

Position
in series

Late

Law of Contiguity

Stimuli that are experienced together become

associated in memorye.g., Nike-Tiger
Woods. Called paired associate learning.
Some findings:

Make pairs (I.e. stimulus-response words) easily

pronounceable, familiar, meaningful.
Use visual images to link stimulus-response words
together.

Remember: negative associations can occur

between product and another stimulus
attack style political ads seek to create such
associations for opposing candidates.

Semantic Memory
Networks . . .

. . . refer to how people store the

meanings of verbal material in
long-term memory.

Semantic memory is organized into

networks each of which is a series of
memory nodes that represent the
stored semantic concepts.
Information is recalled via spreading
activation.

5 Types of Information Stored in

Nodes

Types of information

Brand names
Brands characteristics/attributes
Ads about brand
Product category
Evaluative (affective) reactions to the brand and
the ad.

This information represents a consumers

brand knowledgeI.e., a brand node and
the associations in memory connected to it.

Measuring Semantic
Memory Networks

Guided Associations

Think of OSU (or your

university/college)
What are the first three words or
images that come to mind. (e.g.,
cowboys, MBA program, sports)
Select one of words (e.g., MBA), now
think of three words or images that you
associate with MBA program, etc.

Semantic Memory
Network:
important for semiosis analysis.
OSU
Cowboys
Walt Garrison
Dallas

Football

Berry Sanders

Drugs Crime

MBA Program

class

Jobs
New job

money

Sports

Academics Bball Golf

Best value

my daughter

Sutton Holder
winning

Schemas . . .
. . . are organized sets of
expectations and associations about
an objects.

When new information is inconsistent

with a schema, consumers engage in
more diligent processing and,
consequently, have improved memory
about the stimulus.
Can derive from network analysis.
Try to influence with communications.

Forgetting
People forget because
even though
information has been
placed in long-term
memory, it may be
extremely difficult to
retrieve. This is called
a retrieval failure.

Interference Processes

Retroactive interference occurs

when later learned material
interferes with the recall of
information learned earlier.

Proactive interference occurs when

earlier learned material interferes
with learning and recall of
information learned later.

Time and Forgetting

The recall of verbal

information
decreases over
time.
Rapid forgetting
that occurs
immediately after
learning has been
shown to occur in
advertising as well.

Affect and Memory

People are better able to recall

information that has the same
affective quality as their mood state.

Affect refers to the feelings, emotions,

and moods that consumers may
experience.
Mood is a transient feeling state that
occurs in a specified situation or time.

Memory and PERMS

Positioning. The semantic network & schema

associated with a brand provides its position.
Environ. Analysis. Usually not relevant, but
can apply in the sense of examining what
competitors are doing and the clutter of the
environment.
Research. Measure semantic network, schema
and expectations, aided/unaided recall.

Marketing mix.

Use promotion to influence semantic network

and schema, consider recall & recognition issues
in advertising. Consider paired associate
learning in developing communications, etc.
Consider von Restorff and Zeigarnik effects in
advertising.
Develop product name with consideration of
paired-associate learning. Consider information
overload issues in product development.

Segmentation. Segment marketplace

based upon knowledge of product category.