Internal Influences - Emotion and Perception

A. Emotion

Emotion is difficult to define, and even more difficult to predict. However, they are important to marketers because consumers tend to react to marketing messages and make purchases based on feelings and emotions. Emotion can be used to create product benefits. Such as with Tide detergent and Cheerios cereal; their commercials feature families having wonderful moments together, that couldn't have happened without those products.

Emotion in advertising enhances attention, attraction, and is processed more thoroughly by the consumer and may be remembered better.

These are the elements of the relationship between emotion and understanding:

• Self control-the ability to control your emotions
• Emotional empathy-the ability to understand other people's emotions
• Positive/negative outlook-a person's outlook on life can be upbeat and optimistic or depressed and negative; most people fall somewhere in between
• Productivity-ability to use emotions to solve problems

B. Perception

Perception is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information Perception has four major steps:

1. Exposure - When a stimulus (like a billboard) comes within range of your senses (vision)

2. Attention - Determined by the individual and the situation; Nerves pass the information onto the brain for processing

3. Interpretation - when marketing messages are assigned meaning

4. Memory

• a. Short-term—for immediate decision making
• b. Long-term—for retention

For an ad to be successful it must have the following four elements:

1. Exposure

Must physically reach the consumer

2. Attention

The consumer must attend to it

3. Interpretation

It must be properly interpreted

4. Memory

Must be stored in memory that will allow retrieval

Value and Relationship Quality

Consumers choose goods and services based on the assumption that they will be rewarded with value and satisfaction. Consumption is the process by which goods and services are used and assigned a level of value by the consumer.

Quality + Price + Customer Service = Value and Satisfaction\

 That level could be positive, if the customer was satisfied, or it could be negative if they did not find any value in their purchase. Marketers have to provide the right combination of quality, price and customer service in order to give customers positive value and satisfaction. That will in turn create happy, loyal customers. The formula looks like this:

If a product/service is provided that has low quality, and a high price, that does not create a happy, satisfied customer. At the same time, having a great product at the best possible price means nothing if the customer is treated badly, or not provided with the opportunity to return unwanted items.

by Mkt Teachers