Operant Learning in Explaining Consumer Behaviour

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The fruitful marketing communications campaign is the one which uses a mixture of promotional techniques to convey the key messages across the customers. As a marketer, I suggest that the advertisement through broadcast because of it efficiency to reach massive customers and then their attention. Meanwhile, in addition, free trials of the new biscuits are distributed in-store such as supermarket in order to enable customers to try before the purchase.

Firstly, shaping concept of behavioural learning theory will be used to clarify the usefulness of free food sample in order for the customer to be influenced by the campaign. Empirical researches indicate that free sample is an effective promotion tool in order to create sales. According Estell’s study (2002), 89% of respondents would purchase a product that they had been tested, while 69% of them exposed to be more affected by the product samples than some types of advertisement. The behaviourists, yet, declared that customers are not likely to take risk of purchasing the products which they are never uses before (Bawa and Shoemaker, 2004; Skkiner, 1953). The free samples, in consequence, facilitate the product trial and evaluation with no financial association, in which allowing customers to make decisions afterwards.

In light of the perspective, shaping process employs positive reinforcements of successive approximations in arranged condition, thus leading to the modification of probabilities of current behaviour before emitting the certain desired behaviour (Peter and Nord, 1982). In the proposed campaign, the free trial allows customers to learn the tastiness and aroma of the biscuits, thus, a favourable experience tend to encourage the retrial. It is argued, moreover, the desired behaviour is gradually shaped through several stages of utilitarian reinforcement. For example, receiving the free samples suggests the customers start involved with the products. The product trial is reinforced by its good quality, in turn, it reinforces the behaviour. The Customers, for that reason, develop their own positive experiences resulting to the learning substantial differences among same type of product from other brands (Nord and Peter, 1982). As a result, complex consumer behaviour is evolved successfully by the free samples distribution from no intention, to trial without financial commitment, to interest and finally to the willingness of purchase at full retailer price (Rothschild and Gaidis, 1981). The pattern of the desired behaviour, hence, seems not to be fading out even without free samples. The shaping concept, consequently, interprets how free samples promotion appeal to customer and influences their purchasing behaviour from the form of preliminary reinforcement in multistep processes to beliefs and attitudes in the purchase involvement, hence the desired behaviour occurred.

Secondly, it is arguable that principles of behavioural learning theory are not able to explain entirely the consumer behaviour toward the purchase of new product. It is because behavioural learning focuses too much on the prior beliefs and only emphasises little on thinking process and individuals’ beliefs, attitudes and personality (Hoch and Ha, 1986; Assel, 2004). The conditioning considers that consumers are passive to rely on their own experiences, thus the likelihood of inducing repeat responses. In contrast to another viewpoint, however, consumers are active and willing to act based on their perception in order to achieve the goals. The cognitive learning can interpret how the advertising of marketing campaign impacts on consumer perception, hence the behaviour (Hackley, 2010).

It is said consumers are desire to make good purchase rather than the best one based on their perceptions and beliefs (Hoch, 1984). The model of effects of commercial on brand equity developed by Villarejo and Sánchez-Franco (2005) denotes the point clearly by suggesting the perceived adverting spending is associated with the consumer perceived confidence toward the particular brand, thus its product. It is true that the broadcast adverting is an expensive approach which may decrease the firm’s profitability substantially. However, as result, the heavy spending on biscuits advertising will lead to high perceived quality and brand awareness from the consumer. The perceived quality, in turn, will act as a positive reinforcer even without product trial. Therefore, customers tend to believe in their perception from cognitive learning, leading to the increased concern about the biscuits, hence purchasing. On the other hand, although consumers ensure that they do not trust the advertisers, they tend to realise the message contented in the advertising is useful to make good decision (Hoch and Ha, 1986). As mentioned by Tavassoli (1998) that advertising exposes ‘sensory perceptual’ in the format of auditory and/or visual signal. In this case, the proposed advertising constructs a pleasant feeling of biscuits consumption behaviour. The process of developing new desired behaviour, as a result, can be demonstrated clearly by AIDA model, which contains of awareness, interest, desire and action (Hackley, 2010). With the effect from the observation of advertisement, customers’ sensory perception in taste is likely to be affected due to the positive verbal stimuli, thus leading to product attention which, in turn is intensifying. As a result, cognitive constraint is received since no real taste is made, yet still purchase the biscuits due to obtain reward of the perceived taste. Therefore, consumer responses do not depend only on their prior behavioural experiences, but also on the employment of stimuli to create associative learning experiences from the advertising, resulting to change in their purchasing behaviour.

To sum up, principles of behavioural learning theory is useful to design effective marketing strategies which are able to gain appreciation from customer, thus volunteering in the purchase. However, consumer learning also is conducted through the perception of customer in the situations, thus developing the cognition by their own internal process.

Word count: 1973.

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REFERENCES

Bandura, A. (1977) Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bagozzi, R.P. (2000) ‘The poverty of economic explanations of consumption and an action theory alternative’, Managerial and Decision Economics, 21 (3-4), 95-109.

Blattberg, R., & Neslin, S. (1990) Sales promotion: concepts, methods, and strategies, Prentice Hall, Englewood, NJ.