Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Chapter 9: Conditioning and Learning Processes

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND MARKETING STRATEGY
by
J. Paul Peter & Jerry C. Olson
Fifth Edition
Irwin McGrawhill Companies
Copyright 1999 
United States


Lottery Games
Lotteries are legal in 34 states and the District of Columbia. In one year, lotteries sold over 20 billion tickets that’s $109 worth for every man, woman and child in lottery states. Consumers particularly flock to lotteries when the jackpot has grown for a while. In New York, for example, when the Super Lotto drawing reached $90 million, residents formed long lines in the bitter cold of January to buy tickets. Retailers sold 61 million tickets in 10days more than 21,000 per minute toward the end. When the Florida Lotto price reached $106 million, hysteria gripped the state. People who had never dreamed of buying Lotto tickets stood in line with dedicated players and in the final days before the drawing, retailers sold 44,000 tickets per minute. The biggest PowerBall payoff to date was $111,240,463.
On the first day Kentucky started lottery games, the governor flew to seven cities, each celebrating with brand, prizes and free tickets. The governor purchased tickets at each stop as the TV cameras rolled. The take for day one of the state lottery was $5 million. The state offered an online game, Lotto Kentucky, in which players picked 6 numbers out of 42, and followed up with a second game., Kentucky Cash in which players picked 3 numbers out of 42. Other lottery games with names like “Tic-Tac-Cash,” “Break Fort Knox,”and “Home for the Holidays” were promoted by Lucky Duck wearing top hat and tails and his “ambassador team” roaming around the state in the Lucky Limo. Additional games included the instant-win type in which players scratch the covering off a card to show wining numbers. These games and all of the hoopla are a long way from the first state lotteries held bin New Hampshire, which were simple biannual drawings. The Kentucky lottery games brought in more than $250 million in revenue the first year.

Our problem for lotteries is that players often need constant prodding. First year lottery sales always boom but then can fall as much as 50 percent in the second year. Instant ticket games have the shortesr life span; consumers quit playing in a few months and new games must be constantly introduced to spur sales. At one time, lottery officials in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania were beaming because sales were increasing 30 to 50 percent a year. However, a few years later, growth had skidded to about 3 percent. Now many lotteries have turned to consumer research, including surveys, penetration studies and focus groups to keep their sales booming. Lottery officials have learned, for instance, that tickets are often impulse items. So they cover convenience stores with banners place lottery tickets and displays near the cigarettes and candy and use clever TV ads to keep consumers buying.

So, what are the chances of wining a lottery? The chances of wining a big jackpot are about 13 million to 1, which is far less than the chances of being killed by lightning at about 400,000 to 1. An award winning lottery commercial in Michigan tools advantage of this knowledge by showing a man in a convenience store saying he would never play the lottery because he’d have a better chance of being struck by lightning. Just then he’s hit by a bolt from the blue. Still sizzling he says, “One ticket, please.”

Source: Calonius, “The Big Payoff from Lotteries, “Fortune, March 25, 1991, pp.109-14;

What accounts for the success of state lottery games? This chapter is concerned with two types of conditioning and one type of learning. The two types of conditioning one type of learning. The two types of conditioning are classical and operant and the learning discussion focuses on vicarious learning. Traditionally, these topics have focused primarily on influencing overt behavior. However they are also useful for conditioning affect, and cognitive theories are useful for explaining why they are effective. The chapter proceeds by first discussing classical conditioning and then proceeds to operant conditioning and vicarious learning.

Classical Conditioning

Many of you have likely heard of Pavlov’s experiments in which he conditioned a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. Pavlov did this by first pairing the sound of the bell with sprays of meat powder a number of trials. Eventually he could eliminate the meat powder and the dog would salivate to the sound of the bell alone. Pavlov’s research provides the basis for classical conditioning.

In general classical conditioning is a process by which a neutral stimulus becomes capable of eliciting a response because it was repeatedly paired with a stimulus that naturally causes the response. Stimuli that cause responses naturally are called unconditioned stimuli, the meat powder in the Pavlov experiments; the response that occurs naturally in its presence is called an unconditioned respponse, salivation in the Pavlov experiments. When the neutral stimulus can cause a similar response through repeated pairings, it becomes a conditioned stimulus. When it does cause the response, the response is then called a conditioned response. This process is shown in Exhibit 9.1 and four points should be noted.

Exhibit 9.1

The Process Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus

Unconditioned response
Unconditioned stimulus
Neutral stimulus
Unconditioned response

Conditioned stimulus
Conditioned response
  
First, classical conditioning can be accomplished not only with unconditioned stimuli, but also with previously conditioned stimuli. For example, most of us are previouisly conditioned to the sound of a doorbell ringing and will look up almost automatically on hearing it. This previously conditioned stimulus has been used in the beginning of Avon TV commercials to attract consumers attention to the ad itself as well as to Avon services.
Second, classically conditioned behaviors are controlled by stimuli that occur before the behavior. For example, in Pavlov’s experiment, the meat powder and bell were presented before salivation occurred.
Third, the behaviors influenced by classical conditioning are assumed to be under the control of the autonomic nervous system. This system controls the so called smooth muscles. Thus, the behaviors are assumed to be involuntary and not under the conscious control of the individual.
Last, and perhaps most important for consumer behavior and marketing strategy, affective responses often follow the principles of classical conditioning. For example, when a new product for which people have neutral feelings repeatedly advertised during exciting sports events (such as the Super Bowl), it is possible for the product to eventually generate excitement on its own solely through the repeated pairings with exciting events. Similarly, an unknown political candidate may come to elicit patriotic feelings in voters simply by having patriotic music constantly playing in the background of his or her political commercials. A number of firms currently use stimuli in commercials and ads that are designed to generate emotions.
Because it can account for many of the responses that environmental stimuli elicit from individuals, classical conditioning has important implications for marketing and consumer behavior. Through it a particular stimulus can come to evoke positive, negative or neutral feelings. Consequently, classical conditioning can influence an individual to work to obtain, to avoid, or to be indifferent to a wide variety of products and services.
Consider product related stimuli. External stimuli that elicit positive emotions can be paired with the product so that the product itself elicits positive affect. Behavior may then be tiggered that brings the potential consumer into closer contact with the product. “Closer contact” refers to a general relationship between a person’s behavior and a given stimulus (e.g., a product). For example if a product elicits positive affect, an individual exposed to it is more apt to behave positively toward it than if negative emotions are elicited. Attending behavior is also apt to be a function of classically conditioned affect. Stimuli that elicit stronger emotional responses (either positive or negative) are, at least over a considerable range, apt to receive more attention from an individual than stimuli that are effectivelyneutral. To the degree that attending behavior is necessary for product purchase or other product related behavior, classical conditioning influences whether consumers come into contact with products.
Similarly, stimuli may produce certain general emotional responses, such as relaxation, excitement, nostalgia or some other emotion likely to increase the probability of a desired behavior (such as product purchase). Radio and TV ads often use fameous broadcasters whose voices have been paired for years with exciting sports events. These voices may elicit excitement as a result of this frequent pairing. Repeated pairings of these voices with advertised products can result in feelings of excitement associated with the products.
Music, sexy voices and bodies and other stimuli are used in similar ways. For example, magazines ads for Calvin Kleins Obsession perfume featured a naked woman being kissed by three men. Such stimuli may influence behavior without conditioning simply by drawing attention to the ad. Of course, the attention generating properties of the stimulus itself are apt to have developed through previous conditioning that occurs “naturally” in society.
The use of telephones ringing or sirens in the background of radio and TV ads and the presence of famous celebrities are common examples of how stimuli that are irrelevant to the content of an ad or the function of the product are used to increase attention paid to the ad itself. For example, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have been featured in commercials for Nike and other products. In this context, one of the major resources that organizations use to market their products is made available through previous classical conditioning of consumers.
Stimuli at or near the point of purchase also serve the goals of marketers through the stimuli’s ability to elicit behaviors. Christmas music in a toy department is a good example. Although no data are available to support the point, we suspect that carols are useful in eliciting the emotions labeled the “Christmas spirit.” Once these feelings have been elicited, we suspect (and retailers seem to share our suspicions) that people are more apt to purchase gifts to: loved ones. In other words, Chrismas carols are useful in generating emotions that are compatible with purchasing gifts.
Consumer Research on Classical Conditioning
A number of studies have been done in consumer research investigating classical conditioning. The authors of one program of reasearch state, “There are enough demonstrations in our literature to accept the fact of classical conditioning of consumers attitude toward consumption objects.” Others have argued that classical conditioning may be most useful in marketing in low binvolvement situations:
Consumer involvement is low then the products have only minor quality differences form one another…This is especially the case in saturated markets with nature products. It is exactly in these markets that product differentiation by means of emotional conditioning is the preferred strategy of influencing consumers. 
Because most products are mature and many markets are saturated, classical conditioning is likely to be a useful strategy for low involvement purchase. However, classical conditioning can also be useful for high involvement situations, such as the purchase of athletic shoes by teenegers. Marketers of brands including Nike, Adidas, and Fila seem well aware that the prsence of superstar athletes in their commercials performing exciting slam dunks and fast breaks can condition positive affect to their products and lead to increased sales. Automobile companies seem well aware that the presence of attractive models, exciting locations and popular background music can influence purchase through classical conditioning.
Exhibit 9.2
Some Marketing Tactics Consistent with Classical Conditioning Principles
Conditioning Responses to New Stimuli
Unconditioned or Previously Conditioned Stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus
Examples
Exciting event
A product or theme song
New product advertised during the Super Bowl
Patriotic events or music
A product or person
Patriotic music as background in commercials
Use of Familiar Stimuli to Elicit Responses
Conditioned Stimulus
Conditioned Response(s)
Examples
Popular music
Relaxation, excitement, “good will”
Christmas music in retail stores
Family voices
Excitement, attention
Famous sportcaster or movie star narrating a commercial
Sexy voices, bodies
Excitement, attention, arousal
Calvin Klein commercials and many others
Familiar cues
Excitement, attention, anxiety
Sirens sounding, telephones or doorballs ringing in commercials
Familiar social cues
Feelings of friendship and love
Television ads depicting calls from family or close friends

Marketing Implications
There are several implications concerning the use of classical conditioning as a marketing tool. First, classical conditioning directs attention to the prsentation of stimuli that, because of previous conditioning, elicit affect in consumers. In some cases, these feelings are likely to increase the probability of certain behaviors and/or decrease the probability of other behaviors. Second, in many cases, marketers may find it useful to condition responses to stimuli. By repeatedly pairing Tiger Woods, an exciting golfer and sports personality, with Rolex watches and Nike golf clothes, these products may generate greater excitement and increased purchases. Exhibit 9.2 summarizes a number of marketing tactics consistent with classical conditioning principles.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is the process of altering the probability of a behavior being emitted by changing the consequences of the behavior. In differs from classical conditioning in at least two important ways. First, whereas classical conditioning is concerned with involuntary responses, operant conditioning deals with behaviors that are usually assumed to be under the conscious control of the individual. By “conscious control” behaviorists mean under the control of the skeletal nervous system that governs the “stripped” muscles; they are not stating that behaviors are under the control of cognitions. Second, although classically conditioned behaviors are elicited by stimuli that occur before the response, operant behaviors are emitted because of consequences that occur after the behavior.
In any given situation, at any time, there is a certain probability that an individual will emit a particular behavior. If all of the possible behaviors are arranged in descending order of probability of occurrence, the result is a response hierarchy. Operant conditioning has occurred when the probability that an individual will emit a behavior is altered by changing the events or consequences that follow the behavior.
Some events or consequences increase the frequency with which a given behavior is likely to be repeated. For example, if a reward, such as casg rebate, is given at the time of purchase, it may inctrease the probability that a shopper will purchase in the same store in the future. In this case, because the reward increases the probability of the behavior being repeated, it is called positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is likely the most common type of consequence used by marketers to influence consumer behavior. In general, the greater the amount of the reward and the sooner it is received after the behavior, the more likely it is that the behavior will be reinforced and consumers will perform similar behaviors in the future. For example, a $1 coupon for Tropicana orange juice, more than a 50 cent coupon, would likely increase the probability of purchase of juice and lead to  future purchases of this product. Similarly, if the coupon is redeemable at the time of purchase, it would likely to be mre affective than a mail in coupon for which the consumer has to wait for the reward.
Operant Conditioning Methods
Operation Performed after Behavior
Name
Effect
Present positive consequences
Positive reinforcement
Increases the probability of behavior
Remove aversive consequences
Negative reinforcement
Increases the probability of behavior
Neutral consequences occur
Extinction
Decreases the probability of behavior
Present aversive consequences
Punishment
Decreases the probability of behavior
The frequency of consumer behavior can also be increased by removing aversive stimuli. This is called negative reinforcement. For example, if a consumer through purchasing a product, gets a salesperson to quit pressuring him or her, the consumer may be negativelyreinforced. That is, by performing the behavior of purchasing, the aversive stimuli (the actions of the pushy salesperson) are removed. In the future, when confronted with pushy salespeople, operant conditioning would predict that the consumer will be more likely to purchase again.

Sometimes operant techniques are used to decrease the probability of a response. If the environment is arranged so that a particular response results in neutral consequences, over a period of time that response will diminish in frequency. This process is referred to as extinction. For example, at one time, the A&P grocery chain was the largest retailer in the world. However, one of the mistakes it made was to overstock its own brands  (which had higher profit margins) and understock nationally branded merchandise. Consumers who were loyal to a number of nationally branded merchandise. Consumer who were loyal to a number of nationally branded products often could not obtain them at an A&P store. Eventually, many consumers quit shopping at A&P, partially because they could not obtain their favorite brands. Thus, A&P inadvertently used extinction on its own customers.
If a response is followed by noxious or aversive event, the frequency of the response is also likely to decrease. The term punishment is usually used to describe this process. For example, suppose you went to a clothing store and the salespeople were rude to you. Wouldn’t this decrease the chances of your going back there? Punishment is often confused with negative reinforcement, but they are distinctly different concepts. Exhibit 9.3 presents a summary of the four methods of operant conditioning.
There are a number of other important ideas about operant conditioning. We discuss three reinforcement schedules, shaping and discriminative stimuli that have major implications for designing marketing strategies to influence consumers behavior.
Reinforcement Schedules
A number of different reinforcement schedules can be employed. For example, it is possible to arrange conditions so a positive reinforcer is administered after every desired behavior. This is called a continous reinforcement schedule. Marketers usually try to keep the quality of their products and services constant so that they will be continously reinforcing every time they are purchased, but this is difficult. For example, frequent product recalls for automobiles indicate a failure to maintain example, frequent product recalls for automobiles indicate a failure to maintain product quality. Services such as airlines may not be able to control contingencies such as bad weather; overbooked, canceled and late flights and unfriendly employees, which can make flights not reinforcing. Sporting events, because they may be boring or the home team may get beaten, may not be continously reinforcing for some consumers.
Conditions can also be arranged so that every second, third or tenth time the behavior is performed, it is reinforced. This is called a fixed ratio schedule. Similarly, it is possible to have a reinforcer follow a desired behavior on an averange of say, one half, one third, or one fourth the time the behavior occurs, but not necessarily every second, third, or fourth time. This is called a variable ratio schedules.
The variable ratio schedules are of particular interest because they produce high rates of behavior that reasonably resistant to extinction. Gambling devices are good examples. Slot machines are very effective in producing high rates of response, even under conditions that often result in substantial financial losses. This property of the ratio schedule is particularly important for marketers because it suggests that a great deal of desired behavior can be developed and maintained with relatively small, infrequent rewards. Deslauriers and Everett found that by giving a free token for riding a bus on a variable ratio schedule, the same amount of bus riding could be obtained as when rewards were given on a continoud schedule. Thus for approximately one third the cost of the continous schedule. Thus for approximately one third the cost of the continous schedule, the same amount of behavior sustained.
Numerous other examples of the use of variable ratio schedules can be found in marketing practices. In addition to state lotteries, common examples include sweep-stakes, contest and door prizes, in which individuals or must behave in a certain way to be eligible for a prize. Highlight 9.1 discusses the use of variable ratio schedules for selling Pepsi and Mountain Dew products.
Highlight 9.1
Using Variable Ratio Schedules to Increase Pepsi Purchase
PepsiCo ran an “Unlock the Great Taste and Win” sweepstakes. The Grand prizes in the contest were two Lamborghini sport cars with an estimated retail value of $215,000 each. Other prizes included Kawasaki jet skis, compact vending machines, vacations and sterling silver key chains.
Although consumers could receive two game chances without purchases by writing the company, most game chances were distributed through purchase of Pepsi and Mountain Dew products. Here’s how it worked. With purchases of multipacks, that is, 12-20 or 24 can packages, consumers had a chance of receiving a free, inexpensive key chain. Behind the key chain package was notification of any major prize won. However only one out of two multipacks contained  the key chain and chance of wining. Thus, on average, consumers would have to purchase two multipacks to get a chance at the major prizes. PepsiCo used a variable ratio schedule to allocate prize used a variable ratio schedule to allocate prize chances to increase the probability that consumers would purchase several multipacks.
Some bottle caps on 2 liter, 3 liter and 16 ounce nonreturnable bottles also contained chances to win but no key chain. Also the odds of wining were better when consumers bought the more expensive multipacks. For example, the odds of wining the grand prizes from a multipack purchase were in 113, 118, 597. In addition, only by purchasing multipacks could consumers win the sterling silver key chains valued at $50; the bottle purchases allowed winning only a brass key chain valued at $10. All prizes were awarded on variable ratio schedules.
Overall, variable ratio schedules were used to allocate the chances to win prizes as well as the prizes themselves. By offering the chances to win and the inexpensive key chains on a variable ratio schedule, PepsiCo increased the probability of consumers making more than one purchase. Also the cost of the key chains was only half what it would have been if every multipack contained one. Offering major prizes on a variable ratio scheduleis likely the only way expensive products can be used as reinforcers for purchase of inexpensive products and still be profitable. To learn more about Pepsi, visit its Web site at http;//www.pepsi.com
Shaping
Another operant conditioning concept that has important implications for marketing and consumer behavior is shaping. Shaping is important because given consumers existing response hierarchies the probability that they will make a particular desired response may be very small. In general, shaping involves a process of arranging conditions that change the probabilities of certain behaviors not as ends in themselves, but to increase the probabilities of other behaviors. Ussually shaping involves the positive reinforcement of successive approximations of the desired behavior or of behaviors that must be performed before the desired response can be emitted.
Many firms employ marketing activities that are roughly analogous to shaping. For example, loss leaders and other special deals are used to reward individuals for coming to a store. Once customers are in the store, the probability that they will make other desired responses (such as purchasing) is much greater than when they are not in the store. Carnivals held in shopping center or auto dealer parking lots may be viewed as attempts to shape behavior because consumers are more likely to come in and purchase when they are already in the parking lot than when they are at home. Similarly, free trial periods may be employed to make it more likely the user will have contact with the product so that he or she can experience the products reinforcing properties. Real estate companies that offer free trips to look over resort property are employing a shaping tactic, as are casinos that offer free trips to gamblers. In both cases, moving people to the place of purchase or place of gambling increases the probability of these behaviors being performed.
Shaping is not confined to a one step process but can be used to influence several stages in a purchase sequence. For example, suppose a car dealer wants to shape an automobile purchase. Free coffee and doughnuts are offered to anyone who comes to the dealership. Five dollar cash is offered to any licensed driver who will test drive a car. A $500 rebate is offered to anyone who purchases a car. This example demonstrates not only how operant principles can be used in a multistep process but also how they can be used in a high involvement purchase situation.
Discriminative Stimuli
It is important to distinguish between the reinforcement and discriminative functins played by stimuli in the operant model. So far in this section, the focus has been on the reinforcing function. However, the mere presence or absence of certain stimuli can serve to change the probabilities of behavior. These are called discriminative stimuli.
Discriminative stimuli are often said to “set the occasion” for behaviors. This means discriminative stimuli can be presented before a behavior and can influence whether the behavior occurs. In fact, discriminative stimuli allow operant conditioners to account for the effects of antecedents to behavior on changing behavior. (As you recall, reinforcers and other consequences always occur after the behavior.) For example, suppose Pizza Hut runs an ad that offers a free quart of Pepsi with every large pizza purchased. This offer may increase the probability of purchasing a large pizza from Pizza Hut. However, the offeritself is not a reinforcer since it is offered before the behavior. Rather, the offer itself is not a reinforcer since it is offered before the behavior. Rather, the offer is a discriminative stimulus.
Many marketing stimuli are discriminative. Store signs (“50 percent off sale”) and store logos (Wal-Marts sign, Kmart’s big red “K”) or distinctive brand marks (the Nike swoosh, the Levi’s tag, the Polo insignia) are examples of discriminative stimuli. Previous experiences have perhaps taught consumers that purchase behavior will be rewarded when the distinctive symbol is present and will not be rewarded when the symbol is absent. For example, many consumers purchase Ralph Lauren shirts, jackets and shorts that have the embroidered polo player symbol displayed on them and avoid ather Ralph Lauren apparel that does not have this symbol. A number of competitors have tried to copy the polo player symbol because of its power as a discriminative stimulus. Clearly, much of marketing strategy involves developing discriminative stimuli that increase certain behaviors. 
Marketing Implications
Many marketing strategies and tactics are consistent with operant conditioning principles. If these are carefully designed, they can be quite effective in influencing consumer behavior. Many marketing tactics involve giving rewards after a purchase to increase its probability in the future. These rewards include rebates, contest tickets, bonuses, prizes, in package coupons and courteous thanks from salespeople. Although most strategies involve keeping product and service quality on a continuous reinforcement schedule, other types of rewards can be offered on a partial reinforcement schedule. Shaping is used to develop earlier behaviors in a purchase sequence in order to increase the chances of later behaviors. Finally, many store and brand symbols and logos have become discriminative stimuli for some consumers. Exhibit 9.4 summarizes a number of these tactics.
Vicarious Learning
Vicarious learning refers to process by which people change their behaviors because they observed the actions of other people and the consequences that occurred. In general, people tend to imitate the behavior of others when they see that it leads to positive consequences and they tend to avoid performing the behavior of others when they see that it leads to negative consequences.
Exhibit 9.4
Some Marketing Tactics Consistent with Operant Conditioning Principles


Continuous Reinforcement Schedules
Desired Behavior
Reward Given Following Behavior
Product purchase
Manufacturer's rebates; in package coupons;




contest tickets
Store visits
Discounts; door prizes, store coupons
Partial Reinforcement Schedules
Product purchase
Prizes for every second, third, etc. purchase

Prizes to some fraction of people who purchase
Store or restaurant patronage
Cash or free meal after 10 purchases


Shaping

Behavior
Consequences
Final Response Desired
Obtaining a credit card
Prize; low initial interest rate
Expenditures using card
Trip to mall or store
Events or entertainment
Purchases in mall or store
Entry into store
Door prizes
Purchases in store
Product trial
Free samples; cash or other reward for trial
Purchase of product


Discriminative Stimuli

Desired Behavior
Reward Signal
Examples
Brand purchase
Distinctive brandmarks
Nautica sailboat; Nike swoosh
Store visit
Ads; store window signs; store logos
“50 Percent Off Sale”; “Clearance Sale”; McDonald’s golden arches
Vicarious learning is also called modeling. Overt modeling involves consumers actually observing the model, such as seeing a salesperson demonstrating a Hoover vacuum cleaner in a store (live modeling) or seeing a commercial that depicts this behavior (symbolic modeling).
The vicarious learning process is shown in Exhibit 9.5. Many advertisements and TV commercials show models buying and using products and receiving positive consequences for doinbg so. Advil commercials have shown people suffering fromk arthritis pain but smiling and enjoying activities after they take the product. Toothpaste and deodorant commercials frequently show people being accepted and admired after using particular brands of these products.
Exhibit 9.5
The Vicarious Learning Process
Model performs behavior and experiences consequences

Observer sees modeled behavior and consequences

Observer performance of modeled behavior may increase or decrease, depending on modeled consequences
 Uses of Vicarious Learning in Marketing Strategy
There are three major uses vicarious learning or modeling in marketing strategy. First, modeling can be used to help observers acquire one or more new response patterns that did not previously exist in their behavioral reportoizes. Second, modeling can be used to decrease or inhibit undesired behaviors. Third, there is response facilitation, whereby the behavior of others “serves merely as discriminative stimuli for the observer in facilitating the occurance of previously learned responses.
Developing New Responses
Modeling can be used to develop new responses that were not previously in the consumer’s behavioral reprtoire. Consider, for example, the vidiocassette machines used in a variety of department and other stores to demonstrate use of a product. Sears has long used this method to demonstrate the appropriate and safe use of its chain saws. The appropriate uses of Berkeley fishing equipment and Olt duck calls are also demonstrated in this way. New behaviors are also frequently modeled in TV commercials. For example, insurance is traditionally purchased from an agent either at the agent’s office or in the consumer home, not in retail stores. A modeling strategy was used by Sears when it began in store sales of Allstate insurance. Basically, the TV commercial shows a family coming to the Sears store and dropping off its old insurance policy for comparisons with Allstate rates.
After a pleasant shopping trip, the family returns and is told thar Allstate can provide a better deal, thus modeling the positive consequences of the new behavior. Similarly, Arm & Hammer baking soda ads showed new uses of the product as a carpet and refrigerator freshener and portrayed the models being complimented on the freshness of their homes. WD-40 lubricant ads also model new uses of the product.
Inhibiting Undesired Responses
Modeling can also be used to decrease the probability of undesired behaviors. Because of the ethical and practical problems involved in using punishment to influence consumer behavior, we have given little attention to ways of reducing the frequency of undesired responses. Such problems are far less prevalent when aversive consequences are administered to models rather than to actual consumers, however. Thus, vicarious learning may be one of the few approaches that can be used to reduce the frequency of unwanted elements in the behavioral repertoire of a potential or present consumer.
It is well known from the modeling literature that, under aproppriate conditions, observers who see a model experience aversive outcomes following a particular act will reduce their tendencies to exhibit that behavior. Similarly, vicarious learning can employ extinction to reduce the frequency of behavior.
Consider the following examples. Hefty bags have been advertised on TV using a modeling approach. Various family members are shown taking out the trash in “bargain bags.” Of course, the bargain bag breaks and garbage is spewed all over the drive way. This is a very annoying experience! The frustrated family member is then told about Hefty bags, uses them successfully and is socially reinforced for doing so. Head and Shoulders shampoo commercoials have shown people initially being found attractive by members of the opposite sex but then being rejected when the models scratch their heads, indicating they may have dandruff. Following the use of the advertised product, the model is shown being happily greeted by an attractive member of the opposite sex.
A common use of this type of modeling is in public service advertising. Many behaviors considered socially undesirable can be modeled and shown to have aversive consequences.These behaviors include littering, smoking, driving drunk, using drugs, overeating, wasting energy and polluting. One commercial, for example, showed a drunken driver being caught, taken to court and given a considerable fine and jail sentence for his behavior.
Response Facilitation
In addition to developing new behaviors and inhibiting undesired ones, modeling can be used to facilitate the occurances of desired behaviors that are currently in the consumers reportaire. Modeling has been used extensively in advertising not only to illustrate the uses of a product but also to show what types of people use it and in what settings. Because many of these uses involve behaviors consumers already perform, the models function is merely to facilitate these responses by depicting positive consequences for using the product appropriately. For example, Nyquil ads show adult cold sufferers using the product before going to bed and then sleeping comfortably. This technique also appears frequently in advertising for high status products. Such ads do not demonstrates any new behaviors but show the positive consequences of using the product. A series of Lowenbrau ads stressing the use of this beer for very special occasions is a good example.
It is also possible to influence emotional behavior through a vicarious learning approach. Bandara noted that many emotional behaviors through a vicarious learning approach. Bandara noted that many emotional behaviors can be acquired through observations of others as well as through direct classical conditioning.
Vicarious emotional conditioning results from observing others experience positive or negative emotional effects in conjunction with particular stimulus events. Both direct and vicarious conditioning processes are governed by the same basic principles of associative learning, but they differ in the force of the emotional arousal. In the direct prototype, the learner himself is the recipient of pain or pleasure producing stimulation, whereas in vicarious forms somebody else experiences the reinforcing stimulation and his affective expressions, in turn serve as the arousal stimuli for the observer.
To the degree that positive emotions toward a product are desired, vicarious emotional conditioning may also be useful for the design of effective advertisements.
Factors Influencing Modeling Effectiveness
There is no question that watching a model perform a behavior often increases the likelihood that the observer will also perform the behavior. It is well established in the psychological literature that in many situations, modeling is effective in changing behavior as illustrated in Highlight 9.2. However, certain factors have been found to increase the likelihood that vicarious learning will occur. These factors can be divided into three groups: (1) model and modeled behavior characteristics (2) observer characteristics and (3) characteristics of modeled consequences.
Highlight 9.2
Do Professional Models Make Women Feel Bad about Their Appearance?
Many cues in our culture may communicate to women and young girls that being thin and fit is a prerequisito to being considered attractive in our society Professional models, such as Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schitter and Cindy Crawford and many TV and movie stars who appear in commercials and ads and grace the covers of magazines usually appear to be tall, thin and fit. In fact, many medeling agencies will not hire fashion models unless they are st least 5’7 tall. Pictures of the model’s bodies are often computer generated and computer enhanced to appear more thin and shapely. Even Barbie dolls may be a problem; if Barbie were life size, she would be 5’9 tall and have measurements of 56-18-33.
Critics argue that these images have bad effecys on many women and girls. Some suggest that eating disorders and self esteem problems have resulted; 90 percent of the 8 million Americans with severe eating disorders are women. One study of 803 women found that, in 1985, 30 percent of them were dissatisfied. Increasingly, women believe that there are two standards to serve: thinness and looking fit, according to the study’s author. Overall, 46 percent were dissatisfied with weight; 40 percent with muscle tone; 47 percent with hips, buttocks, thighs, legs; 51 percent with their waists and stomachs; 25 percent with their chests, shoulders and arms.
Do you think that models used in ads and commercials have negative effects on women’s body images? Do you think this causes problems like eating disorders and low self-esteem? Do you think it is apprpriate to use computer enhanced models to sell faahions, exercise clothing and equipment and cosmetic surgey?
Sources: Ingeborg Major O’Sickey, “Barbie Magazine and the Aesthetic Commodification of Girls Bodies’ “In On Fashion, eds.,SheriBenstock and Suzzanne Ferris (Rutgers University Press), pp.21-40; Nanci Hellmich, “Looking Thin and Fit Weighs on More Women,” USA Today, September 25, 1995, p. 1D; Craig Thompson and Diana L. Haytko, “Speaking of Fashion: Consumers’ Use of Fashion Discourses and the Appropriation of Countervailing Cultural Meanings,”Journal of Consumer Research, June 1997, pp. 15-42.
Model and Modeled Behavior Characteristics
Several personal characteristics of observed models influence the probability that an observer will imitate the modeled behavior. Models who are found to be attractive may be sought out, whereas less atractive models may be ignored. Models who are perceived to be credible and successful exert greater influence than those who are not. In addition, high status and competent models are more influential in determining modeling success.
Observers are also influenced by the manner in which the modeled behavior is performed. If the sequence of the modeled behavior is detailed very carefully and vividly, modeling effects tend to increase. Therate of learning also depends on the salience and complexity of the modeled behaviors. Interstingly, models who display a bit of apprehension and difficulty and yet complete the task are more effective than models displaying no struggle or difficulty. A reason for this was suggested by Manz and Sims: It appears that an observer can identify more with a model who struggles and overcomes the difficulties of a threatening task than a model who apparently has no problem. A model who is seen as possessing substantially greater abilities may not be considered a reasonable refrence point for the observer. However, experts who display little difficulty in completing a task (e.g.,professional athletes) may serve as ideals to be emulated in nonthreatening situations.
Another factor that influences the effectiveness of models is the perceived similarity of the model to the observer. This finding supports the common practices of using models similar to people in the target market in commercials and attempting to increase similarities between customers and salespeople when hiring and assigning sales personnel. Many advertisers take advantage of these characteristics in developing commercials. These characteristics may also influence whether modeling aids in the diffusion of new products, an issue discussed in Highlight 9.3.
Highlight 9.3
Diffusion or Innovations: A Modeling Process?
Modeling play a prime role in spreading new ideas, products, and social practices within a society or from one society to another. Successful diffusion of innovations follows a common pattern: (1) New products and behaviors are introduced by prominent examples; (2) the product/behavior is adopted at a rapidly accelerating rate; and (3) adoption then either stabilizes or declines, depending on the product/behavior’s functional role. The general pattern of diffusion is similar, but the mode of transmission, the speed and extent of adoption, and the life span of innovations vary for different products and forms of behavior.
Modeling affects adoption of innovations in several different ways. It instructs people in new styles of behavior through social, pictorial or verbal displays. Some observers are initially reluctant to buy new products or embark on new undertakings that involve risks until they see the davantages gained by earlier adopters. Modeled benefits accelerate diffusion by weakening the restraints of more cautious, later adopters. As acceptance spreads, the new gains further social support. Models not only exemplify and legitimize innovations, they also serve as advocates for products by encouraging others to adopt them.
Source: “Adapted from Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1977) pp.50-51.
Characteristics of Observers
Any number of individual difference variables in observers could be expected to mediate successful modelling. For example, individual differences in cognitive processing as well as in physical ability to perform a modeled behavior may affect the process. Bandara suggests that in many cases obsevers who are dependent, lack confidence and self esteem, and have been frequently rewarded for imitative behavior are especially prone to adopt the behavior of successful models. However, perceptive and confident people readily emulate idealized models who demonstrate highly useful behaviors.
Perhaps most important is the value the observer places on the consequence3s of the modeled behavior. For example, if consumers value the social approval obtained by a model in the Greecian Formula (hair coloring) commercial, they are more likely to purchse and use the product.
Characteristics of Modeled Consequences
Just as operant conditioning places importance on the consequences of behavior, so does vicarious learning. Of course, in vicarious learning, the observer does not experience the consequences directly. Thus, a major advantage of vicarious learning for consumers is that they can learn effective purchase and use behavior while avoiding negative consequences.

Research has demonstrated that positively reinforcing a model’s behavior is a key factor in facilitating vicarious learning. In terms of consumer behavior, much fruitful research could be done on identifying appropriate reinforces for various types of products. Currently, however little is known about what types of positive consequences would be most effective to model. Similarly, for modeling applications that seek to decrease undesired behaviors, the most effective types of negative consequences to model in commercialos are unknown. Although it has been demonstrated that modeling is useful in deterring smoking, reducing drinking, reducing uncooperative behavior of children, and reducing energy consumption, many other areas of consumer behavior are unexplored.
Marketing Implications
Vicarious learning or modeling has many implications for marketing strategies designed to influence consumer behavior. First, modeling can be helpful in developing information contact behaviors. For example, TV commercials could show consumers how to contact a company’s Web page to get more information about products. The commercials could also show consumers how to order products from the Internet or by phone. Second, modeling can be used to increase store contact and product contact behaviors by demonstrating how consumers can get to a store or mall or find products. Commercials could also show consumers enjoying the shopping experience at the store and enjoying looking over products. Third, modeling can be used to influence funds access and transactions, such as the commercials for Master Debit Cards that showed a consumer using one to complete a transaction in time to make a flight, while another consumer who was writing a check missed the flight. Fourth, modeling can be used to influence consumption by demonstrating how a product can be used safely and effectively. Infomercials for fishing tackle like the Banjo Minnow show how to rig it and how it catches many species of fish. Multitaak woodworking equipment infomercials show how to set the machine up for different jobs and the excellent results that it obtains. Modeling can also be used to affect disposition by showing consumers safe ways of disposing of hazardeoous products, like motor oil or paint. Finally, modeling is used to affect communication by showing ads in which consumers tell others about how good a product is and encouraging them to buy it.
In sum, advertisements and commercials commonly use modeling to influence consumer behavior. By carefully analyzing the salient characteristics of the models and modeled behaviors, the target consumers, and the consequences depicted in ads, marketers can increase advertising effectiveness. Exhibit 9.6 summarizes some uses of modeling to influence consumer behavior.
Exhibit 9.6
Some Application of Modeling to Influence
Modeling Employed
Desired Response
Instructur, export, salesperson using product (in ads or at point of purchase)
Use product in correct, technically competent way
Models in ads asking questions at point of purchase
Ask questions at point of purchase that highlight product advantage
Models in ads receiving positive reinforcement for product or use
Try product; increases product purchase and use
Models in ads receiving no reinforcement or receiving punishment for performing undesired behaviors
Extinction or decrease of undesired behaviors
Models in ads (similar to target) using product in novel, enjoyable way
Use product in new ways

Lottery Games
As discussed in this chapter, operant conditioning offers a number of insights into the success of state lottery games. First, the fact that more consumers buy lottery tickets when the jackpot is large is consistent with the idea that the greater the reinforcement, the higher the probability of behavior. Second, although lotteries started out as biannual events, lottery officials soon recognized that more frequent games and instant-winning scratch cards could increase overall lottery revenue. This is consistent with the idea that sooner the reinforcement after the behavior, the more likely the behavior is to occur and be repeated.
Third, the prizes in the state lottery games are given on a variable ratio schedule, a powerful one for influencing and maintaining behavior. Even though the odds of wining are very small, some players continue to buy tickets for every game. Critics of lotteries state that poorer people buy the most tickets, spend a larger fraction of their incomes on the games than do others and may spend money needed for food for their children on them.

Fourth, the fact that lottery purchase behavior decreases after the first year of a lottery is consistent with the concept of extinction. That is, the behavior of consumers who repeatedly buy lottery tickets and consistently fail to win anything decreases and may terminate in the absence of any reinforcement. Thus lottery games that offer a number of prizes can reinforce more players. Even occasional, relatively small amounts of cash won can keep consumers playing over a number of years or a lifetime. Some critics argue that lottery games encourage consumers to become compulsive gamblers.
In sum, operant conditioning can account for the success of state lotteries. However, cognitive, affective and environmental theories also do so, and they add insight into the processes involved. For example, cognitive approaches might explain why consumers quit playing instant cash games after a few weeks. Perhaps consumers purchased some tickets and didn’t win and extinctor, occurred. However, after a few weeks, consumers may have seen or heard of some winners and may believe most of the big prizes have already been won. Thus they think their chances of wining are not as good as when the game first started, so they quit buying. Overall, the combinatian of cognitive, affective, behavior and environmental theories offers the best account of the success of state lotteries and consumer behavior in general.
Summary
This chapter provided an overview of conditioning and vicarious learning. Both classical and operant conditioning were discussed. Classical conditioning is a proses by which a neutral stimulus becomes capable of eliciting a response when it is repeatedly paired with a stimulus that naturally causes the response. Marketers use classical conditioning to create favorable affect for products and stores and increase the chances that consumers will perform desired behaviors. Operant conditioning deals with influencing behavior with both antecedents and consequences. The antecedents to behavior that influence it are called discriminative stimuli. The consequences of behaviors are arranged to either increase or decrease the behaviors in the future. The chapter also discussesd vicarious learning or modeling which is a process by which behavior is changed by watching others perform it and the consequences of it. Conditioning and modeling processes are commonly used in developing marketing strategies to influence consumer behavior.
Key Terms and Concepts
Classical conditioning 202                              Positive Reinforcement 207
Continous reinforcement schedule 209          Punishment 208
Discriminative stimuli 211                              Reinforcement schedules 209
Extinction 208                                                            Response hierarchy 207
Fixed ratio schedule 209                                 Shaping 210
Negative Reinforcement 208                          Variable ratio schedule 209
Operant Conditioning 206                              Vicarious learning 212
Review and Discussion Questions
   1.      Describe classical conditioning and identify three responses in your own behaviors that are the result of classical conditioning.
   2.      Under what conditions would the use of classical conditioning be likely to produce positive results as part of marketing strategy?
    3.      What are the major differences between classical and operant conditioning?
   4.      Describe operant conditioning and identify three responses in your own behaviors that are the result of operant conditioning.
  5.      Review each of the four types of manipulations of consequences that can be used to change the probabilities of a behavior under operant conditioning. Give marketinf examples for each.
   6.      Why are variable ratio reinforcement schedules of greater interest to marketing managers than other types of reinforcement schedules?
   7.      Define shaping and explain why it is an essential part of many marketing conditioning strategies.
  8.      Examine the marketing strategies used to sell fast food hamburgers and automobiles. Identify specific examples of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, shaping and discriminative stimuli for each product type.
   9.      Describe the steps necessary for behavior change in the modeling process.
  10.  What are three major uses of modeling in marketing strategy?
  11.  Why might a maketing organization use symbolic rather than live overt modeling? Give examples to illustrate your points.
   Marketing Strategy in Action
   Rollerblade Inc.
   Minneapolis based Rollerblades Inc. introduced its first in line roller skate in 1990, its founder, Scott Olson, was a hockey player with the Winnipeg Jets farm teams who envisioned player with the Winnipeg Jets farm teams who envisioned a roller skate with the action of an ice skate that hockey players and skiers could use to train during the off season. At first, the plan was to use modern materials to conbstruct a model based on an eighteenth century design. However, Olson discovered a similar in line skate already on the market and purchased  the patent from the Chicago Roller Skate Company. Olson and his brother, Brennan, perfected the design using a plastic molded ski type boot a top a blade of polyuretnane wheels. Their first sales were to Olson’s teammates as well as a few to sporting goods stores. Thus began the sport of blading.

   Although they generally cost twice as much as conventional roller skates, in line skates are purchased for two reasons. First, they are faster and therefore more exciting to use than conventional skates. Second, they provide skaters with a better aerobic workout, requiring the use ofr more muscles. However, it is more difficut to learn how to use in li8ne skaters because they require more balance and their faster speeds may cause more severe injuries if a skatter falls.
    By 1986, wholesale sales of in line skates had risen to $3.5 million. Recognizing an opportunity to get in on a grwing market, a number of companies began producing competitive products. First Team Sports Inc., also based in Minneapolis, started manufacturing its Ultra-Wheels brand skates, which included the first in line skates for children. The Roller Derby Skate Corporation in Litchfield, lllionis, a manufacturer of standard roller skates since 1936, produced an in line skate with a toe stopper for those accustomed to conventional  skales (Rollerblades had a rubber stopper located on the heel). The ice skatemanufacturer Bauer entered the market with a skate that had a leather boot rather than plastic.  
  Rollerblade Inc’s sales increased when it expanded its target market. At first, the product was targeted to hockey players who were 95 percent male and were 18 to 25 years old. However by broadening the target include 18 to 35 year old males and females, the company increased sales considerably. 
  By 1990 industry wholesale sales of in line roller skate business. Rollerblade Inc. maintained a 66 percent market share; First Team Sports had 22 percent; Bauer had 5 percent; Roller Derby had 3 percent; and other competitors combined had the remaining 4 percent. Pollerblade could have done even better, but it could not fill store orders for several months because it ran out of inventory early in the year. By 1995, there were 2.5 million in line skaters, although growth in numbers of skaters was slowing down.
 The fierce competition in the industry involved not only product features but also marketing elements. Companies rushed to sign celebrities to promote their products. For example, First Team Sports signed  Wayne Gretzky, the Los Angeles King hockey star, and his wife, Janet Jones Gretzky, to a contact to promote its skates. Competitors also moved into new retail markets including discount and department stores. Rollerblade expanded its market by selling to Macy’s and Nordstorm.
  Although the name Rollerblades may become a generic term for this type of skate, the management of the company will have to work hard to maintain its market lead. “We have been pioneers and continue to maintain an edge, “a company spokesperson said. “You only get one shot at pioneering a new sport and trhat’s exciting.”
  Discussion Questions
   1.      What role do you think modeling could have played in the diffusion of this innovations? (See Highlight 9.3)
   2.      How could you use modeling to teach a friend how to use Rollerblades?
   3.      What factors make Wayne and Janet Jones Gretzky good models for Rollerblade’s competitors?
  4.      If you were designing a commercial for Rollerblades to be used for an in store vidiotape demonstration, how would you design the commercial to take advantage of your knowledge of modeling?
   Source: Based on “Innovator Tries to Protect Its Lead,” The New York Times, August 7, 1990, pp. C1, C6; Louis Therrian, “Rollerblade is Skating in Heavier Traffic, “Business Week June 24, 1991, pp. 115-116; and Linda Kanamine, “In-Line Skating Revolutionizes Fitness Craze,” USA Today. July 15, 1994, pp.1C-2C; http://www.rollerblades.com



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