Consumer Learning and Attitude Formation, Marketing Essay Sample

We are often taught on not judging a book by its cover, but in business and sales beauty of a product creates a first good impression to the consumer and sometimes that is what it takes for them to want the product. (Underwood, Robert, pg.62-76). Initially, packaging was meant to protect, contain and help in the transportation of goods but lately, producers have started to grasp the power of visual appeal as well.

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Product packaging can use stimulus generalization or stimulus discrimination. Stimulus generalization happens when a particular brand uses same or similar packaging design for most or all of their products. They do this so that they can extend their brand goodwill to all their products. Where a competing brand uses similar packaging design which is already established a brand for their products, is done in the hope that it will attract or deceive its consumers. One of the products that use this strategy is; the Dove Jelly. The product has successfully transferred its first positive attitudes to people from their famous bar soap to a range of products using the Dove icon and logo on their packaging.

Another way of packaging can be though stimulus discrimination. This is when a brand uses a similar packaging design so that its ability to completely differentiate itself totally from its competing brands. This product packaging strategy is done to make a product stand out. Coca-cola uses this strategy.

Coke has been able to keep a unique image which has helped it to achieve stimulus discrimination. Coca-Cola is a clear market leader, and they have a trademark in the iconic bottle shape, the red labeling and the use of Coca-Cola writings creates a unique image to the consumer. Thus, helping the brand differentiate itself to that of its competitors.

Coca-Cola is also trying to utilize the concept of repetition on its products without necessarily increasing their advertising costs. Brand repetitiveness increases consumer familiarity with the various products a brand provides. Repetitive advertising can change our image of a brand, the impeccable small changes in time add up to significant effects on consumer decisions. Individual increments may be too small to notice, but with the repetition concept, it may be possible to note them. In most scenarios, consumers would not care which one of the products from the same brand is to be bought since they can easily substitute the products to that which is available.

The concept of repetition promotes consistency which helps consumers not to be worn out of their adverts. If one does not like the look of one product, there is a chance that they will like the other. This ensures that consumers are not bored of seeing one image every other time on adverts. (Grossman, Randi, and Wisenblit, pg. 78-88). The process of repetitiveness work effectively for already established products, and Coke products are already established, this will make it easy for them to reach out to the market and develop much interest to the users of their products. The concept of repetition keeps the brand at the forefront of the minds of the consumer. The process builds customer brand familiarity and increases their attention to that given product. With repetitive advertising consumers will be able to remember the advertised product with ease and as such increasing the sales of the product.

There are two major print media adverts, and these are the use of magazines and newspapers. When advertising it is important to consider print media since content, information and adverts can reach out to a large audience. Print ads can illustrate the affective component of a consumer or the cognitive component of consumer attitude. A cognitive component often consists of the perceptions and knowledge that a person acquires from direct experience of a product and related information about the product from other sources. (Shimp, Terence, pg. 9-48) The use of persuasive narrative advertising on magazines and use of print narrative advertising are likely to evoke transportation when fact-based content is preceded by narrative one. Reading the editorial narrative content consumes one's cognitive resources which reduces one's cognitive capacity to take action on subsequent narrative advertisements.

The use of this cognitive approach to print media drives consumers to purchase their products. It tunes the psychology of the market to want the product more as it provides them with better insight into how good their products are and the varieties they have.

Whereas, Affective component entails a person's emotions and feelings about a given product or brand. The emotions and feelings are derived from an emotional state a person undergoes at the time of purchase. The positivity or negativity of the outcomes depends on the emotional state of that person at the time of purchasing.

The marketer uses this approach to attract consumers at the time of purchasing this product. Consumers will tend to believe that this product is of better quality and this will male them to have a desire for the product. (Shimp, Terence, pg. 9-48). The approach will be effective where there are many competing brands, and such an advert will give them an outstanding advantage and outlook than that of its competitors.

Works Cited.

Priluck Grossman, Randi, and Joseph Z. Wisenblit. "What we know about consumers' color choices." Journal of marketing practice: Applied marketing science 5.3 (1999): 78-88.

Shimp, Terence A. "Attitude toward the ad as a mediator of consumer brand choice." Journal of advertising 10.2 (1981): 9-48.

Underwood, Robert L. "The communicative power of product packaging: creating brand identity via lived and mediated experience." Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 11.1 (2003): 62-76.