Memory and heuristics

This lecture was about heuristics, memory and nostalgia. Our aim is to see how these impact on why a consumer would buy into a brand or product, and I will also look at how marketers use memory and nostalgia to sell and advertise products.

Nostalgia

The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past, often in idealized form. The word is made up of two roots , to refer to "the pain a sick person feels because he wishes to return to his native home, and fears never to see it again". It was described as a medical condition, a form of melancholy, in the Early Modern period, and came to be an important topic in Romanticism.This can be seen in a methodological manner. (wikipedia)


Kotler's Buyer decision process.
Buyer decision process



What are Heuristics?

Heuristics, a term derived from the ancient Greek word heurisken meaning “to find a way”, and from which we get Archimedes ‘eureka’, is generally associated with cognitive psychology and human computer interaction (HCI)
The general principle of Heuristics is a tool for comparison

How marketers use Heuristics

The aim of experiential marketing heuristics is to gain perceptual interaction with the consumer and it does this by using…

Sense
Visual and verbal information should be integrated using appropriate design methods

Feel
Sensory elements should project the brand identity in a way that allows a user to feel like part of the brand, by accentuating positive self image (through the brand)



Think
The experience should provide surprise, delight and provocation that stays with the user in their daily lives

Act
Ample opportunity for self-actualization (see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) participation with the brand should be provide in the expierience



The brand and experience should promote a community of participation and loose conversation amongst other site visitors



Ruth Hickmott (2008) also showed us how the level of involvement varies when purchasing different products.

Williams (2001) developed 4 key aspects which cause the customer to purchase into a specific brand or product, this applied when acting and using the 'fast and frugal' concept which he developed. The 4 aspects consisted of…
Recognition - you are more likely to buy into the brand you already know. This is known as branding
Minimalist - this is recognition plus one random criteria such as a good television advert. This is advertising
Take the same - use the product that was last used in that situation. This is known as a habit you get it no matter what you don’t even think about the purchase.
Take the best - choosing the most perceived product for example Adidas trainers over Umbro. this is known as branding but could also be seen as a unique selling point

"our ultimate aim is to team them brand loyalty." Rice (1997).Rice describes that they market a product by showing the end consumer that they need the product, because they then feel the need to buy into the product it helps then create brand loyalty and they then build up a relationship with that product.

The two main approaches in advertising are….

The cognitive approach
This is when the consumers see a person use the product and if it works they will be inclined to use that product as they know it works because they have seen it already.
The behaviourist approach
This means that the stimuli creates an automatic response, by this I mean you might hear a sound and it may make you think of a specific advert I.e. Phil Collins may make you think of the drumming gorilla advert for Cadbury’s.

We also looked at how it is easier for consumers to remember items through association. To understand this we will look at the way our memory processes information.

The way in which the memory process works is as followed….

external inputs
Stimuli from the adverts
Encoding
This is where the stimuli is stored
Storage
Where we store the information
Retrieval
Is where the information is recalled when influenced by the stimuli.