Attention and Comprehension

Chapter 5

Interpretation involves interactions

The activated knowledge influences which information to attend to and how to understand it

People can only comprehend small amounts of info at a time.

Much attention and comprehension occurs with little or no conscious awareness

Aspects of the Cognitive System that Influence Interpretation

Involved in Interpretation

Exposure to informationCritical for consumers interpretation

processes �Two types of exposure to marketing

information1.  Intentional 2. AccidentalGoal-directed search behavior by consumers�Levels of intentional exposure to marketing �

information are rather low

Selective Exposure to InformationIncreased amount

of marketing informationin the environment

• Consumers become more adept at avoiding exposure

• Selective exposure

Exposure to information- Marketing ImplicationsStrategies to enhance consumers

exposureto information and products:

•  Facilitate intentional exposure•  Maximize accidental exposure•  Create appropriate level of exposure•  Maintain exposure

Attention Processes

Attention ProcessAttention implies selectivity. Attention connotes awareness and �

consciousness. �Consumers need to be:

• Conscious•  Alert • Aroused

Attention

Implies selectivity

Connotes awareness and consciousness

Suggests intensity and arousal

Variations in Attention

Preconscious Attention

Focal Attention

Levels of AttentionPreconscious

AttentionFocal Attention

• Uses active knowledge from long term memory• No conscious awareness• Automatic process• Uses little or no cognitive capacity• More likely for familiar, frequently encountered concepts, with well-learned memory representations• More likely for concepts of low to moderate importance or involvement

• Uses active knowledge from long term memory• Conscious awareness• Controlled process• Uses some cognitive capacity• More likely for novel, infrequently encountered concepts, with well-learned memory representations• More likely for concepts of high importance or involvement

Affective States

Involvement

Environmental Prominence

Factors Influencing Attention

• Low arousal reduces amount and intensity of arousal

• High arousal narrows consumers’ focus of attention; makes it selective

• Other affective states, such as moods, (are diffuse and general, and are not related to any stimulus); also influence attention

Affective States

Factors Influencing Attention

Affective States

Affective States

• Determined by the means-end chains activated from memory, related affective responses, and arousal level

• A motivational state that guides the selection of stimuli for focal attention and comprehension

Involvement

Factors Influencing Attention

Involvement

Involvement

• Stimuli associated with marketing strategies can influence consumers’ attention

• Most prominent marketing stimuli are most likely to attract attention

Environmental prominence

Factors Influencing Attention

Environmental prominence

Factors Influencing Comprehension

Knowledge in Memory1.

Involvement2.

Exposure Enivronment3.

Knowledge in Memory• Consumers ability

to comprehend marketing information is largely determined by their existing knowledge in memory.

Consumers are quite familiar with a product category, product form, and product brands.

Consumers have little prior experience with the product or brand.

InvolvementConsumers involvement at the time of

exposure has a major influence on their motivation to comprehend marketing information.

Exposure EnvironmentAffect consumers' opportunity to

comprehend matketing information. These include factors such as time pressure, consumers's affective states and distractions.

Marketing Implications• Marketers need to understand consumers

comprehension processes to design effective marketing strategies

Exposure Environment

Miscomprehension of Marketing Information

Remembering

Knowledge and Involvement

• Marketers should design their messages to fit consumers' ability and motivation to comprehend in order to encourage appropriate comprehension processing.

Knowledge and Involvement

• Consumers’ ability to recall meanings from memory is important to marketers because consumers often do not make purchase decisions at the time of exposure, attention, and comprehension

Remembering

• The type of miscomprehension can vary from confusion over similar brand names to misinterpreting a product claim by forming an inaccurate means–end chain.

Miscomprehension of Marketing Information

• Many aspects of the environment in which exposure to marketing information occurs can influence consumers’ comprehension processes.

Exposure Environment