Page 186 - Foundations of Marketing

Consumer Buying Behavior | Chapter 6 153

It occurs when a person receives information inconsistent
with personal feelings or beliefs and he or she interprets the
information, changing its meaning to align more closely
with expectations. Selective distortion explains why people
will reject logical information, even when presented with
supporting evidence. Selective distortion can both help and
hurt marketers. For example, a consumer may become loyal
to a brand and remain loyal, even when confronted with
evidence that another brand is superior. However, selective
distortion can also lessen the impact of the message on the
individual substantially. In selective retention , a person
remembers information inputs that support personal feel-
ings and beliefs and forgets inputs that do not. After hear-
ing a sales presentation and leaving a store, for example, Source: M.C. Escher’s “Sky and Water I.” © 2012 The M.C. Escher Company-Holland. All rights reserved. www.mcescher.com .
a customer may quickly forget many selling points if they
contradict personal beliefs or preconceived notions about
a product.
The second step in the process of perception is percep-
tual organization. Information inputs that reach awareness
are not received in an organized form. To produce meaning,
an individual must organize and integrate new information
with what is already stored in memory. People use sev-
eral methods to achieve this. One method, called closure,
occurs when a person fills in missing information in a way
that conforms to a pattern or statement. In an attempt to
draw attention to its brand, an advertiser may capitalize on
closure by using incomplete images, sounds, or statements Fish or Fowl?
in its advertisements. Do you see fish or birds?
Interpretation, the third step in the perceptual process, selective retention
involves assigning meaning to what has been organized. A person interprets information Remembering information
according to what he or she expects or what is familiar. For this reason, a manufacturer who inputs that support personal
feelings and beliefs and forget-
ting inputs that do not

Marketing Debate

Digital Stalking: Your Choice?

ISSUE: Should consumers have to take the initia- Legal or regulatory action may result in a “Do Not
tive to opt out of online tracking, or should they be Track” list similar to the “Do Not Call” list that currently
excluded unless they opt in? prevents consumers from receiving unwanted telemar-
keting calls.
Since the dawn of the Internet age, marketers have stud- Marketers point out that tracking adds convenience,
ied online behavior to better understand what consumers allowing them to personalize pages and offers according
do and why. The goal is to deliver relevant online market- to consumers’ preferences. Still, the online advertis-
ing messages when and where a consumer is likely to be ing industry has set up a program to more prominently
interested. disclose tracking and make it easier to opt out. In addi-
Privacy advocates worry that consumers don’t
know how much data marketers actually collect online. tion, most Internet browsers can be configured to detect
tracking and let consumers opt out. Finally, by offering
Few people dig deeply into privacy policies or learn special privileges or other incentives, marketers have
about the tracking techniques being used to follow found many consumers very willing to provide personal
their activities online. That’s why critics say consumers b
should be tracked only if they consent by opting in. data and allow tracking.

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