Topic 5. Learning Theories
Chapter Reflections
- As an example of Classical Conditioning, explore the repeated pairing of Royale toilet paper and its imagery of fluffy white kittens. Describe how this learning theory is being used and how it may impact a consumer.
- Pick a well-known or popular consumer product that has a copy-cat brand (e.g. cereal, soft drinks, shampoo, pasta) available next or near it at a store. Take a photo of the products and discuss how stimulus generalization supports the strategy behind copy-cat branding.
- Many well-established health and beauty product lines have grown through product-line extensions. Find an example of product-line extension and describe how this relates to behavioural learning.
- Which brands use celebrity endorsement as a means to “model” behaviour for a youth target audience? Share and discuss your example using the concepts from the section on cognitive learning.
- Using Google and/or YouTube, identify as many celebrities as possible who have acted as endorsers for skincare product company ProActive. Who is this company targeting? What learning theory underpins the use of celebrity endorsers? Is this effective in your opinion—why or why not?
- There are many examples of how marketers use modelling as a way to both position and teach an audience about a brand. For example, skin care company Proactive has used many well-known celebrities as spokespeople to represent their skin care line. Discuss why modelling is an effective learning strategy in marketing using examples such as this commercial where Justin Bieber endorses Proactive.
- Provide examples of brands who have used “nostalgia” as a means to reach an audience and provide a longing for the past. Why is nostalgia used and is it an effective marketing tool? For inspiration, watch this video from Microsoft and discuss why it may make you feel nostalgic.
- Watch Dan Ariely’s Ted Talk, “Are we in control of our own decisions?” and discuss the different ways confirmation biases influence our decision making as consumers.
- Read Peter Yang’s article, “How to Use Cognitive Biases For More Effective Marketing” and discuss the pro’s, con’s, and ethics of using confirmation biases as a marketing strategy to influence consumer decision making.
