Consumer learning is "the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge that they apply to future related behavior." Since it's shaped over time, then we (marketers) have the chance to influence it by introducing new knowledge that is loosely related to existing knowledge. To go a step further, the way you explain a new product needs to match the way that consumers think about an old product.
In order for you to influence consumer learning, you've got to understand the concept of chunks. These are the amounts of information that someone can process at a single time. And chunks differ between categories.
In general, advertising research shows that consumers are more likely to remember product benefits than product features. In terms of creative executioons, seeing the enjoyment that someone gets from a product is more stimulating and memorable than seeing a list of features. Case in point, think of the classic tri-tone iPod commercials featuring people dancing to their favorite tunes. It's not memorable because consumers were told about how many songs could be stored on the device, but because the imagery triggered a mental cue in our memory under "fun".
Even the medium a message is delivered will determine what's retained. For example, research shows that consumers undergo low-involvement information processing while watching TV, but high-involvement information processing while reading. As a result, creative needs to stimulate accordingly. As indicated in other post, low or high involvement will determine the delivery style - emotional versus rational.
So how does all this tie to integrated marketing and communications?
Essentially, integrated does not mean the same. Integrated means complimentary across channels. So, to have a successful integrated campaign first determine what needs to be communicated (i.e. benefits), then determine how much people can retain based on the channel (i.e. size of the chunks), and lastly determine how to communicate the over-arching message in each channel (i.e. through low-involvement or high-involvement).
- Kai D. Wright
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