Article Preview
Top1. Introduction
Consumers today can order goods within the comforts of their dwelling, from markets, across the seven seas. To stand out in the competitive world, a marketer today, must understand why and how consumers make their decisions (Shiffman and Knauk, 2006). They also must comprehend what motivates their consumers to buy, what attracts their attention, how do they learn and memorize various products (Shimp, 1991; Wani and Malik, 2013). Further does, their personality, culture, and attitude influence their buying decisions? Such a profound understanding of customers requires a thorough study of Consumer Behaviour. (Batkoska andKoseska, 2012; Alhamdi, 2019).
Within the arena of Consumer Behavior, learning is one branch that is of great connotation and interest to marketers (Marilyn. 2018). Consumer learning is defined as the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience that they apply to future consumption-related behavior. (Shiffman et al., 2013). Its understanding enables marketers to ensure that their products are chosen over their competitors (Schutzwohl, 1998).
Psychologists have advocated several basic theories to explain the process of consumer learning. (Asikainen and Martinez, 2010). One of the most popular of these theories is Classical Conditioning. The theory views both animals and humans as relatively passive entities that can be taught certain behaviors through repetition or conditioning (Schiffman et al., 2013). The theory of Classical Conditioning’, an heritage of Ivan Pavlov, occurs when a stimulus that naturally elicits a response, Unconditioned Stimulus (US), is paired with another stimulus that initially does not elicit any response, Conditioned Stimulus (CS), on its own (Solomon et al., 2006). Over time, the second stimulus produces an identical response because of its repeated association with the first stimulus (Hunt, 1989).
As stated above, in Conditioning Theory there is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and a conditioned stimulus (CS). The CS is usually the product or brand that marketers teach consumers to recognize and prefer over others (Klein, 1991). The UCS is the positive stimulus; usually, something that makes consumers feel good, and can be presented along with the CS. (Asikainen and Martinez 2010).
The above-mentioned theoretical arguments strongly suggest that classical conditioning is used by marketers to teach consumers about their products.
Studies show that customer satisfaction has a direct impact on purchase intention, the higher the satisfaction more is the probability to repurchase (Bode, G. 2008). Further research also found that customer satisfaction and customer attitude are also positively co-related (Szymanski and Henard, 2001). Oliver's (1980) study on Customer Satisfaction antecedents and hypothesized consequences of satisfaction; found attitude to be an outcome of satisfaction. As research proves a direct and positive relation between purchase, satisfaction & attitude it would be valuable for marketers to understand: