Is the tendency to interpret information in a way that will fit our preconceptions?

I believe most of you are aware what customer perception is and how to find information about it on internet. So, I'm not going to discover a new planet here, just want to add my 2 cents.

"There is no truth. There is only perception." - Gustave Flaubert

Some researchers in the area of psychology claim that we never perceive the full reality. We perceive 3 dimensions & time and this fact underlines that our perception is very limited. 

Customer Perception

What is customer perception? Theoretic definition of customer perception is a bit complicated even I'd say exhausting to understand. So, I go with this one: customer perception is a notion which explains how customers view a certain product based on their own expectations, considerations, knowledge, experience and etc.

It becomes less important what we say than what consumers really understand and picture. Customer perception may vary based on the customers and a lot of factors can affect their conclusions. Customer perception is typically affected by internet, advertising, reviews, public endorsements, social media, personal experiences and many other sources. 

There are 3 major stages of perception: selective attention, selective distortion and selective retention.

Now, let’s have a quick look at 3 major perceptual processes:

1.Selective attention

Selective attention is the act of focusing on a particular object for a period of time while simultaneously ignoring or missing other parts which are irrelevant. Just imagine you’re walking through the street. Crowd of people are passing by and a lot of happenings occur around you…flashing light boxes, billboards, a car horn, a noise, music coming from somewhere and etc. Logically it’s impossible to pay attention to every single stimulus in our environment. Thanks to the selective attention we only select important and relevant elements of our environment and it doesn't depend on us. It works automatically.

It’s more than important to know which stimuli customers tend to notice. Here are some of them:

• Stimuli which have a relation with their current needs.
• Stimuli that they anticipate.
• Elements which make them feel good.

2.Selective distortion

Consumers have certain types of “filters” on their minds and all information which they come across, every message which marketers want to transmit or every stimuli captured by their selective attention go directly through those filters. In other words selective distortion is the tendency to interpret information in a way that will fit our preconceptions.

Generally consumers distort messages on account of halo effects, stereotypes, personal attitudes, previous experiences and beliefs about product. An interesting one is halo effect which occurs when a person using a particular brand in one product category, assumes that the same qualities can be attributed to a different product category by the same brand.

There are a lot of researches to show how consumers’ opinion about a taste of any branded product differs from exactly the same product without a brand label. 

3.Selective retention

Let me say our selective attention function has captured certain stimuli which are relevant out of thousands and our selective distortion function has interpreted them according to our beliefs, experience and many other factors. Now it’s time to register them. But unfortunately our memory doesn’t have such a capacity to retain all the coming information. Thanks to selective retention we’ll subconsciously retain only those inputs which support our attitudes, belief, values and current needs. Researches show that we are likely to remember good points about a product.

Selective retention works to the advantage of strong brands. It also explains why marketers need to use repetition in sending messages to their target market. Because they want to make sure that their message is not overlooked!

Thank you for reading.

Cultural, social personal, psychological

Consumer purchases are strongly influenced by _________, ___________, ____________, and _____________ characteristics. For the most part, they cannot be controlled by the marketer, but hey must be taken into accoutn.

________ is the most basic determinant of a person's wants and behavior. It comprises the basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors that a person learns continuously in a society.

Each culture contains smaller subcultures, or groups of people with _________ value systems based on common life experiences and situations.

Hispanics are very _______ loyal, and they favor companies who show special interest in them.

Although more _______ conscious than other segments, blacks are also strongly motivated by quality and selection.

As a group, Asian consumers shop frequently and are the _______ brand conscious of all the ethnic groups. They can be fiercely brand loyal.

Values, attitudes, behaviors

Although consumers in different countries may have some things in common, their ________, __________, and ___________ often vary dramatically.

Marketers must decide on the degree to which they will adapt their products and marketing programs to meet the unique needs of consumers in various markets. They want to ___________ their offerings in order to simplify operations and take advantage of cost economies. 

Marketers are interested in social class because people within a given class tend to exhibit _________ behavior, including buying behavior.

Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called ____________ groups.

The importance of group influence varies across products and brands. It tends to be __________ when the product is visible to others whom the buyer respects.

The ________ remains the most important consumer buying organization in American society and has been researched extensively.

Each role carries a status reflecting the general esteem given to it by society. People often choose products that show their ________ in society.

Instead of throwing more one-way commercial messages at ad-weary consumers, they hope to use social networks to ________ with consumers and become a part of their conversations and lives.

The types of goods and services people buy change during their lifetimes. Preferences for leisure activities, travel destinations, food, and entertainment are often ________ related.

A person's _________ affects the goods and services bought. For example, construction workers often buy their lunches from industrial catering trucks that come out to the job site.

Companies must take advantage of opportunities caused by economic __________ and take defensive steps when facing an economic __________.

Lifestyle portrays the "whole person" interacting with his or her ___________. Marketers search for relationships between their products and people who are achievement oriented.

Personality can be useful in analyzing consumer _______ for some product or brand choices.

The role of self-concept has a ________ bearing on the selection of recreational pursuits, including golf, sailing, dirt bike riding, fishing, and hunting.

Biological, psychological

A person has many needs at any given time. Some are __________, arising from hunger, thirst, and discomfort. Others are _____________, arising from states of tension, such as the need for recognition, esteem, or belonging. 

Physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualization

Maslow's hierarchy of needs in order of importance are: a. ______ needs b. ______ needs c. ______ needs d. ______ needs e. ___-____ needs

Herzber's theory has two implications. a. sellers should do their best to avoid ___________ (e.g. poor service policy) b. although these things will not sell a product, they might easily ___-______ it

Selects, organizes, interprets

Perception is the process by which an individual _________, _________, and __________ information to create a meaningful picture of the world.

The key word in the definition of perception is _________.

Selective attention means that marketers have to work hard to attract consumers' notice. The real challenge is to explain which ___________ people will notice.

Selective distortion is the tendency to _______ information into personal meanings and interpret information in a way that will fit our preconceptions.

Because of selective retention, we are likely to remember _________ points mentioned about competing product.

Learning describes changes in an individual's behavior arising from ____________.

Marketers are interested in the beliefs that people have about specific products and services. Beliefs _________ product and brand images. 

Attitudes put people into a ________ of mind for liking or disliking things and moving toward or away from them. For example, many people who have developed the attitude that eating healthy food is important perceive chicken as a healthy alternative to beef and pork.

Steps between evaluation of alternatives and a purchase decision

The _______ process starts when the buyer recognizes a problem or need.

Strength, initial, ease, value, satisfaction

How much searching a consumer does will depend on the _________ of the drive, the amount of ________ information, the ________ of obtaining more information, the _______ placed on additional information, and the ____________ one gets from searching. 

By gathering information, consumers increase their ___________ and knowledge of available choices and product features.

The set of beliefs held about a particular brand is known as the brand _________.

A ________ function shows how the consumer expects total product satisfaction to vary with different levels of different attributes.

The consumer forms a purchase intention based on factors such as expected family _______, expected _______, and expected _________ from the product.

Following a purchase, the consumer will be ___________ or ___________ and will engage in post-purchase actions of significant interest to the marketer.

Consumers feel uneasy about acquiring the drawbacks of the chosen brand and losing the benefits of the rejected brands. Thus consumers feel some post-purchase ____________ with many purchases, and they often take steps after the purchase to reduce dissonance.

What is the tendency to interpret information in a way that fits our preconceptions?

Is the process by which we select organize and interpret information inputs?

When a person becomes more receptive to information about a product?

Which of the following is the most common method used to enter the international arena?