Core Concepts of Marketing

78 CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDINGBUYERBEHAVIOR

communicationwithbuyersinparticular,andit hasreceiveda greatdealofstudy.Asses3-

inghowa personprocessesinformationisnotaneasytask.Oftenobservationhasserved

asthebasis.Yettherearemanytheoriesastohowtheprocesstakesplace.Onewidely

acceptedtheoryproposesa fivestepsequence.^2

1. Exposure.Informationprocessingstartswiththeexposureofconsumerstosome
   sourceofstimulationsuch aswatchingtelevision, goingtothesupermarket,or
   receivingdirectmailadvertisementsathome.Inordertostarttheprocess,mar-
   keter~mustattractconsumerstothestimulusorputit squarelyinthepathofpeo-
   pleinthetargetm"rket.


2. Attention.Exposurealonedoeslittleunlesspeopiepayattentiontothestimulus.
   AtaJ1Ymoment,peoplearebombardedbyallsortsofstimuli,buttheyhavealim-
   itedcapacitytoprocessthisinput.Theymustdevotementalresourcestostimuli
   inordertoprocessthem;inotherwords,theymustpayattention.lVlarketerscan
   increasethelikelihoodofattentionbyprovidinginforrrationalcuesthatarerel-
   evanttothebuyer.


3. Perception. Perceptioninvolvesclassifyingtheincomingsignalsintomeaningful
   categories,formingpatte, ns,andassigningnamesorimagestothem.Perception
   is theassignmentofmeaningtostimulireceivedthroughthesenses.(Morewill
   besaidaboutperceptionlater.)


4. Retention.Storageofinformationforlaterreference,orretention,isthefourth
   stepoftheinformation-processingsequence.Actually, theroleofretentionormem-
   oryinthesequenceis twofold.First,memoryholdsinformationwhileit isbeing
   processedthroJghoutthesequence.Second,memorystoresinformationforfuture,
   long -termuse.H eavyrepetitionandDuttinga messagetomusicaretwothings
   marketersdotoerhanceretention.


5. Retrieval andApplication.Theprocessbywhichinformationisrecoveredfrom
   thememorystorehousei:.calledretrieval. Applicationisputtingthatinformation

INTEGRATED MARKETING •

KIDSAREHOOKEDONLINE

Thesedays,practicallyeventhetiniestoftykesistech-savvy.

Andit'snowonder.Therearecomputersin elementary

schools,computergames,and,ofcourse,thereiseducational

software.

Kidsspenda lotoftimeonline,notjustat school,butalso

at home,forsocialinteractionandentertainment.According

to market researcherTeenResearch Unlimited, 62%of

teenagerssaytheylogonathome for4.2hoursawe~k,while

46%spend2.3hoursa weekusinga computeroutsidethe

home.Teenssaytheyspendmostoftheironlinetimedoing

research(72%),sendingandreadingemail(63%),playing

games(28%),andcheckingoutthingstobuyormakingpur-

chases(23%). '

InternetconsultancyCyberDialogueDatarevealsthenum-

berofteenagersgoingonlineatleastoncea monthgrewby

nearly270%between 1998 and1999.Thatfrequency,cou-

pledwiththefactthat 19 %ofthesekidshavea creditcard

inhisorherownnameand9%haveaccesstoa parent'scard

toshoponline,addsuptoa huge customerbaseforInternet

marketers.

Snowball.comisa portalthatclaimstoservebothGenY

andGen Xyouth.ItincludesChickClick.comforyoung

women,IGN.col'(lforyoungmen,PowerStudents.comfor

highschoolandcollegestudents,andInsideGuide.comfor

collegestudents.Theportalhasinkeddealswithmajormar-

keters,includingSony,Toyota,andPillsbury. Thesitealso

hasreceiveda lotofinterestfromtheentertainmentworld.

Sources:JenniferGilbert, "NewTeenObsession,"Advertising

Age,Febmary14,2000,p.8;"SchoolDaze,"AmericanDemo-

graphics,August1999,p. 80;KrestinaFiliciano,"JustKidding,"

Adweek,May1,2000,p.58.