78 CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDINGBUYERBEHAVIOR
communicationwithbuyersinparticular,andit hasreceiveda greatdealofstudy.Asses3-
inghowa personprocessesinformationisnotaneasytask.Oftenobservationhasserved
asthebasis.Yettherearemanytheoriesastohowtheprocesstakesplace.Onewidely
acceptedtheoryproposesa fivestepsequence.^2
- Exposure.Informationprocessingstartswiththeexposureofconsumerstosome
sourceofstimulationsuch aswatchingtelevision, goingtothesupermarket,or
receivingdirectmailadvertisementsathome.Inordertostarttheprocess,mar-
keter~mustattractconsumerstothestimulusorputit squarelyinthepathofpeo-
pleinthetargetm"rket. - Attention.Exposurealonedoeslittleunlesspeopiepayattentiontothestimulus.
AtaJ1Ymoment,peoplearebombardedbyallsortsofstimuli,buttheyhavealim-
itedcapacitytoprocessthisinput.Theymustdevotementalresourcestostimuli
inordertoprocessthem;inotherwords,theymustpayattention.lVlarketerscan
increasethelikelihoodofattentionbyprovidinginforrrationalcuesthatarerel-
evanttothebuyer. - Perception. Perceptioninvolvesclassifyingtheincomingsignalsintomeaningful
categories,formingpatte, ns,andassigningnamesorimagestothem.Perception
is theassignmentofmeaningtostimulireceivedthroughthesenses.(Morewill
besaidaboutperceptionlater.) - Retention.Storageofinformationforlaterreference,orretention,isthefourth
stepoftheinformation-processingsequence.Actually, theroleofretentionormem-
oryinthesequenceis twofold.First,memoryholdsinformationwhileit isbeing
processedthroJghoutthesequence.Second,memorystoresinformationforfuture,
long -termuse.H eavyrepetitionandDuttinga messagetomusicaretwothings
marketersdotoerhanceretention. - 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.