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Perception and A Challenge
Oct. 23rd, 2003 02:17 pm(All of the below is a combination of information I got from my Marketing textbook/class and my own perceptions and opinions - it's sort of a silly epiphany I wanted to write down and share.)
Next week I have a mid-term for my Marketing class and to prepare for it, I’ve been hastily reading assigned chapters in a book by Pride and Ferrell called Marketing Concepts and Strategies, which in of itself isn’t really worth posting about in live journal. Who gives a crap about my Marketing class? But chapter 8 deals with Consumer Buying Behavior and smack dab in the middle of a chapter discussing situational factors and other business terms, there’s a nifty little section on Psychological Influences on Buying Decision Process, which in turn discusses Perception. While reading it I was struck by how clearly it explained the differing fan responses that can lead to literal battles over a television show. Why two person can watch exactly the same show on TV yet react so differently to it – to the extent that it’s almost as if they saw two different shows, each believing that their version is the correct one.
The chapter starts with a black and white picture of fish and birds above the ocean. The caption beside the picture asks: Do you see the fish changing into birds or the birds changing into fish? One person may see birds turning into fish. Another fish turning into birds. A third just fish and birds with no change occurring. What each person sees depends on how they view the world, different people perceive the same thing at the same time in different ways.
Perception, according to Pride and Ferrell, is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning. Information inputs are sensations received through sight, taste, hearing, smell and touch. And perception is a three-step process. Although we perceive many things at once – only a few reach our awareness. For instance if you are reading this entry, concentrating on it, you may not be aware of the cars buzzing outside, your kids arguing in the background, your co-workers typing or on the phone in the cubicle next to you – even though you are receiving these inputs, they do not reach your awareness until they are pointed out. What our current needs are at a given time – is often what we focus on or what reaches our awareness. If for instance our current need is to walk across the street – our awareness will be focused on what is directly in our path or preventing us from crossing the street. If we are merely wandering around town in no hurry, we may be aware of what is blocking our path across the street, but be more focused on the fact that there is a kid playing with chalk on the sidewalk.
(What follows is lengthy discourse on how we perceive information and why from a marketing/broadcast perspective, includes a silly challenge...read at own risk ;-))
( Read more... )
Next week I have a mid-term for my Marketing class and to prepare for it, I’ve been hastily reading assigned chapters in a book by Pride and Ferrell called Marketing Concepts and Strategies, which in of itself isn’t really worth posting about in live journal. Who gives a crap about my Marketing class? But chapter 8 deals with Consumer Buying Behavior and smack dab in the middle of a chapter discussing situational factors and other business terms, there’s a nifty little section on Psychological Influences on Buying Decision Process, which in turn discusses Perception. While reading it I was struck by how clearly it explained the differing fan responses that can lead to literal battles over a television show. Why two person can watch exactly the same show on TV yet react so differently to it – to the extent that it’s almost as if they saw two different shows, each believing that their version is the correct one.
The chapter starts with a black and white picture of fish and birds above the ocean. The caption beside the picture asks: Do you see the fish changing into birds or the birds changing into fish? One person may see birds turning into fish. Another fish turning into birds. A third just fish and birds with no change occurring. What each person sees depends on how they view the world, different people perceive the same thing at the same time in different ways.
Perception, according to Pride and Ferrell, is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning. Information inputs are sensations received through sight, taste, hearing, smell and touch. And perception is a three-step process. Although we perceive many things at once – only a few reach our awareness. For instance if you are reading this entry, concentrating on it, you may not be aware of the cars buzzing outside, your kids arguing in the background, your co-workers typing or on the phone in the cubicle next to you – even though you are receiving these inputs, they do not reach your awareness until they are pointed out. What our current needs are at a given time – is often what we focus on or what reaches our awareness. If for instance our current need is to walk across the street – our awareness will be focused on what is directly in our path or preventing us from crossing the street. If we are merely wandering around town in no hurry, we may be aware of what is blocking our path across the street, but be more focused on the fact that there is a kid playing with chalk on the sidewalk.
(What follows is lengthy discourse on how we perceive information and why from a marketing/broadcast perspective, includes a silly challenge...read at own risk ;-))
( Read more... )