Classical Conditioning in Marketing

Abstract

In the earlier chapters we examined the process of perception and demonstrated a number of ways in which learning plays a crucial role in interpreting what we are seeing. Now, we need to take a closer look at this mechanism that we call learning. Without getting bogged down in the differences between the many definitions of learning, let us simply consider learning to be the process of storage and retrieval of experiences. Sometimes retrieval is spoken of as a separate process called memory because storage and retrieval clearly operate separately. For example, our conscious minds remember only a tiny fraction of the experiences we have had in our lives, but under the right circumstances, for instance, with prompting, we are able to recall much more. Indeed, some evidence suggests that everything we ever knew is still there, and recall is hampered, not by storage, but by retrieval.