Since the business sphere is closely connected with human communications and relationships, the psychological aspects of people’s behavior play an important role in this field. Regarding customer relations, one of the most prominent business concepts in creating relationships with people is marketing and advertising. In turn, these aspects of operations are involved in developing important details of any company’s business, such as brand strategy and impact on consumption levels. Various companies, including established and new ones, explore ways of implementing the concept of stimulus generalization in brand strategy elaboration.
To explain the aspects of brand strategy, it is essential first to discuss the theory of information processing and identify its relation to mental responses. The theory of information processing, which is a cognitive approach to explaining how the human mind changes sensory data, is strongly related to brand strategy creation since individuals encounter visual information constantly. This paradigm proposes that information obtained from the environment is subjected to mental processes other than basic stimulus-response sequences. In terms of business activities, this theoretical aspect can be devoted to marketing, advertising, and public relations activities since these sectors are mostly concentrated on communicating with people, including potential customers.
A brand strategy is considered to be a planned statement that outlines a set of long-term objectives that eventually lead to people recognizing and preferring a brand. The brand’s mission, its obligations to customers, and how these aspects are presented are part of an effective branding strategy. A branding strategy cannot be determined as the summation of a logo, color scheme, or website; although these visual components are essential to a successful brand strategy, they can be potentially misinterpreted. All of the subjective components that create brand recognition, brand equity, and brand perception over time are fundamental to a branding strategy. An excellent brand strategy’s fundamental aim is to let the community know that a brand exists, what concepts and ideas it represents, and what characterizes it. Every business is possible select a distinctive and unique method to measure success, but all will incorporate the same theoretical aspects in their strategy.
Referring to the various theoretical influences of the brand strategy, it is important to highlight the ideas of learning and memory that are connected to visual perception. Emphasizing the concepts of learning and memory, it is obligatory to examine behavioral learning and the difference between classical and operant conditioning, including the comparison with discrimination of stimulus. Classical conditioning can be described as the process when one stimulus is combined with another that fails to generate a reaction. A second stimulation, referred to as the conditioned stimulus, triggers the response over some period. When an unconditioned stimulus is consistently coupled with a neuronal input to create a reaction, the unconditioned stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus for that reaction. The approach of modifying behavior through reinforcement after the desired response is known as operant conditioning. Customers can be persuaded to engage in a certain behavior if they anticipate the behavior will result in a favorable consequence. Since the behavior is systematically maintained through positive or negative reinforcement and penalty when the stimuli are accessible and not when they are missing, discriminative stimuli have influence over a specific behavior.
In order to affect customer behavior, particular brands frequently utilize stimulus generalization concepts. The propensity to react to stimuli that are identical or similar to the initial conditioned stimulus is defined as stimulus generalization. To put it differently, it is determined as the capacity to act in a new circumstance in a manner that has been learned in previous comparable positions. With regard to the presence and use of stimulus generalization in the process of creating a brand strategy, it is possible to emphasize the implementation of this concept in both new and already established organizations. A renowned, well-known brand, for instance, generally has a trustworthy and instantly identifiable design. Customers are mainly certain that the goods will be of excellent quality when they notice a conspicuous design. A newer or less popular business is feasible to attempt to profit from the reputation of a well-known label by using the same color palette, logo positioning, typography, and other design elements in its packaging. In this case, the competitor’s objective would be to elicit the same emotional response from customers as they do for the established brand. The newer firm has a better probability of effectively impacting customers’ purchasing behavior after this generalization has evolved.
In addition, established companies can substantially benefit from the consequences of stimulus generalization. Such businesses will frequently use their prominent packaging design for a variety of their items. Customers may have had a favorable encounter with only one of the brand’s numerous goods, for instance. When customers recognize the brand’s name, emblem, colors, and background design on another of the company’s products, they are more willing to transfer their pleasant thoughts to the new item and purchase it due to the bigger brand’s association. Consumers may assume that deceit is being used to influence them, while corporations may argue that they are merely employing attraction. Consumer buying behavior is impacted by the generalization of the stimulus, whether business management identifies it as a motivation to complain, generate a dispute, or as a benefit.
Furthermore, it is essential to analyze how organizations can elaborate brand strategies from the perspective of stimulus discrimination, which is the opposite of stimulus generalization term. A discriminative stimulus is referred to as one that creates a specific reaction when it is visible, and that reaction is generally quicker, more frequent, and more resistant to suppression. After that, discriminative stimulus control is applied to the response behavior. When a reaction is rewarded in its presence but not when it is missing, a discriminative stimulus is formed. Considering the aspect of stimulus discrimination in brand strategy, it is feasible to note that firms can apply it in order to generate immediate reactions where necessary. What concerns marketing and branding strategies, stimulus discrimination occurs when a company, for instance, uses package design to totally distinguish itself from competitors. In this case, the main objective is focused on underlining the substantial differences between brands that can directly influence customer behavior and increase the velocity of the response simultaneously.
The examination of people, groups, or companies, as well as all behaviors involved with the acquisition, utilization, and disposal of products and services, is referred to as consumption behavior or consumption choice. Consumption behavior is related to how a person’s emotions, beliefs, and preferences influence their purchasing decisions. Individual characteristics such as demographics, personality types, and behavioral factors such as participation rates, usage occasion, loyalty, brand engagement, and propensity to make recommendations are investigated in the systematic analysis of consumer behavior. These processes were selected in order to obtain a better understanding of people’s desires and consumption habits. Moreover, consumption behavior focuses on the influences on consumers, for example, family, friends, hobbies, and reference groups, and the community as a whole, such as brand influencers. Consumption experience is generally compiled of several phases, which include pre-consumption experience, purchase experience, core consumption experience, and remembered consumption experience.
Analysing consumption behavior and choices, it is obligatory to emphasize the presence of a separate field of study that is identified as experience marketing, which focuses on the reflection of the most important details. Experience marketing, often defined as experiential marketing, is a marketing technique that promotes products through in-person activities. The purpose of experience marketing is to provide a fantastic customer experience while optimizing value for customers. Customers determine how organizations respond to them, and experience marketing represents the new dimension of consumer experience. From an internet article to a web chat or a questionnaire answer, every customer engagement and contact point becomes an opportunity to start or expand a connection and a method to collect data from experience. By decomposing information and linking the whole company to customers through consolidated insights, customer communications, and interactions, experience marketing activities empower every worker of a firm. As the customer journey progresses, experience marketing benefits firms by increasing communication between departments and enabling teams to swiftly adjust their offers and personalize consumer encounters.
The interpretations conveyed by commodities or other consumables, for instance, entertainment, recreational activities, cultural traditions, and group membership in a wider social community, are referred to as symbolic consumption. The term relates to the socially ascribed value placed on products, which is frequently linked to desired characteristics for specific identifiable groups in specific settings. Some scholars integrate two elements in their explanations of this idea: the significance of items in society and the customer’s identity. As a result, these two factors are found to be necessary for conceptualizing, analyzing, and measuring symbolic consumption. It should also be stated that some scholars describe this idea from a sociological perspective since they assume that customers perceive the meaning of things depending on the judgments and beliefs of others. Symbolic consumption can be related to an individual’s personality since a person can make a decision based on what is preferable for his internal characteristics. Consumers, according to several marketing academics, desire items that match their personalities.
In terms of the influence of symbolic consumption on consumption choices, it is possible to state that this factor, since it is connected to the brand image and design elaboration, can psychologically impact an individual. Customers’ choices to reaffirm their identities may be expanded to symbolic consumption, which includes the consumption of memorable events. In this case, it is critical to evaluate the identities of the customers. Businesses can provide clients with situations in which they can enhance their self-image by displaying their consumption in front of others. This may lead to a stronger perception of value and satisfaction among customers, which has a favorable impact on their desire to return.
When concerns the practical managerial implications of symbolic consumption, it is vital to note that organizations should deliver their service in a manner that allows the client to experience numerous emotions. This refers to unforgettable experiences, such as the feelings connected with a company’s statements of vision, mission, and value and the goods and services it offers. Firms that provide unique experiences should also make methods available to their consumers to assist them in realizing the experience. Managers of various types of organizations can utilize the concept of symbolic consumption to create unique and memorable graphical designs and color patterns. In this case, a potential customer, as an individual that can be affected by unusual items, including visual aspects, will pay attention to a specific object and highlight it. Business owners need to be able to elaborate both creative designs and visual elements and correlate the meaning and the purpose of these things with the relevant personal values of the target audience.
In fact, it is feasible to connect the link between symbolic consumption and consumer behavior with the concept of reference groups. A reference group is described as individuals or groups that are utilized as a foundation for comparison, direction, or benchmarking by individuals when shaping their own views, opinions, and conduct. A formal reference group is a structured organization with a set of norms of behavior for members. Furthermore, it can be informal, referring to a set of people who have certain common interests but do not possess a formal relationship with one another. In this case, it is possible to highlight informal reference groups since they represent the majority of customers related to, particularly any business sphere. Customers, in general situations, are not formally united people with some serious relationships. These individuals share specific common values, interests, and perceptions that impact their loyalty in terms of a concrete company.
In conclusion, in order to affect customer behavior, particular brands frequently utilize stimulus generalization concepts. The newer firm has a better probability of effectively impacting customers’ purchasing behavior after this generalization has evolved. In addition, established companies can substantially benefit from the consequences of stimulus generalization. The interpretations conveyed by commodities or other consumables, for instance, entertainment, recreational activities, cultural traditions, and group membership in a wider social community, are referred to as symbolic consumption. In terms of the influence of symbolic consumption on consumption choices, it is possible to state that this factor can psychologically impact an individual.