Monday 26 October 2009

The evidence for the uniqueness of perception


Hey everybody and welcome back to my blog!

Let us talk about last session. Testing of perception was the topic and it was a really practical lesson. As we have already learned is perception the process, in which sensations are absorbed by the consumer and used to interpret the surrounding world. The consumer’s perception is affected by the five senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.  Our part was to prepare an activity based on perception for the class. All groups decided to test our taste by eating chocolate, cookies or drinking Cola/ Pepsi.

But first of all you have to bear in mind some basics. It is really important that you test products that are nearly similar, so that it is not easy for the consumer to distinguish between the tastes of the two products. So if you for example compare the taste of Pepsi and Cola, the difference of taste is high, so it cannot show funded results.  Furthermore by testing the taste of biscuits you should make clear that the consumer is not able to see or feel the brand punched into the product.

So, what have we learned during the lesson. Well, one group decided to test three types of chocolate and we as consumers should eat the chocolate without any knowledge about the tasted types. The Question was: Which one tastes better? The result was not really surprising; most of us defined the expensive one as best. But why did not all of us choose the expensive chocolate as best; as we have learned is perception unique because it is influenced by experience, gender, age, family structure, culture etc. . Our taste contributes to our experience of many products. Generally are blind taste tests a good opportunity for companies to discover both different consumer preferences and, thus, different consumer segments, and the positioning of a company or a brand in terms of the most sensory qualities of the product.

This advertisement is a good example for the different sight of people. The picture was really controversy when it came out. I can only see to men dressed identically and handcuffed together. But many people interpreted it to mean that the black man had been arrested by a white man. 

My colleague Rebecca and I decided to make our own test based on sound. Many aspects of sound affect people’s feelings and behaviours. Mostly every commercial is underlaid with music to attract the consumer’s attention. People associate music with pictures, friends, events, etc. We searched for to advertisements and chose to perfume commercials. Here you can see the video of the Dolce & Gabbana perfume which we have analyzed.

We asked two girls and six boys to listen to the music; I did not show them the video. The task was: “Which product is advertised? Describe the spot.” This test was really interesting and the results different. Only to persons said that it could be a perfume. The first asked person had a really surprising association. He was thinking about a “Partnership” commercial. A man in a bar searching for a woman and a relationship. Four persons associated the music with alcohol like Martini, Whisky or Baileys. They described the melody as relaxing, classy and also sexy; the type of music as Jazz. Everyone had different fantasies in their heads.  One of the boys imagined a bar at the beach in the evening. A beautiful and attractive woman, perhaps a model, is ordering an iced drink and all the men are watching her. Another fantasy was about a well-dressed woman, perhaps in a red dress. Based on music the advertised product was observed as expensive and luxurious. The commercial seemed as sexy and it should animate especially men to buy the product for their women.  The last asked person thought by hearing the music that the advertised product is perfume and the spot is erotic. In his mind the spot shows a woman together with a man in a hotel room. Both are well-known, perhaps actors. The man is not wearing a shirt. The beautiful woman seduces the man with help of her body and the smell of her perfume.

As a result I can say that the test was really interesting. Everyone described a different clip just based on perception. Rebecca tried the same with another perfume commercial; here you can read her blog. Hopefully you enjoyed reading and had fun. You are welcome to comment on my blog and perhaps you like to test your own perception ;-)

 

See you soon,

Greetings

Sabine 

P.S.: Thanks everyone for taking part in our test!

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