Marketing communication: principles and practice

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Table 3.3
Influences on our personal mental map
Influencing factor
Reaction on mental map
Expectations
New data are interpreted in a particular way
Previous experience
Sights, sounds and smells trigger ‘automatic’ 
particular responses
Selectivity
Some data are ignored or subverted
Subjectivity
A personal world-view is unique 
Categorization
Data are related to knowledge and may be prejudged

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Knowledge
What we know of a product, a purchase situation, product usage, and so on,
is a framework within which further purchase decisions are made. Attitudes
are formed to help organize and simplify knowledge of what goes on around
us into simple evaluations that can be used to facilitate the decision-making
process. 
Figure 3.5 shows a set of elements of a man’s knowledge that he considers
when thinking about a possible car purchase. Each element invokes
characteristics that prompt choice. Try following through the sequence of
choices represented in the diagram. The Mazda sports car is selected because
it has all of the desired characteristics.
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Apprehend
Exposure/Presentation
Attend
Attention
Cognitive (thought)
Interpret
Comprehension
Judge/Value
Yielding/Acceptance
Affective (emotion)
Retention
Act
Behaviour/Action
Conative (desire)
Figure 3.4
The cognitive process of a person as problem-solver
Two-seater
Convertible
Fun to drive
Well-made
Japanese
Affordable
Mazda
Small
Sports car
Economical
Nostalgic
Not spacious
Sexy
Women
British Racing
Green