Perception Theory

What is Perception?

"the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept" (www.dictionary.reference.com). Perception is the way in which we think about things. It can be the way which we refer back to product due to the perception we have of the Brand or it can be how we perceive people based on their appearance, clothing they are wearing or things that they own.

Product all have their own imagine and this image is created by the way people think of brand and the product/s in which this brand has to offer. Let me use iPhone as an example:


iPhone is one of the most recognised products in the world. This is a statement product, the iPhone is a revolutional product as it has changed the way we use phones and how far the can push a phone to be more then just a phone and therefore have more functions so that it become more useful and more functional because it has a lot to offer the users.The product itself is of high value as they are very expensive to purchase starting from £349 for an 8GB iPhone 3Gs, but as iPhone has very little competition this allows the brand Apple to charge such a high price for the product and people will still purchase it due to they way it performs and the quality of the product.

 People who have iPhone's are perceived to be "rich" as this is a very exclusive high priced product and something a little as a phone can have a huge impact on the way people perceive you. The brand Apple are very good creating an imagine for the product, they tend to be more exclusive not just based on the high quality appearance but also for the functionality of the product they create therefore when people think of the brand Apple you already have an image of what you think of the brand and then you relate that to the product they have and what people in general thing of that product but also how effective are the products in doing what they are supposed to do.

Our 5 Sense have a big impact on how we perceive things. Each one of the has the own role to play when we are perceiving something, And for those who have only 4 sense for instance blind people can not see but there other 4 Sense's become far stronger because the person has to rely on the and therefore they become

stronger and therefore we find a different way in which we perceive things.

Sound: We use or ears to perceive sound, and once we have heard a sound we can come up with an idea of what the sound you are hearing could be. Music is very much so perceived through sound and once you've heard a popular song you will be aware of the artist and possibly the person/s singing the song. Advertising is become very sound effective with companies such as "Pringles Crisp" using crunchy sounds to allow for people to be aware that the sound which comes from eating Pringles will
nice tasting Crunchy crisp, in their latest advert they've also used a number of high profiled footballers in order to boost their brand image as if even for high profile footballer such as Fernando Torres or Micheal Owen Pringles is go for even them.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Smell: We use or nose in smelling products, this sense can be used for almost any product, but this would be more practical for some products rather then others. If you are purchasing a CD smell is not going to be a massive factor regarding you perception of the product and influencing your decision on purchasing a product, whereas if the customer was purchasing a product such as flowers or a hot chocolate will be aware of the smells coming for these products and therefore this will give the potential buyer an idea of what the product will be like based on the smell of it. If the flower smell horrible to customer will be more reluctant to smell it whereas if the flower smell nice this my entice the customer in buying the flowers due to the aroma.

Deodorant or perfume adverts are very good a portraying smells and letting the user know what smell will come from their product, I am using the Lynx Chocolate Advert as an example of how the company have used different techniques in informing potential customers of what their new product smells like. The advert shows a man in his bathroom, he sprays the Lynx Perfume on his body and then he become a "Chocolate man" this can be perceived by pot entail customers as this products smells so nice its good enough to eat.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Touch: We feel things using our hands and our other body parts. All tangible products apply to this sense and companies who try and outline that the products are very soft use different technique in showing the audience how the product "works" and therefore allowing the viewers to make up their own mind of the product/s. Tissue is a big factor of the touch sense in regard to product as most companies try to outline the softness of their Tissue and how its better then "ordinary" products. Also fabric conditioners also try and apply to the touch sense as it tries and informs potential customers of how using their product/s will make your products softer.

The iPod Touch has become the most successful MP3 Player in the world and this is because of its "Touch" appeal i.e. whereas conventional MP3 players have buttons which will carryout the functions the iPod Touch is Totally Touch Screen and therefore this allows the user to use the finger in order to change the song, turn of the volume etc. What makes it even more successful is that Apple has included application software so that this allows the users to use a number of different application therefore the user can play games as well as serve the internet all within whilst using an MP3 player. The Advert below shows how a potential customer will be able to use their iPod touch.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Taste: Taste comes though our tongues, this means that they way we perceive once its in our mouths, this means that once we have seen the product and possibly touched the product we already have gathered a perception of what this product could taste like and therefore once its in you mouth this perception could be changed i.e. a product may look, smell or feel horrible but could taste incredible. Chocolate companies use different techniques in order to show what their chocolate taste like i.e. whether its smooth, silky rich chocolate like Galaxy or Big square crunchy chocolate like Yorkie.

M&S (Marks and Spenser) are a very good company in portraying the taste in there food using advertising methods, they use adverts which apply to a number of different sense but if it food orientated then they tend to concetrate more on what the product on offer will taste like and why you should pay the price in which they charge because "its not just any food, its M&S food".

___________________________________________________________________________________

Sight: We see with our eyes therefore the sight is very useful we perceiving a product. Products such as iPhone concentrate on this factor as its a product which is beautifully made but as its also from a very thought after brand if you have a product which is from Apple then this can symbolise what type of person you are and even wealth. Ferrari is a very thought after brand but only the rich can afford one therefore if you own a Ferrari of any type to perception in which people make up of you is instant "he/she drives a Ferrari and therefore he/she is rich". Celebrities also get perceived through sight and people make up their minds of what they think of what their wearing, or what car they are driving in, what film they are staring in etc.

Optical illusions are a great way of showing the perception of Sight as optical illusions are made so that two images can be seen from one or so that the image shown tricks your mind into believing its something that its not.

 

Skoda has recently released a very interesting advert which has made people change their perception of Skoda. The car maker Skoda is not known for its lavish car's in fact it has a rather bad reputation but the Skoda themselves are trying to change that using a number of different marketing techniques starting with the advert below. This shows how the car should be perceived as a well made car which appeals to all different age groups in specific this new car is being aimed at the younger market.

___________________________________________________________________________________

We carried our own Perception test in class. We were put into different groups so that we all could take part within the task, within my group we decided to purchase on High Quality "Premium" Packet of peanuts and one standard KP packet of peanuts. We then selected 6 members within the class 3 boys 3 girls to carryout out our perception test the results were as follow: All 3 Boys identified that KP peanuts with the plastic cup whereas all 3 girls thought that it was High Quality "Premium" Packet of peanuts within the plastic cup which contained the KP peanuts. Therefore our investigation stated that half of the people got the test correct whereas the other half got it wrong which means that there difference in the flavors of the peanuts are not signification enough for the "High Quality "Premium Peanuts" to be charging 30p More then the standard KP peanuts. And all of the participants once told said that they preferred the KP peanuts therefore this proves that perception could prove for some to buy the High Quality "Premium" Packet of peanuts thinking they would be significantly better as they are 30p more and the contain less within the packet whereas the verdicts from the testers was that they preferred the cheaper alternatives as it had more flavor and therefore left a better taste in your mouth.