Classical Conditioning Theory

Its very interesting theory that is all about the behavior of organisms. There are numerous stimulus around us and we respond to them either in negative way or positive one. It is type of behavioral theory that focuses on the how people respond to a stimulus. Suppose stimulus is food and you will respond in a positive way by having it eaten.

Conditioning is the repetition of the certain stimulus. Conditioning causes learning. this theory focuses in on reflexive actions. Ivan Pavlov was the first person who presented the model for classical conditioning. According to him:

"When one stimulus that is paired with another stimulus that have a known response serves to produce the same response when used alone."

It means that one stimulus that is neutral one (first one) get paired with the other stimulus that have a certain known response to it; this pair is repeatedly used as a stimulus; then the first stimulus that was neutral one alone start giving you the same response as the pair was giving.
It will be more clear with the help of an example so lets have a look at example; this example is basically an experiment conducted by Ivan Pavlov:

He took dogs that were hungry and highly motivated to eat. He rang a bell and immediately after that bell sound gave them meat paste in response to that dogs started to salivate. he repeated that again and again. when dogs learnt that thing then bell sound alone caused them to salivate.
In above mentioned example Meat Paste was the Unconditioned Stimulus (which has particular response), Bell was Conditioned Stimulus (Which was a neutral stimulus), Unconditioned Response was Salivation, and when dogs salivated on the bell sound alone that Unconditioned response became Conditioned Rresponse.
here is the representation of this model:



So i would conclude this part as that repetitive exposure to stimulus make us learn about that, and then we show are response in accordance. If that stimulus has induced a positive learning then our response will be favorable otherwise it would be unfavorable.

In our market scenario, established brands are the unconditioned stimulus, about whom we had learnt earlier and now our response is favorable as they are rewarding. and new products launched under the same brands are conditioned stimulus, and when we respond to these new products using our past learning experience with established ones, then our response to these products is conditioned response.

Consumer Learning & its Elements

Consumer learning is a topic of concern for all marketers. Especially in today's world where marketers want to teach the consumers about their own products and services, consumer learning is integral part of their any marketing strategy. If you are a marketer or producer, and you want people to know about your product, you will make them learn, you must run some effective ad or promotional campaigns telling about your products and its features. This way consumers will acquire knowledge about you product and will experience it by using it once. this is where learning process will accomplish. Now after using that whatever will be there response would be feedback to you.

How it can be defined? It is basically a rigorous process, which evolves with time. In this process consumers acquire purchase and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behavior.
Timely changes are associated with this process, as new products keep on entering the market and consumers keeps on learning about these products so the process of learning goes on.

In order for learning to occur, following elements must be present:

Motivation:

It is the deriving force which act as spur to learning. It is based on needs and goals. your needs and desires motivate you to achieve your goal. And to achieve your goal or fulfill your desire you need to find the ways out to accomplish that, you will be motivated to seek information which will help fulfilling your needs. So in learning to takes place, motivation is very important as it gives initiative to learning process.

Cues:

Cues act as stimuli and gives directions to your motives. For instance, you are home after 9 hours job, you are tired, at that very moment you watch an ad of a energy drink on the T.V which makes you realize you need that drink to boost your energy and feel fresh. So that ad acted as cue at that time, which motivated you to fulfill your salient need.

Responses:

Reaction of the consumers to the cue is the Response. How they behave after getting visible to that cue, constitutes their response. Consumers may not immediately react to a cue, as it may not be there need at that time. But possibility is there that if consumers have learnt your cue, they may keep it in corner of the mind and whenever their need has arose they make use of that cue and respond in favorable way. For instance, in above mentioned example, energy drink may not be readily available to you, you may fulfill that need with water or some other drink. But if you remember that energy drink and in later time when you feel thirsty or tired you may buy it and respond to that ad now.

Reinforcement:

It increases the likelihood that a specific response will occur in the future as the result of particular cues or stimuli. In above mentioned example, if using that energy drink satisfies you and you have gained all the benefits then you will likely to continue buying that product. Through positive reinforcement, learning has taken place, since energy drink lived upto the expectations.

E-commerce

Electronic Commerce has changed the shape of markets. It has narrowed down the distances and has connected the buyers and sellers worldwide. It has revolutionized the marketplace for consumers and organizations. Consumers get the information with much ease, can make comparisons of several products and can get the things at their doorsteps.

what e-commerce basically is? In simple words; It is buying and selling of products or services online or through electronic media.

E-commerce is not a single type or just one model; it has various types and models. Here i am going to tell you types of E-commerce so lets have a look at each type individually:

Business-to-Business (B2B):

Its all about the online transaction among two or more businesses. For instance, an organization may outsource another organization for handling its databases of employee or other data entry system online or it may also include online transaction between organization and supplier or wholesaler etc.

Business-to-consumer (B2C):

It is like a retail store over internet where businesses or organizations directly sell to the end user or consumer. Online transactions take place between business and end user. Consumer can get the desired products just through some clicks sitting at home. For instance, if you want to buy a laptop, you will go to the website of Dell Corp. and select the one suits you the best place the order make payment online through credit card and your laptop will be delivered at your doorstep. How facilitating, isn't it?

Consumer-to-Business (C2B):

It is the opposite of traditional B2C model. In C2B, individuals sell their products and services to the organizations and businesses. For instance, you have a certain project or product, you will offer it to all business who can make use of that, they will give you their offers and you will select the best one.

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C):

It is the dealing between 2 or more consumers. It is done usually via auction sites. Individuals place their products for auction, other consumers come and bid to purchase that product. ebay.com is most familiar name in this regard.

Business-to-Employee (B2E):

It is conducted within an organization, where employees use information, products and services, exchange stuff using intranet. It is specially for the employees to facilitate them with their working.

I hope i have been able to clearly communicate the basic concepts of these models. As these are primary models which are making up most of the E-commerce marketplace.