Classical Conditioning

You may have heard of Pavlov and his study with dogs. The general idea being that dogs salivate when they get food because food is yummy, but what if they associate another action with food? Well, that’s where Pavlov comes in. He decided to ring a bell every time he brought his dog food. As a result, over time the dogs associate the bell with food, thus they start to salivate at the sound of the bell, not at the sight of tasty food. They would even salivate at the bell, when they would get no food! 

The key component of this study is association. By continuously linking two separate stimuli, we begin to associate them with each other, and the thoughts, and feelings that we get as a result of one stimuli, is transferred and applied to the associated stimuli. Now you may at this point be wondering why I’m on about dogs, or why I’m making you want some yummy yummy food. What has it got to do with marketing or your business? Well through marketing companies can condition people to associate their brand with any manner of products, feelings, emotions, or brand image that they wish. It can be very beneficial.

One of the main ways that classical conditioning is used in marketing, is through advertisements that aim to evoke a positive or happy feeling in the viewer. This may be through a happy and popular song, through nostalgia, or through humour with a funny and memorable advert. When the customer sees this advert, it makes them happy. Over time, much like the dogs did, they associate that happy feeling with the brand or product in the advert. This means that when shopping, and a consumer comes across the product from that advert, they unconsciously feel happy and therefore buy that brand’s product.

There are many examples of successful classical conditioning in advertising, ranging from the wild and crazy, to the mundane. Some of the most completing cases include:

• Dunkin’s “Flavour Radio” campaign

• Andrex Puppy campaign

• Coca-Cola Open Happiness campaign