SELECTIVE ATTENTION
Attention is the allocation of processing capacity to some stimulus.
Voluntary attention is something purposeful; involuntary attention is grabbed by someone or
something. It’s estimated that the average person may be exposed to over 1,500 ads or brand
communications a day. Because we cannot possibly attend to all these, we screen most stimuli
out—a process called selective attention. Selective attention means that marketers must work hard
to attract consumers’ notice. The real challenge is to explain which stimuli people will notice. Here
are some findings:
1. People are more likely to notice stimuli that relate to a current need. A person who is motivated
to buy a computer will notice computer ads and be less likely to notice DVD ads.
2. People are more likely to notice stimuli they anticipate. You are more likely to notice computers
than radios in a computer store because you don’t expect the store to carry radios.
3. People are more likely to notice stimuli whose deviations are large in relationship to the normal
size of the stimuli. You are more likely to notice an ad offering $100 off the list price of a
computer than one offering $5 off.
Though we screen out much, we are influenced by unexpected stimuli, such as sudden offers in the
mail, over the phone, or from a salesperson. Marketers may attempt to promote their offers
intrusively in order to bypass selective attention filters.