What is the minimum level of difference that a consumer can make out or perceive between two stimuli that he receives is known as?

What is the minimum level of difference that a consumer can make out or perceive between two stimuli that he receives is known as?

Chapter 5

Consumer perception

Multiple choice questions

1._____ is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organises

and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.

a.Knowledge

b.Perception

c.Motivation

d.Attitude

Answer: b

Difficulty: 2

AACSB: Application of Knowledge

Topic: Ch5 – Consumer perception

2.Which of the following statements about perception is false?

a.The study of perception is largely the study of what we add to, or subtract

from, raw sensory inputs to produce our own private picture of the world.

b.Perception can be described as ‘how we see the world around us’.

c. Every consumer will perceive stimulus similarly.

d.Perception is defined as the process by which an individual receives, selects

and interprets stimuli to form a meaningful and coherent picture of the

world.

Answer: c

Difficulty: 1

AACSB: Application of Knowledge

Topic: Ch5 – Consumer perception

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

– 9781442561533/Schiffman/Consumer behaviour/6e

1

Claire Morris, Sarah Collins, Michael Lee
  • Claire Morris

    Claire has taught Special Education for the past 4 years in the middle school setting. She has her Bachelor's in Education and her Master's in Curriculum Instruction & Design. She's taught in Idaho, Colorado, and Utah.

    View bio
  • Instructor Sarah Collins
  • Expert Contributor Michael Lee

    Michael obtained his PhD from the University of Manitoba in Psychology. He has been teaching for the psychology department at the University of Winnipeg for the last 20 years.

    View bio

Study the difference threshold or "just noticeable difference" (JND). See a comparison of absolute threshold vs. difference threshold with examples. Updated: 12/02/2021

The term threshold as it relates to psychology refers to the just barely perceptible intensity of something. Take light, for example. In order to recognize light, we need a certain amount of it. If the source of light is too dim or far away to see, we wouldn't recognize it at all. In order to see a change in brightness, there needs to be enough change for one to notice. Thresholds refer to the amount of presence or change needed before one actually recognizes the stimuli.

What does this look like in real life? Susan is out to lunch with her eight-year-old son. They have an order of french fries they're sharing. Susan asks her son if he would put more salt on the fries. Her son really doesn't want to ruin them, so he puts 3 grains of salt on the fries. Susan smiles because she knows that neither of them will notice any difference in taste with so little salt. This amount does not meet the threshold needed to taste a difference. Susan takes the salt shaker and does three big shakes over the fries. Now, Susan and her son are enjoying delicious, salty fries.

Noticing the Difference

'I just want the ends trimmed,' you say to the hair stylist. Little do you know that you are her very first customer. Inside, she is shaking like a leaf. She nervously holds up a section of your hair - about one inch - and asks if that's an okay amount. You nod your head 'yes,' and then start reading an article about a couple in Hollywood that you don't really care about. She timidly begins to cut your hair.

When she's finished, you inspect your hair and are surprised to see that it looks the exact same as when you sat in the chair. You ask, 'Did you cut my hair?' She points to the clippings on the floor, and they're barely the length of doughnut sprinkles. She was so scared to make a mistake that she only cut off 1/16th of an inch! So, technically your hair is shorter, but why weren't you able to notice the change? It's because that 1/16th of an inch did not hit your difference threshold.

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A certain amount of salt needs to be added before there is a noticeable difference

What is the minimum level of difference that a consumer can make out or perceive between two stimuli that he receives is known as?

Absolute Threshold vs. Difference Threshold

The absolute threshold is the smallest amount of stimuli needed to have an effect on someone's senses 50% of the time. Say a woman is listening to music, and someone turns the volume lower and lower until she can barely hear. Once the volume is low enough that the woman can no longer hear it at all, the absolute threshold has been crossed. The absolute threshold can be found for all five senses as well. If a scientist were trying to find the absolute threshold for light, they would put a subject in a dark room, and determine the smallest amount of light needed in order to be detected 50% of the time.

The difference threshold is the smallest amount something must change in order for a person to notice the change 50% of the time. It can be applied to all five senses. It is the minimum difference in light needed for someone to notice. It is the minimum change in the radio's volume for the listener to hear the difference. It is the minimum change in weight of a duffel bag for the carrier to notice.

These two thresholds are similar in that they can apply to all five senses, they target a change in stimuli, and they are often used in psychology. They're different because the former looks at if the stimuli are noticeable at all, while the latter looks at just noticeable differences (JND). The absolute threshold for weight is the minimum amount of weight needed for a participant to notice it's there. The difference threshold for weight is the amount of change in the weight needed for a participant to notice.

Absolute Threshold

As mentioned above, the absolute threshold is the minimum about of stimuli needed to be detected by the subject at least 50% of the time. It is not always as cut and dry as "when do you start to hear this ringing?" A subject's perception can change based on age, background, expectations, or even personality. Introverted people have been found to be more sensitive to lower stimuli levels. Similarly, if one is listening for noise, they are more likely to detect it sooner and at a lower threshold. Here are some examples of what finding the absolute threshold can look like.

Touch Brushing a feather gently across one's arm until they feel it. Results tend to vary dramatically depending on where the feather touches one's body; the threshold is much lower on one's feet than one's elbow. Smell Putting someone in a room and spraying perfume until they can smell it. This threshold can vary based on humidity, type of odor, and methods of releasing the odor. Hearing Playing a tone louder and louder until the subject can detect it. This threshold changes with age since children have the widest hearing ranges.

What is the Difference Threshold?

A difference threshold is the minimum amount that something needs to change in order for a person to notice a difference 50% of the time. The concept of difference thresholds applies to all areas of perception: hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell all have thresholds that need to be met before any changes in stimuli are sensed. For example, if I were to give you a pile of five marshmallows and then give you one more, you'd probably notice the difference. It only took adding one marshmallow for you to notice a change, so the difference threshold was one marshmallow.

However, it's important to not just look at difference threshold as a flat number, but also as a percentage of change. If you had started with 100 marshmallows, one more would not have produced a noticeable difference. So, if I added 20% to your pile of 100 marshmallows (as I did when I added one marshmallow to your five), you would definitely notice a difference of 20 marshmallows. In these examples, the difference thresholds were 1, 20 or 20%.

Noticing the Difference

'I just want the ends trimmed,' you say to the hair stylist. Little do you know that you are her very first customer. Inside, she is shaking like a leaf. She nervously holds up a section of your hair - about one inch - and asks if that's an okay amount. You nod your head 'yes,' and then start reading an article about a couple in Hollywood that you don't really care about. She timidly begins to cut your hair.

When she's finished, you inspect your hair and are surprised to see that it looks the exact same as when you sat in the chair. You ask, 'Did you cut my hair?' She points to the clippings on the floor, and they're barely the length of doughnut sprinkles. She was so scared to make a mistake that she only cut off 1/16th of an inch! So, technically your hair is shorter, but why weren't you able to notice the change? It's because that 1/16th of an inch did not hit your difference threshold.

What is the Difference Threshold?

A difference threshold is the minimum amount that something needs to change in order for a person to notice a difference 50% of the time. The concept of difference thresholds applies to all areas of perception: hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell all have thresholds that need to be met before any changes in stimuli are sensed. For example, if I were to give you a pile of five marshmallows and then give you one more, you'd probably notice the difference. It only took adding one marshmallow for you to notice a change, so the difference threshold was one marshmallow.

However, it's important to not just look at difference threshold as a flat number, but also as a percentage of change. If you had started with 100 marshmallows, one more would not have produced a noticeable difference. So, if I added 20% to your pile of 100 marshmallows (as I did when I added one marshmallow to your five), you would definitely notice a difference of 20 marshmallows. In these examples, the difference thresholds were 1, 20 or 20%.

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Applying Difference Thresholds to Everyday Life

Activity

You can try out the difference threshold on a volunteer by placing two weights of the same unit in the palms of the person's hand. At first, they should say that they feel equal. Add more weights to one of the hands incrementally until the person notices that the weight in that hand feels heavier. That is the difference threshold.

The difference does not only apply to detecting differences among physical stimuli.

For example, think about when you go shopping and how your decisions about what to buy or not to buy can be influenced by difference thresholds. Consider that you want to buy a cup of coffee. One coffee will cost you $4 and another coffee will cost you $6. Next, consider that you are looking to purchase a more expensive item, such as a new smart TV. One of the televisions you like costs $395, while the other one costs $397.

  • How would you characterize the choices you, or most other people, are likely to make in the above examples?
  • In what ways did the price differentials affect your decisions?
  • How could you explain this behaviour based on what you understand about difference thresholds?

Possible Answers:

Most would choose the 4 dollar cup of coffee because two dollars more seems like a big difference. Even though the difference is still only 2 dollars, when the amount of something is much higher (the $395 television) the difference doesn't appear to make much difference to us at all.

What are absolute and difference thresholds?

The absolute threshold is the smallest amount of stimulation needed for a human to notice it 50% of the time. The difference threshold is the smallest amount of change in stimulation for a human to notice 50% of the time.

What is an example of difference threshold in psychology?

Difference thresholds in psychology can look like 5 different things as it applies to the 5 senses. It can be the minimum difference in volume for a human to detect the change. It can be the minimum difference in weight between two sandbags for a human to detect the difference. It can be the different light intensity for a human to notice there are two different bulbs. The smallest amount of salt for a person to notice a change in saltiness. Finally, an amount of cologne needed for a person to notice more has been applied.

What does it mean to have a high difference threshold?

A high difference threshold means one would have to change a stimulus a lot in order for it to be noticeable. A lake has a high difference threshold because a lot of water would have to be added before anyone would notice that the water level was higher.

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What is absolute and difference threshold?

The absolute threshold is the minimum amount of stimulation required for a person to detect the stimulus 50 percent of the time. The difference threshold is the smallest difference in stimulation that can be detected 50 percent of the time.

What is absolute threshold in consumer behavior?

The lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation is called the absolute threshold. The point at which a person can detect a difference between “something” and “nothing” is that person's absolute threshold for that stimulus.

What is an example of difference threshold?

Here are a few examples of difference thresholds: The smallest difference in sound for us to perceive a change in the radio's volume. The minimum difference in weight for us to perceive a change between two piles of sand. The minimum difference of light intensity for us to perceive a difference between two light bulbs.

What is the smallest detectable difference between two stimuli?

Just noticeable difference (JND): The smallest detectable difference between two stimuli, or the minimum change in a stimulus that can be correctly judged as different from a reference stimulus; also known as difference threshold.