Associational learning occurs when an object or event

Associational learning occurs when an object or event comes to be associated with a
natural response, such as an automatic behavior or a positive or negative emotion . If you
have ever become hungry when you drive by one of your favorite pizza stores, it is
probably because the sight of the pizzeria has become associated with your
experiences of enjoying the pizzas. We may enjoy smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee,
and eating not only because they give us pleasure themselves but also because they
have been associated with pleasant social experiences in the past.
Associational learning also influences our knowledge and judgment about other
people. For instance, research has shown that people more favorably view men and
women who are seen alongside other people who are attractive, or who are said to
have attractive girlfriends or boyfriends, than they do the same people who are seen
alongside more average-looking others (Sigall & Landy, 1973). This liking is due to
associational learning: we have positive feelings toward the people simply because
those people are associated with the positive features of the attractive others.
Associational learning has long been, and continues to be, an effective tool in
marketing and advertising (Hawkins, Best, & Coney, 1998). The general idea is to
create an advertisement that has positive features so that it creates enjoyment in the
person exposed to it. Because the product being advertised is mentioned in the ad, it
becomes associated with the positive feelings that the ad creates. In the end, if
everything has gone well, seeing the product online or in a store will then create a
positive response in the buyer, leading him or her to be more likely to purchase the
product.
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Video
Funny Commercials ( ) uploaded by no
name
Figure 2.2
Can you determine how associational learning is being used in these ads?
A similar strategy is used by corporations that sponsor teams or events. For instance,
if people enjoy watching a particular sports team, and if that team is sponsored by a
product, such as Pepsi, then people may end up experiencing the positive feelings
they have for their team when they view a can of Pepsi.
Advertisers use a variety of techniques to create positive advertisements, including
enjoyable music, cute babies, attractive models, and funny spokespeople. In one
study, Gorn (1982) showed research participants pictures of different colored writing
pens, but paired one of the pens with pleasant music and another with unpleasant
music. When given a choice as a free gift, more people chose the pen that had been
associated with the pleasant music. In another study, Schemer, Matthes, Wirth, and
Textor (2008) found that people were more interested in products that had been
embedded in music videos of artists that they liked and less likely to be interested
when the products were in videos featuring artists that they did not like.