Consumers confront a barrage of marketing messages each day. Banner ads on websites, billboards, and print media are some of the agents through which these messages are communicated to the consumers. However, most consumers "see" only a few of these messages and screen out the rest. This process of filtering out stimuli is known as _____.
A) assimilation
B) selective distortion
C) attention
D) selective exposure

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Selective exposure is the process of filtering out stimuli or messages that are not relevant or interesting to the consumer. This happens because consumers have limited attention spans and can only process a certain amount of information at once. They tend to pay attention to messages that are consistent with their beliefs, needs, and interests, and ignore or screen out messages that are not. Selective distortion, on the other hand, refers to the tendency of consumers to interpret information in a way that supports their pre-existing beliefs or attitudes, while assimilation is the process of incorporating new information into existing knowledge or schemas. Attention refers to the ability to focus on a particular stimulus or message.

Consumers Confront a Barrage of Marketing Messages Each Day