Perception (HD): Seeing, Processing, Believing

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - Plato

What comes to mind when you hear the word perception?... The first thing that comes to my mind is Nice Looking Girls and Flash Cars...

....OK jokes aside. Its time for me to unleash the Nerdy & Scientific side to PERCEPTION (brace yourselves).

Mary Brignall defines Perception as 'The process by which we attach meaning to the world around us'.. and she's right.

The process that we call PERCEPTION happens in 3 Stages:

Selection ----> Organisation ----> Interpretation

1 - Selection

1 of our 5 senses (6 if you're a 'special' type of human) selects something in our surrounding environment (For the sake of being scientific we'll call it a stimulus) I'll use Lady Gaga as an example..(She can be used as an example for so many things, but I'll be polite and keep shut)...

Step 1 - Look At The Picture

...By just looking at the picture you've already sent multiple signals to your brain... BUT! 1 of the things you see in this picture will stand out... Its called the ATTENDED Stimulus.

2 - Organisation

The ATTENDED Stimulus is formed as an image on the retina (Somewhere   in the Eye :S) and then its TRANSDUCED (big word that means transformed from 1 energy source to another) into electrical signals and sent to the brain....(HERE COMES EVEN MORE SCIENCE)...The signals then undergo NEURAL PROCESSING and dependent on the type of signal...

(2 examples of a type of signal are Auditory (To do with sound) or Visual (Duh!) )

...they end up somewhere in the brain and then comes step 3.

3 - INTERPRETATION 

This is where we actually recognise the stimulus. Once recognised we react in 1 way or another to the stimulus... Each person's reaction to a stimulus is totally unique, which in turn means that no 2 people will ever think the exact same thing on any 1 subject in particular.

...

(P.S Did I Mention That all 3 Steps take place in well under a second!?!?!?)

I'm Such A Nerd...(I Know This)

... Now to apply the concept of perception to the Lady Gaga Image.

From the picture on the left I (involuntarily) chose the thunderbolt as my stimulus.

...And my reaction to this stimulus?

..... Where on earth does Lady Gaga gets her (so called) 'Fashion' ideas from?!?!?!?

.... What does all this perception malarkey have to do with Marketing??....

Well. To keep it short, sweet and a little spicy... 

The way Customers (Grease Monkeys) select what they buy is due to the phenomenon that we call Perception. 

Think about the last pair of shoes/trainers you bought... They STOOD OUT in some way... whether it was coz you saw someone wearing them or because of personal preference. You perceived them to be good enough for you and you bought them! (Simplez!)

And there you have it...That's Mr Laissez-Faire's High Definition Definition of Perception.

Before I Go I Leave You With 2 Links

(All To Do With Perception *Nerd Face*)

1 - The Homer Simpson Perception Method

2 - Laissez-Faire's Tune Of The Moment: Crazy Cousinz feat. Kimona - I See You

 

Muchas Gracias Dudes!

Mr Laissez-Faire

- Many thanks to Kendra Cherry and Mary Brignall for allowing me to reproduce their work -

Check out Kendra Cherry's Guide To Perception