Vicarious learning: definition and examples

The vicarious or social learning points out that not only do you learn from your own experience but you learn from someone else's experience, either by information or modeling, that is, by observing what happens to others or by the information received about the fact. Of course, the role model must be desirable or attractive to the individual to the point that they want to imitate him, resemble him. In this Online Psychology article we are going to offer you a definition of vicarious learning with examples so that you better understand what it refers to.

Index

1. Consumer behavior
2. Consumer education and behavior
3. Vicarious learning
4. The role of consumers
5. The role of society in consumption
6. Conclusions

For Consumer Behavior it is understood those "activities of the individual oriented to the acquisition and use of goods and / or services" (Providencia s.f.), such actions are determined by a myriad of social, psychological, environmental factors, among others. Especially the

It is interesting to question how consumers make their decisions at the time of purchase, since the classical economists' idea that these decisions are rational and conscious is a bit far from reality. Emotions and preconceptions and irrational ideas play a large role in making decisions when choosing (Swartz 2010). For this reason it is possible that marketers and advertisers use strategies that reach that emotional world of the individual.

Consumer behavior is strongly ingrained in its social and family environment, what can be thought that learning by modeling, vicarious or social is the appropriate framework to come to understand said behavior, or at least to create marketing strategies that seduce the individual to buy a certain product.

In the field of education it has been said that should be taught by example, because children learn, initially and later, with the imitation of their parents, teachers, classmates and the social group with which they live. That is what vicarious, social or modeling learning is about, in the ability that humans, and also animals, have to learn behaviors by observing their similar to doing something, “refer to the behavioral, cognitive and affective changes produced in a subject, derived from observing one or more models” (Schunk, 1997, cited by Cabrera, 2010, p. 1).

It should be noted from this type of learning that the acquisition of a new behavior can occur immediately no need for a gradual process learning (Cabrera, 2010, p. 1) and without the presence of an obvious reinforcement (Ruiz Ahmed, 2010, p. 2) as occurs in classical or operant conditioning.

Bandura was the American psychologist who developed the theory of vicarious learning by observing that there is a cognitive process behind the observation and the decision to imitate the behaviors of others people. To take social learning, the following phases must be met (Ruiz Ahmed, 2010, p. 4):

Pay attention to the model. It is necessary that the model meets the requirements of being attractive and influential in the subject, meeting certain similarities among other characteristics to catch the learner's attention.

You must have the ability to retain and remember the behavior of the model to be able to imitate it later.

Then it is passed to the reproduction of the behavior, to its imitation, for this the apprentice must have the ability to do it, for example, Maybe a person who sees an acrobat perform her exercises cannot imitate him because he lacks the ability, however an acrobat can improve your skills by watching your teachers perform their exercises, even if you just watch a video or view it on your imagination.

Of course, for this to be possible it is necessary that the person is motivated to take the action that she pretends to imitate.

For the psychologist Cabrera (2010), there are 14 assumptions about vicarious learning concluding that:

• Any subject, regardless of her age, can learn by observation, from another (or with greater intensity if it is done by others), if the circumstances of the model or models are similar to yours.
• For this, it is only necessary that there is a communication channel and have the intellectual and motor skills to carry out said behavior.
• This learning is immediate and can be unconscious (p. 6)
• In such a way that under these circumstances, it can be said that thanks to vicarious learning the conditions to understand how the market can reach the market consumers are given, because it is the possibility of creating ideal and desirable consumer models so that they want and learn to consume what they are offers.

One of the marketing premises says that “a satisfied consumer is our best advertising” (Sahui Maldonado, 2008, p. 72), not only because it provides information to other buyers about the product, but it also becomes a model for other buyers. Although there are many variables that interact in the decision of a consumer, this work focuses on the role that the advertising model plays in reflecting the taste of society that allows the technological market to understand the product with the consumer by giving it an image that reflects the tastes and needs of the buyer.

The role that consumers assume in the chain of commerce of a product should also be highlighted, as indicated by Kotler when pointing out the 5 possible consumer roles:

• Initiator: is the first person who recommends or has the idea of ​​consuming the product or service.
• Influencer: is a person whose opinions or advice have some weight in making the final decision.
• Deciding: is the person who ultimately determines the consumption decision.
• Buyer: is the person who makes the purchase.
• User: is the person (or people) that consumes or uses the product or service (cited by Sahui Maldonado, 2008, p. 66)

In this sense, it is seen how the role of the consumer is of vital importance to induce a purchase as a satisfied customer and, to that extent, increasingly the marketing "voice by voice ”is imposed by having him as a satisfied customer that influences as a model that reflects his willingness to buy a certain product and influences others to do so.

And it is that in marketing you must take into account what are the social factors that influence the consumer, which are basically three groups: the primary, secondary and the reference group. The first is the family and friends group, the second is the institutions and groups that are close to the individual, such as political groups, the school, among others. The third are the social groups to which the person wishes to belong, where the social leaders, politicians, athletes and others that have influence on the whole of society thanks to the support of the media that highlight them (Providencia, s.f. p. 4).

The role of society when consuming and deciding what items to buy to satisfy needs is vital for the market, as they set trends and tastes and, to that extent, create desirable models that give the impulse to be followed. Especially if one takes into account that the communication channels between the buyer and his model do not necessarily have to interact with each other, that is, and, as Cabrera (2010) points out, it is an unconscious process where both the model and the learner do not know that there is a relationship of modeling or social learning, they are only there. And it is precisely this possibility of the model replicating itself in society that advertising takes to create an image that sells by modeling.

That is why advertising must be eye-catching, sticky and generate public comment. It is to enter the first phase of vicarious learning, that they pay attention to your advertisement and it becomes a social event that is replicated in the consumer. Of course, not all the recipients of the ad will turn to buying the product, but its existence has been made known in the market, covering an important point in the marketing, to provide information about a product and that it meets a need, that is, there is "a difference between its real state and a desired state" (Sahui Maldonado, 2008, p. 68), therefore there will be a possibility for the person to buy the product.

The similarities between business strategies and vicarious learning, in the sense that it presents a model to follow according to the models presented by society.

It can be observed that there is great similarity between marketing strategies and vicarious learning in both the phases of this and in the previous assumptions, that is, the expectations as the way in which the vicarious learning occurs and is intended Influencing the consumer can accomplish the same phases of catching the learner's or consumer's attention, entering their mind as an image, or information to be remembered later, find a reason to later reproduce the desired behavior, buy and enjoy the product.

How social learning is given immediately, unconsciously and without the need for a process of practice and knowledge development, as there is no need to be face-to-face and follow-up of the learner is ideal for inducing a behavior desired by the learners. markets. It is only necessary to create a desirable model and close to the social groups that it is intended to reach.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Vicarious learning: definition and examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Social psychology.

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