Chapter 20 of PSYCHOMarketing by Roger Nichols
The Gestalt principles are a set of laws that became prominent in the 1920s, post-World War I psychology. They explain how humans perceive objects by grouping similar elements, unraveling patterns, and streamlining complex images. It is largely dependent on perception, which is why most designers use this theory to interact with users through some tricks.
Background of the Principles
“Gestalt” is German for “unified whole.” The Gestalt principles of grouping stem from the work of German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler. The trio were interested in uncovering how humans distinguish and interpret meaningful perceptions from the chaotic impetuses they are exposed to. They created an arrangement of laws that would explain this characteristic impulse to look for meaning in the midst of turmoil, wherein the mind advises what the eye sees by explaining a progression of components as a single picture, or a deception. After their discovery, early graphic designers adopted the Gestalt principles in advertising, which led to the establishment of company logos. The basic idea of the Theory can be summed up in a quote by Kurt Koffka, which says the mind comprehends external stimuli as whole, as opposed to the sum of the parts. Some of the most prominent Gestalt principles recognized and adopted include:
Closure (Reification)
A situation wherein complete shapes are preferred, and the gaps between elements are filled automatically by the mind, to create the impression of a complete image, thereby making the whole come first.
Common Fate
Components that move toward a similar direction are lumped together.
Common Region
Elements that are in the same neighboring region are grouped.
Continuation
Lines are followed and adhered to.
Convexity
Convex shapes are perceived ahead of concave ones.
Element Connectedness
Components intertwined with other elements are grouped.
Figure/Ground (Multi-stability)
Disliking uncertainty, the mind seeks solid and stable items, with this exception: if a picture is genuinely vague, its foregrounded qualities attract the attention of others first.
Good Form
Components are differentiated by separating them out from others and grouping those with similar color, form, and pattern.
Meaningfulness (Familiarity)
Grouping elements that paint a meaningful image or are coherent.
Prägnanz
Vague images are perceived as simple.
Proximity (Emergence)
Elements that are seen as close are kept together and separated from those that are their direct opposites.
Regularity
Unless a picture is indeed vague, its foreground aspects grab attention the first time it is seen.
Similarity (Invariance)
We focus on the differences and similarities in an image before associating or connecting similar components.
Symmetry
Balance is in the focus, and we do not rest until it is achieved.
Synchrony
Fixed visual elements that appear at the same time are grouped.
It is noteworthy that the Gestalt principles work better with the human psyche than they do with our sense of sight. They are conceived rather than perceived. They are employed by UX designers (that is, designers who build the interface of applications and enhance user satisfaction with a product by improving its usability and accessibility). UX designers’ understanding of the theory makes it easy for them to build interfaces that the user does not find too complex. A decent model is the standards of vicinity and basic district. Without it, clients will battle to create relationships between inconsequential grouped-together things. This is why software and game designers try, as much as possible, not to confuse users with an overwhelming number of options; the trick is to keep it simple and straightforward. It is important that advertisers avoid using ambiguous images with layers of meanings, as this could be too much for the consumer to handle.
In closure (reification), we identify an element, but deconstructing it into its different components requires significant exertion. Although the Gestalt principles are universal to the experience of human beings, it is also key to ensuring that proper colors are used. They have to be appropriate and not offend the sensibility of a cultural group or race.
For instance, in 2017, Pepsi had to pull down an advertisement featuring Kendall Jenner because the Black community perceived the commercial as trivializing the “Black Lives Matters” movement. The Gestalt law is also often called “Law of Simplicity” or the “Law of Pragnanz” (meaning the whole figure or configuration), and it means that every stimulus is sensed in its simplest form. Basically, Gestalt theorists follow a main principle that states the whole of a thing is bigger than the total sum of its parts. Simply put, a car or a picture, as a whole, has a totally different or bigger meaning than the parts it is consisted of: the painting, the body parts, brush, or canvas. In viewing the “whole,” what takes place is a cognitive process in which the human mind takes a leap from just understanding the separate parts to getting the whole picture. Human beings often create a visual image and mentally create harmony or structure out of the chaos of disconnected bits of information. The focal point of Gestalt Theory is grouping, which is the ability to interpret visual objects in a peculiar way.
Application of the Theory
Gestalt Theory can be adapted to all aspects of human learning, especially problem-solving situations. Many marketers and psychologists were influenced by Gestalt Theory, and it is evident in their work. Psychologists like American James Jerome Gibson cannot deny the influence of the theory in their work. The principle laid down by the theory stipulates that it is vital, and learners are urged to discover the foundation of a problem by investigating the connection between all the elements involved. The principle also stipulates that the vital parts of the impetus for learning are gaps, disturbances, and incongruities. It also states that instructions should be predicated on the rules of grouping elements, and they, in turn, should be based on simplicity, proximity, similarity, and closure.
Even though psychological factors are of utmost importance, they cannot be achieved in seclusion. Similarly, they do not explain the full extent of consumers’ behavior. The psychological factors that influence consumers’ behavior are interrelated into socio-economical, statistical, regional, cultural, and structural processes. With the ever-evolving trend that permeates the 21st century, it is imperative to consider the psychology of the market and recognize the necessities, attitudes, and objectives, or targets.
Application of some Gestalt Theory principles
The student should be guided to get the kind of challenge with which they are confronted. The interrelatedness of the components should be discovered, as they are key to solving the problem. The teaching, therefore, has to rely on the structure of the topic or problem.
Although they are vital features, psychological features do not define consumer behavior in its totality. Also, they do not work in isolation. Consumer behavior is multifaceted and dynamic: culture, territory, experience, and background are all connected to psychological factors.
Getting the Consumers’ Attention
The early days of consumer behavior were days of observing human beings. Getting people to notice an advertisement required getting them “to pay” attention. This is an odd combination of words, considering that the verb “pay” has to do with money, debt, and other things relating to obligations. Also, to pay attention to an advertisement, or a person, means to place focus on specific sections and ignore the other sections or persons around.
Attention works like a sieve that separates one item from the others. It relies on many other factors during the filtering process. Animals are usually flooded with a wide range of stimuli, but they only pay attention to one stimulus, or a few stimuli, ignoring or suppressing others. The ability of their brains to process sensory information is more limited than the capacity of its receivers to measure the environment. By contrast, an average human is confronted with several volumes of information daily but only pays attention to selected ones.
Attention acts as a filter by selecting some objects from a pool of objects and processing them further. That someone is paying attention to a particular thing does not mean the situation or idea is the only valid object; it means the item, person, or product being paid attention to is the one needed for that period of time. According to David G. Myers (2012), attention can be likened to a beam of light: “Using selective attention, your conscious attention focuses, like a beam of light, on only a very limited aspect of all that you experience.”
Naturally, the five senses act as inlets for information to filter in, before we decide which we one we shall pay attention to. However, for advertising and watching consumer behavior, the sense of sight is more often appealed to than any other. In particular, the most important advertising features are the physical, and they are noticed unconsciously: colors and shapes of packages, promotional materials, advertisements, commercials, and the full range of resources deployed for communication and marketing efforts. James Schwartz and Eric Kandel (2009) define attention as “the acquisition, by the mind, clearly and vividly, of one among the many simultaneously possible objects or chains of thought. The focus, the concentration of consciousness, is part of its essence. It involves the removal of some things so that you can effectively deal with others.” They also divide attention into two types, which they call “voluntary” and “involuntary.”
“Voluntary attention,” according to Schwartz and Kandel, is sustained by automatic neural processes and is particularly evident in implicit memory. Implicit memory, as compared to explicit, or factual memory, deals with emotional memories, which the brain processes differently. Briefly, while you may be able to recollect the facts of your life, you cannot similarly access the emotions that get stored in your so-called implicit “memory bank.” It is activated by a property of the external world, which is the stimulus, and is captured by what they call “great things, shiny things, things in motion or blood.”
“Involuntary attention,” by comparison, is in play when one is driving and paying attention to the road and traffic. It is a particular feature of explicit memory, and it comes from the internal need to process stimuli that are not automatically raised.
It should be noted that individual interests and systems of beliefs, values, exposure, experiences, expectations, and ideas also affect attention, as consumers often pay attention to messages that are in line with their personal biases and reject or distort ones that conflict with their systems. For example, there are individual defense mechanisms against persuasion. These are related to psychological escape from certain messages or refusal to interpret them. In this sense, commercial advertising, by which people have a greater interest in the subject, or at least, no feelings of rejection, will find it easier to have their message or intention accepted and understood.
The more exposed to certain ads a person is, the more attention they will pay to the product, and the more interest they will show. Also, repeated ads and those that continue to expand the limits of creativity tend to creep into people’s consciousness eventually. Repeated ads also mean longer exposure to the campaign. If the ad is one that is in tandem with a person’s belief system, values, and thought patterns, that person will become more convinced. Furthermore, attention always precedes perception. Attention can be termed as central to the entire process, and perception is not at all possible without it. The process of attention serves the various functions in the organization of our perception and other cognitive functions. In short, attention is at the center of the whole process.
Some Functions of Attention
Alerting
When one is in a state of awareness with focus, they are ready to respond immediately. Yet, distraction in a situation like this often creeps in unconsciously. A good example of this is when a parent is talking to a child and instructs the child to pay attention. What the parent demands is that the child stays alert.
Selective
The ability to pick one option is the key thing about attention. Undesired information is removed or ignored, and the one needed is picked for use. A good example of this selectivity is a party where tea is served. If someone takes some snacks and tea while talking with other people, and if, while the conversation is ongoing, someone calls his name from some other section of the party, attention will become divided. It can even be shifted permanently from the ongoing conversation to the place from where the name was called.
Limited Capacity Channel
Human beings generally have a limit to processing available information. What this suggests is that bits of information can be processed one at a time. Some tasks demand that the doer multitasks, and such tasks cannot be done concurrently. Imagine someone who is trying to study while playing music. Both tasks demand some measure of attention, and it is difficult to combine the two—except, perhaps, if the person has mastered the rare ability of combining two dissonant activities.
Vigilance Function
Vigilance is attained when someone pays attention to a continuous assignment for a long while. If the assignment is monotonous, it often leads to complacency or poor performance. An example of this is writing. When a single thing is written repeatedly for a long time, maybe more than a hundred times, the chances of making mistakes after some time become higher, because general fatigue can occur from the monotony. Attention, again, is a process, and it involves filtering information and selecting some for further processing, which leads to perception.
Motivation
As discussed above (page 78), motivation is simply the inner drive that pushes consumers to develop purchasing behavior. The root of the word, “motive,” refers to this inner drive that becomes activated when there is a need. A motive is an impulse that propels an individual to react to a circumstance for one incentive or another. It is essential for sustaining goal-oriented behavior and hard work.
According to Trehan (2009), motives can be defined as relatively enduring, strong, and persistent internal stimuli that arouse and direct behavior toward certain goals. The first stage in the buying process is recognition of need. A need may be defined as the lack of something that is requisite, desirable or useful. There are many reasons why people buy products. It can be for convenience, style, prestige, self-pride, or to be at par with others. If marketers know what creates motivation, they may be able to develop marketing tactics to influence consumers to think about, be involved with, and/or process information about their brand or ad (Smoke, 2009).
If the potential buyer needs the product and does not have it, then the desire and motivation to purchase it spikes. Motivation could be intrinsic, extrinsic, or a combination of both, depending on the circumstances surrounding the person and situation.
“Intrinsic motivation” is the impulse or enthusiasm birthed from endeavoring to accomplish a personal or professional success without any incentive. It is the type of motivation one can only inspire on their own, without pressure from others. It is fueled by the need, hunger, and thirst for satisfaction, and the value one’s achievements provide.
“Extrinsic motivation” is borne out of pressure. It is the impulse to participate in an activity because of the benefits involved, which could be inspired by rewards.
Application of Gestalt Theory
Gestalt Theory can be applied to all aspects of human learning, although it applies most directly to perception and problem- solving. The work of Gibson and several others was strongly influenced by Gestalt Theory.
Example
The classic example of Gestalt principles provided by Wertheimer is children finding the area of parallelograms (i.e., quadrilaterals with opposite sides that are parallel and equal). As long as the parallelograms are regular figures, a standard procedure can be applied (making lines perpendicular from the corners of the base). However, if a parallelogram with a novel shape or orientation is provided, the standard procedure will not work, and children will be forced to solve the problem by understanding the exact structure of a parallelogram (i.e., the figure can be bisected anywhere if the ends are joined).
Accordingly, the student should be encouraged to discover the underlying nature of a topic or problem (i.e., the relationship between the elements). Gaps, incongruities, or disturbances are an essential stimulus for learning. Instruction should also be based upon the laws of organization: proximity, closure, similarity, and simplicity.
Conclusion
Despite being essential, psychological factors are not manifested in isolation and do not fully define consumers’ behavior, which is complex, dynamic, and comprehensively conditioned. Its psychological factors are linked to the operation of socio-economic, demographic, territorial, cultural, and organizational as well as many other factors. Under the modern conditions of collision of national and global trends, it is necessary to pay more attention to the psychology of the market, proper identification of needs, attitudes, and intentions. The specifics of consumer behavior, its dynamics, moments of controversy, satisfaction and other aspects have to be studied in depth, and, ultimately, flexible approaches to stimulate consumer activity will have to be worked out as well. This will ensure a timely adaptation of the activities of commercial companies to the changes in the environment and the current consumer preferences of consumers.