Perception

I think perception is simply how a person interprets the things they see, hear, taste, smell and feel; and how the react to them, conscious and unconsciously. Sight is probably the most important sense we have and the best way to show how people perceive images differently is through optical illusions.

In both the bottom 2 pictures there are different ways of seeing the picture and how a persons perception works will decide which of the pictures they saw.

 "Perception is the process of sensing, selecting & interpreting consumer stimuli in the external world" (Wilkie 1994)

"the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses" (Oxford dictionary)

"Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information about properties and elements of the environment that are critical to our survival. Perception not only creates our experience of the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment." (Kendry Cherry, http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/ss/perceptproc.htm)

The link where I found Cherry's interpretation of perception also has some very useful info on how the perceptual process works.




I think this video from YouTube is not only funny but just shows how different minds work.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udxOFMU46Lc

Honestly, I didn't see it first time but I have shown it to a couple of friends and they were surprised I didn't see as it was obvious to them. But I think it was a good example of how easily something can be missed when you are specifically focusing on something else. So when marketing it would be better to put messages out when the mind is open, even if consumers aren't consciously aware of them, I think possibly introducing it onto buses would be a brilliant idea, as I know when I'm on a bus I completely zone out and just stare out the window so why not communicate to the senses whilst consumers are in that state.