The second major form of behavioral learning is called instrumental conditioning. So what is the difference here? Well, whereas responses in classical conditioning are involuntary and fairly simple, we make those in instrumental conditioning deliberately to obtain a goal. So in instrumental conditioning, we may learn a desired behavior over a period of time as a shaping process rewards our intermediate actions. For example, the owner of a new store may award prizes to shoppers who simply drop in. She hopes that over time, they'll continue to drop in and eventually even buy something.

So for example, if you're standing in front of a vending machine, and you can choose from a variety of options, the option that you choose will either be rewarding or it won't. And if you choose the right option, And you're happy with the result, then learning will occur. In these situations learning occurs because we are reinforced for doing certain behaviors. In other words, instrumental conditioning occurs when a person receives rewards, or perhaps punishments following a behavior. Now, where things get interesting is when we look more specifically at how these rewards are delivered, that is, what is the reinforcement schedule that is being used. Let's review some of the major forms of reinforcement schedules and talk about why it's important for marketers to understand how these schedules work.

First, let's talk about fixed interval reinforcement. This means That after a specific time period has passed, the first response you make brings a reward. So, under such conditions, people tend to respond slowly right after they get reinforced. But their responses get faster as the time for the next reinforcement approaches. For example, consumers may crowd into a store for the last day of its seasonal sale, and not reappear in the store until the next sale. Variable interval reinforcement means that the time that must pass before you get reinforced, varies based on some average because you don't know exactly when to expect the reinforcement, you have to respond at a consistent rate.

This is the logic behind retailers use of so called secret shoppers. People who periodically test for service quality when they pose as customers at unannounced times. Because store employees never know exactly when to expect a visit, they have to maintain high quality constantly, just in case. Another kind of schedule is a fixed ratio reinforcement. In these situations, reinforcement occurs only after a fixed number of responses. This schedule motivates you to continue performing the same behavior over and over.

For example, you might keep buying groceries at the same store in order to earn a prize when you collect 50 register receipts. And finally, we have variable ratio reinforcement, where you get reinforced after a certain number of responses, but you don't know how many responses are required. People in these situations tend to respond at very high and steady rates and this type of behavior is very difficult to extinguish. This is exactly how slot machines work, and how they keep so many people captivated for hours and hours at a time. To show you one example of instrumental conditioning that you might find interesting. In one study, a life insurance company obtained a much higher rate of policy renewals among a group of new customers who received a thank you letter after each payment compared to a control group that did not receive any communication.

So the thank you letter is a fairly low cost way of reinforcing the behavior of your customers. Frequency marketing is a popular instrumental conditioning technique. It rewards regular purchasers with prizes that get better as they spend more so the frequent flyer programs that most airlines are for are a wonderful example of this kind of instrumental conditioning, especially when you consider the escalating reward scale that they're going to use.