Consumer Attitude Formation and Change

Attitudes
A learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. It is said Attitudes are not directly observable but must be inferred from what people say or what they do.

Conti.
Attitudes can be form for the product, brand, service, advertisement, Internet site, price, medium or retailer. Attitudes relevant to purchase behavior are formed as a result of direct experience with the product, word-of-mouth information acquired from others, or exposure to mass-media advertising or internet.

For eg;
There has been very rapid growth in the sales of natural ingredient bath, body, and cosmetic products throughout the world. This trend seems linked to the currently popular attitude that things natural are good and things synthethic are bad

What are Attitudes?

The attitude object Attitudes are a learned predisposition Attitudes have consistency Attitudes occur within a situation

Structural Models of Attitudes

Tricomponent Attitude Model Muliattribute Attitude Model The Trying-to-Consume Model Attitude-toward-the-Ad Model

Figure 8.2 A Simple Representation of the Tricomponent Attitude Model

Conation

Cognition

Affect

The Tricomponent Model

Cognitive Component
The knowledge and perceptions that are acquired by a combination of direct experience with the attitude object and related information from various sources.

Affective Component
A consumers emotions or feelings about a particular product or brand.

Conative Component
The likelihood or tendency that an individual will undertake a specific action or behave in a particular way with regard to the attitude object.

Selected Evaluative Scale Used to Gauge Consumers

Attitudes Toward Old Spice Afershave

Refreshing Positive Pleasant Appealing to others

Measuring Consumers Feelings and Emotions with Regard to using Spice Aftershave
Relaxed Attractive looking Tight Smooth Supple Clean Refreshed Younger Revived Renewed

Multiattribute Attitude Models

Attitude models that examine the composition of consumer attitudes in terms of selected product attributes or beliefs.

Multiattribute Attitude Models

The attitude-toward-object model
Attitude is function of evaluation of product-specific beliefs and evaluations

The attitude-toward-behavior model

Is the attitude toward behaving or acting with respect to an object, rather than the attitude toward the object itself

Theory-of-reasoned-action model
A comprehensive, integrative model of attitudes

Attitude-Toward-Behavior Model
A model that proposes that a consumers attitude toward a specific behavior is a function of how strongly he or she believes that the action will lead to a specific outcome (either favorable or unfavorable).

Theory of Reasoned Action

A comprehensive theory of the interrelationship among attitudes,intentions, and behavior. (Diagram)

Theory of Trying to Consume

An attitude theory designed to account for the many cases where the action or outcome is not certain but instead reflects the consumers attempt to consume (or purchase).

Attitude-Toward-the-Ad Model
A model that proposes that a consumer forms various feelings (affects) and judgments (cognitions) as the result of exposure to an advertisement, which, in turn, affect the consumers attitude toward the ad and attitude toward the brand.

Issues in Attitude Formation

How attitudes are learned Sources of influence on attitude formation Personality factors

How Attitudes are learned?

When we speak of the formation of an attitude, we refer to the shift from having no attitude toward a given object to having some attitude toward it, which comes to learning.

Conti
Consumers often purchase new products that are associated with a favorably viewed brand name. Their favorable attitude towards the brand name is frequently the result of repeated satisfaction with other products produced by the same company. In terms of classical conditioning, an established brand name is an unconditioned stimulus that through past positive reinforcement resulted in favourable brand attitude.

Conti
Sometimes attitudes follow the purchase and consumption of a product. In situations in which consumers seek to solve a problem or satisfy a need, they are likely to form attitudes (either positive or negative) about products on the basis of information exposure and their cognition.

Sources of Influence on Attitude Formation

The formation of consumer attitudes is strongly influenced by personal experience, the influence of family and friends, direct marketing, & Internet.

Personality Factors
For eg: Personality also plays a critical role in attitude formation. Individuals with a high need for cognition (i.e., those who crave information and enjoy thinking) are likely to form positive attitudes in response to ads or direct mail that are rich in product-related information.

Strategies of Attitude Change

Changing the Basic Motivational Function Associating the Product With an Admired Group or Event Resolving Two Conflicting Attitudes Altering Components of the Multiattribute Model Changing Beliefs About Competitors Brands

Four Basic Attitude Functions

The Utilitarian Function The Ego-defensive Function The Value-expressive Function The Knowledge Function

The Utilitarian Function

We hold certain brand attitudes partly because of a brands utility. When a person has been useful or helped us in the past, our attitude toward it tends to be favourable. For eg; The ad for Lysol points out that this product kills harmful germs.

The Ego-defensive Function

Most people want to protect their selfimages from inner feelings of doubt-they want to replace their uncertainity with a sense of security and personal confidence. For eg: Ads of cosmetics and fashion clothing.

The Value-expressive Function

Attitudes are an expression or reflection of the consumers general values, lifestyle, and outlook. If a consumer segment generally holds a positive attitude toward owning the latest designer jeans, then their attitudes toward new brands of designer jeans are likely to reflect that orientation.

The Knowledge Function

Individuals generally have a strong need to know and understand the people and things they encounter. The consumers, need to know, a cognitive need, is important to marketers concerned with product positioning.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A theory that suggests that a persons level of involvement during message processing is a critical factor in determining which route to persuasion is likely to be effective.

Why Might Behavior Precede Attitude Formation?

Cognitive Dissonance Theory Attribution Theory Behave (Purchase)

Form Attitude

Form Attitude

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Holds that discomfort or dissonance occurs when a consumer holds conflicting thoughts about a belief or an attitude object.

Postpurchase Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance that occurs after a consumer has made a purchase commitment. Consumers resolve this dissonance through a variety of strategies designed to confirm the wisdom of their choice.

Attribution Theory
A theory concerned with how people assign casualty to events and form or alter their attitudes as an outcome of assessing their own or other peoples behavior.

Issues in Attribution Theory

Self-perception Theory
Foot-In-The-Door Technique

Attributions Toward Others Attributions Toward Things How We Test Our Attributions

Self-Perception Theory
A theory that suggests that consumers develop attitudes by reflecting on their own behavior.

Defensive Attribution
A theory that suggests consumers are likely to accept credit for successful outcomes (internal attribution) and to blame other persons or products for failure (external attribution).

Criteria for Causal Attributions

Distinctiveness Consistency Over Time Consistency Over Modality Consensus