• ATTITUDES
• Attitudes are learned predispositions that project
a positive or negative behaviour consistently
toward various objects of the world.
• Attitudes influence the way we think and behave
and are therefore important for the marketers
who study them to understand how a consumer
behaves.
•
Attitudes
have
certain
characteristics.
- Attitudes are formed as we grow up, based on
the environment in which we grow up.
- Attitudes can be either of a high or low degree
and the intensity depends on the strength of
conviction with which the person believes in
them.
- Attitudes serve various functions such as
utilitarian function, value expressive function,
Ego-defense function, and knowledge function.
• Attitude models were developed by psychiatrists to
understand the relationship between attitudes a human
being
and
behaviour
•
•
•
•
•
These models help the marketer in understanding how
attitudes influence a person's behaviour as a consumer.
These models are:
Tri-component model,
Multi-attribute model,
Theory of trying to consume,
and Attitude toward the ad model.
Attitudes are formed through classical conditioning,
instrumental conditioning, and cognitive theory.
• Attitudes are measured using the Semantic
differential scale and Likert's scale to understand
how the consumer might behave toward a
particular product.
• While it is generally accepted that attitudes
influence behaviour, there are some theories that
state that behaviour precedes attitudes. Such
theories are cognitive dissonance theory, selfperception theory, social judgment theory, and
balance theory.
• Attitudes toward a product can be changed by
highlighting new functions of the product, or
by associating them with celebrities, by
changing the beliefs a consumer has regarding
the products, or by getting the consumer
more involved in the product.
Structural Models of Attitudes
Motivated by a desire to understand the
relationship between attitudes and behavior,
psychologists have sought to construct models that
capture the underlying dimensions of an attitude.
Multiattribute Attitude Models
Multiattribute attitude models portray consumers’
attitudes with regard to an attitude object (e.g., a
product, service, direct-mail catalog, or cause or
an issue) as a function of consumers’ perception
and assessment of the key attributes or belief held
with regard to the particular attitude object.
three of the main multiattribute models are
the attitude-toward-object model,
the attitude-toward-behavior model,
and the theory-of reasoned-action model.
• The attitude towards objects model
• This model deals with the attitude of
consumers towards a product (or service)
category or specific brands. According to this
model, the consumer’s attitude toward a
product or specific brands of a product is a
function of the presence (or absence) and
evaluation of certain product specific beliefs
and / or attributes.
• Consumers generally have favorable attitudes
toward those brands that they believe have an
adequate level of attributes that they evaluate
as positive, and they have unfavorable
attitude toward those brands they feel do not
have an adequate level of desired attributes or
have too many negative or undesired
attributes.
The Attitude-Toward-Behavior Model
The attitude-toward-behavior model is designed to
capture the individual’s attitude toward behaving or
acting with respect to an object rather than the
attitude toward the object itself. The appeal of the
attitude-toward-behavior model is that it seems to
correspond somewhat more closely to actual
behavior than does the attitude-toward-object
model.
Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Model
The theory-of-reasoned-action (TRA) studies
intention.
To understand intention we also need to measure
the subjective norms that influence an individual’s
intention to act. A subjective norm can be measured
directly by assessing a consumer’s feelings as to what
relevant others (family, friends, roommates,
coworkers) would think of the action being
contemplated; that is, would they look favorably or
unfavorably on the anticipated action?
Theory of Trying-To-Consume Model
The theory of try-to consume is designed to account
for the many cases in which the action or outcome is
not certain but instead reflects the consumer’s
attempts to consume (i.e., purchase). A consumer
may sometimes buy a tie just to make it go with a
newly purchased suit.
Attitude-Toward-The-AD Models
In an effort to understand the impact of advertising or
some other promotional vehicle (e.g., a catalog) on
consumer attitudes toward particular products or
brand, considerable attention has been paid to
developing what has been referred to as attitudetoward-the-ad models.
These feelings and judgments in turn affect the
consumer’s attitude toward the ad and beliefs about
the brand secured from exposure to the ad. Finally, the
consumer’s attitude toward the ad and beliefs about
the brand influence his or her attitude toward the
brand.
Attitude Formation
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 . The shift from no attitude to
an attitude (i.e., the attitude formation) is a result of learning.
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, mass media, and the Internet.
Personality Factors
Personality also plays a critical role in attitude
formation. For example, 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.
On the other hand, consumers who are relatively
low in need for cognition are more likely to form
positive attitudes in response to ads that feature
an attractive model or well-known celebrity.
Strategies of Attitude Change
Changing the Basic Motivational Function
An effective strategy for changing consumer attitudes toward
a product or brand is to make particular needs prominent.
One method for changing motivation is known as the
functional approach. According to this approach, attitudes can
be classified in terms of four functions the utilitarian function,
the ego-defensive function, the value-expressive function,
and the knowledge function.
The Ego-Defensive Function
Most people want to protect their self-images from
inner feelings of doubt-they want to replace their
uncertainly with a sense of security and personal
confidence. Ads for cosmetics and fashion clothing,
by acknowledging this need, increase both their
relevance to the consumer and the likelihood of a
favorable attitude change by offering reassurance to
the consumer’s self-concept.
It is important for a brand attempting this approach
to use appropriate imagery in the execution of an
advertisement.
The Value-Expressive Function
Attitudes are an expression or reflection of the
consumer’s general values, lifestyle, and outlook. If a
consumer segment generally holds a positive
attitude toward owning the latest designer jeans,
then their attitudes towards a p;air of designer jeans
are likely to reflect that orientation. Similarly, if a
segment of consumers has a positive attitude toward
being “high tech”, then their attitude towards thin
wall-mountable HDTV sets are likely to reflect this
view point.
The Knowledge Function
Individuals generally have a strong need to know and
understand the people and things they encounter. The
consumer’s “need to know”, a cognitive need, is important to
marketers concerned with product positioning. Indeed, many
product and brand positioning are attempts to satisfy the
need to know and to improve the consumer’s attitude
towards the brand by emphasizing its advantages over
competitive brands.
•
Targeting this function, marketers can explain the
advantages of certain brands to make brands competitive. In
a competitive context, brands get associated with several
features and benefits. This approach of attitude creation is
useful in durable categories like TVs, refrigerators, and
washing machines.
Altering Components of the Multiattribute Model
• Changing the Relative Evaluation of Attributes
• Changing Brand Beliefs
• Adding an Attribute
• Changing the Overall Brand Rating
• Changing Components of The Multiattribute Model
as Needed
• Changing Beliefs about Competitors’ Brands
The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
According to this model the attitude formation or
attitude change process depends on the amount and
nature of elaboration and or processing of relevant
information that occurs in response to a persuasive
message.
High elaboration means the receiver engages in
careful consideration, thinking and evaluation of the
information and arguments contained in the
message.
• Low elaboration occurs when the receiver does not
engage in active information processing or thinking
but rather makes but makes inferences about the
message based on hints.
• The ELM model depends o two -motivation and
ability to process the message.
• Motivation to process the message depends on such
factors as involvement,personal relevance and
individuals’ needs and arousal levels.
• Ability depends on the individuals’s
knowledge,
intellectual
ability
and
opportunity to process the message.
ELM model proposes that consumer attitudes are
changed by two distinctly different “routes to
persuasion”: a central route or a peripheral route.
• The central route is particularly relevant to attitude
change when a consumer’s motivation or ability to
assess the attitude object is high; that is, attitude
change occurs because the consumer actively seeks
out information relevant to the attitude object itself.
The Ideal Point Model (IPM)
Given the diversity of segments and preferences in
the emerging market (with associated demographics
and psychographics), the ideal point model (IPM) is
used to explore the different dimensions associated
with attitudes toward existing brands.
This opens up several possibilities for brand managers
to segment the market based on attitudinal aspects.
Practicing marketing managers find the IPM model
effective in measuring attitudes. The model captures
consumer perception on the “ideal” brand (with ideal
features) and compares their perception on existing
brands.
Cognitive dissonance theory
According to this theory, discomfort or dissonance
occurs when a consumer holds conflicting thoughts
about a belief or an object. For eg. When consumers
have made a commitment-made a down payment or
placed an order for a product, particularly an
expensive one- they often begin to feel cognitive
dissonance i.e. doubts whether they have made the
right choice or not specially when they think of the
products whcih they did not select for buying.
• When cognitive dissonance occurs after a
purchase, it is called post purchase
dissonance. Because purchase decisions often
require some amount of compromise, post
purchase dissonance is quite normal.
Nevertheless, it is likely to leave consumers
with an uneasy feeling about their prior
beliefs or actions – a feeling that they would
seek to resolve by changing their attitude to
conform to their behavior.
In the case of post purchase dissonance, attitude change is
frequently an outcome of an action or behavior. The
conflicting thoughts and dissonant information following a
purchase are prime factors that induce consumers to change
their attitudes about a particular product.what makes
postpurchase dissonance relevant to marketing strategists is
the premise that dissonance propels consumers to reduce the
unpleasant feelings created by the rival thoughts.
Attribution Theory
As a group of loosely interrelated social psychological
principal, attribution theory attempts to explain how people
assign causality (e.g., blame or credit) to events on the basis
of either their own behavior or the behavior of others. In
other words, a person might say. “I contributed to the CRY
because it really helps children in need.”
• Foot-In-The-Door Technique Self-perception
researchers have explored situations in which
consumer compliance with a minor request
affects subsequent compliance with more
substantial request. This strategy, which is
commonly referred to as the foot-in-thetechnique.
Self-perception Theory
Of the various perspectives on attribution theory
that have been proposed, self-perception theory –
individuals’ inference or judgments as to the cause of
their own behavior – is a good beginning point for a
discussion of attribution.
In terms of consumer behavior, self-perception
theory suggests that attitudes develop as consumers
look at and make judgments about their own
behavior