Chapter 6

Consumer Attitudes

Consumer Attitudes
What Are Attitudes?

In a consumer behavior context, they are

learned predispositions to behave in a
consistently favorable or unfavorable way
with respect to a given object (e.g., people,
places, products, services or events)
Attitudes are not observable; thus attitude
research is important for marketers
Attitudes are Learned
We are not born with attitudes
Attitudes relative to purchase behavior are
formed as a result of
1. direct experience with the product
2. word-of-mouth
3. exposure to mass media advertising, the
internet, and direct marketing
Attitudes are not synonymous with behavior
Attitudes may result from behavior
Attitudes Have Consistency

Attitudes are not permanent and can and do

change
Once attitudes develop, they are not always
easy to change
Often the goal of marketing is to change
attitudes about a product or company
Circumstances sometimes preclude
consistency between attitudes and behavior
Attitudes Occur Within a Situation

How attitudes affect behavior depends on the

situation in which the behavior occurs
Thus a specific situation may cause
consumers to behave in ways that are
inconsistent with their attitudes
From a marketers perspective, it is important
to consider the situation in which the behavior
takes place, or one might misinterpret the
relationship between attitude and behavior
Sources of Attitudes

Three Major Influences on Attitude

Formation
1. Personal experience
2. Influence of family and friends
3. Exposure to direct marketing and mass-
media
1. Personal Experience

The primary basis on which attitudes towards

goods and services are formed
Free products, cents-off promotions, etc.
Marketers goal is to get consumers to try a
product and, hopefully, develop a positive
attitude towards it
2. Influence of Family & Friends

Family and friends are a major influence on

our values, beliefs and attitudes
We carry over into adulthood many of the
attitudes we developed as children
Our peer and social groups also influence our
attitudes
3. Direct Marketing & Mass Media

Direct marketers are able to use new

technologies to target smaller and smaller
market segments
As a result, many solicitations are highly
personalized and have the capacity to create
favorable attitudes towards their products
Television, radio, newspapers and magazines
provide marketers with unlimited
opportunities to create positive attitudes
towards their products
The Functions of Attitudes
Attitudes can be classified into four
functions:
1. Utilitarian Function
2. Ego-defensive Function
3. Value-expressive Function
4. Knowledge Function
1. Utilitarian Function

We have a favorable attitude towards a

product because it has been useful in the
past
Marketers may stress the utilitarian feature or
may suggest uses of the product that may not
be obvious
2. Ego-defensive Function

Products that we purchase to protect our self-

images, to replace our sense of insecurity
with personal confidence
3. Value-expressive Function

We often express our personal values

through the brands we purchase and own
Marketers often attempt to identify their
brands with these values
4. Knowledge Function

Consumers generally have a strong need to

know and understand the people and things
they come in contact with
Many product and brand positioning
strategies are based on an attempt to satisfy
this need to know
Relation Between Attitude and Behavior

It is fair to say that attitudes at least

sometimes guide behavior
Thus it is important for marketers to
understand the role of attitudes in purchase
situations
Structural Models of Attitudes

In order to understand the link between attitude and

behavior, psychologists have developed models to
help understand attitude
The focus has been on specifying the composition of
an attitude to better explain or predict behavior.
They have identified the following attitude models:
The traditional/tricomponent model
The multi-attribute model
The theory of reasoned action (TORA)
Traditional/Tri-Component Model

According to this model, attitude consists of

three components:
1. Cognitive component
2. Affective component
3. Behavioral/conative component
1. Cognitive Component
The knowledge and perceptions we have
about the object
Based on personal experience with the object
and information from various sources (e.g.,
opinions of others, ads, articles, etc.)
This knowledge and perceptions commonly
take the form of beliefs
2. Affective Component

A consumers emotions or feelings about a

particular product or brand
Generally a reaction to the cognitive aspect
of the attitude
Our emotional state may amplify positive or
negative experiences, which then have an
effect on our attitude
3. Behavioral/Conative Component
Is concerned with the likelihood or tendency
that a consumer will undertake a specific
action or behave in a particular way regarding
the attitude object
Frequently treated as a consumers intention
to buy
Implications for Marketing Strategy

When marketers use the traditional model to

create or change attitudes, they use the
various components as follows:
1. At the cognitive level with information
2. At the affective level with emotionally toned
messages
3. At the behavioral level with incentives (samples,
coupons, rebates)
The Multi-Attribute Model of Attitudes

There are many variations on this model

They include:
1. The attitude toward the object model

2. The attitude toward the behavior model

3. The theory of reasoned action model

1. Attitude toward the object model

Model is especially suitable for measuring

attitudes toward a product or service category
or specific brands
Holds that a consumers attitude towards a
product or brands of a product is a function of
the presence (or absence), and an evaluation
of, certain product-specific beliefs or
attributes
 Consumers generally have favorable
attitudes toward brands they believe have an
adequate level of attributes they evaluate as
positive
Consumers have negative attitudes toward
brands they feel do not have an adequate
level of desired attributes or have too many
negative or undesired attributes
2. Attitude toward behavior model

A persons attitude toward behaving or acting

with respect to an object, rather than toward
the object itself
Not uncommon for consumers to have a
positive attitude toward an object but a
negative attitude toward purchasing it
3. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TORA)

According to this model, behavior is determined by a

persons intention to behave
To understand intention, we also need to measure
the subjective norms that influence an individuals
intention to act
A subjective norm can be measured directly by
assessing a consumers feelings as to what relevant
others (family, friends, co-workers) would think of
the action contemplated
Attitude Change

Attitude change is an issue for every

marketer
New entrants into the market need to change
the attitude of consumers that support
purchases from market leaders
Market leaders need to strengthen the
positive attitudes of their customers to retain
their market share
Attitude change strategies

Competitors can try to change the attitudes

of the market leaders customers in several
ways:
1. Comparative advertising
2. Emphasizing brand attributes
3. Adding new attributes
4. Providing knowledge of alternatives
5. Changing the relative value of attributes
1. Comparative Advertising

Identifying a major competitor and explaining

why your product is superior in one or more
ways

http://nonemore.keenspace.com/souprivalry.s
sf
2. Emphasizing Brand Attributes

Identifies and highlights features of the

product that consumers may not be familiar
with or that may be new or innovative
3. Adding attributes

Can involve
Stressing an attribute that has been ignored; or
Adding an attribute that represents an
improvement or technological innovation
4. Providing knowledge of alternatives or
consequences
Providing consumers with evidence, facts or
figures enable them to make informed
choices between competing brands
5. Changing the relative value of attributes

Often a market for a particular type of product

is divided so that different market segments
are offered different brands, each with
different features or benefits
When this occurs, marketers have an
opportunity to persuade consumers to cross
over to their brand