Consumer Behaviour: Attitudes

What are attitudes?

•       A learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007)

 •       Attitudes have an “object”

•       Attitudes are a learned predisposition

–      Can be unlearned

•       Attitudes have a degree of consistency

•       Attitudes have direction, degree, strength and centrality

–      Positive or negative

–      Strength of feelings

–      Closeness to core cultural values

•       Attitudes occur within a situation

Consumer attitude trends

•       By keeping in touch with changing consumer attitudes, marketers are better able to appeal to consumers through their marketing messages and appeals

How are attitudes formed?

•       Conditioning (classical, operant)

–      Learning can occur from repeated exposure to stimuli

–      We are more likely to develop a positive attitude towards behaviour that continually brings rewards

•       Modelling

–      Develop attitudes by watching others that we trust or respect

•       Cognitive Learning

–      Involves problem solving or reaching logical conclusions based on information

Attitude Formation

•       Sources of influence on attitude formation

–      Personal experience

–      Influence of family

–      Direct marketing and mass media

•       Personality factors

Structural Models of Attitudes

•       Tricomponent Attitude Model

•       Fishbein’s Multiattribute Attitude Model

•       The Trying-to-Consume Model

•       Attitude-Toward-the-Ad Model

Simple Representation of the Tricomponent Model

 Components

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

•       Affective: A consumer’s emotions or feelings about a particular product or brand

•       Conative (behavioural): The likelihood or tendency that an individual will undertake a specific action or behave in a particular way with regard to the attitude object

Discussion Question

•       Explain your attitude toward Coventry University based on the tri-component attribute model. 

•       Be sure to isolate the cognitive, affective, and conative elements.

Multi-Attribute Models

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

•       The attitude-toward-object model

•       Attitude is function of evaluation of product-specific beliefs and evaluations

•       Useful to measure attitudes toward brands

•       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

•       Corresponds closely to actual behavior

•       Theory-of-reasoned-action model (Fishbein, 1980)

•       Includes cognitive, affective, and conative components

•       Includes subjective norms in addition to attitude

Theory of Reasoned Action

•       Assumes that attitudes often have many attributes that influence them

•       (The tri-component model assesses a person’s attitude to only one attribute of the attitude)

•       Differs from tri-component model in 4 main areas:

–      Focuses mainly on the affect component

–      Considers the strength of multiple attributes

–      Suggests that attitude affects intentions and this leads
to behaviour

–      Measures strength of attributes

Simple Version of the Theory of Reasoned Action

Functions of attitudes

Attitudes have 4 main motivational functions:

1. Adjustment function

–        Attitudes help consumers adjust to situations

–        People seek out group acceptance in order to gain praise or rewards and avoid punishment

2. Ego defensive function

–        Attitudes are formed to protect the ‘ego’

3. Value expressive function

–        A consumer’s attitudes are often a reflection of their  values

4. Knowledge function

–        Attitudes help consumers make decisions and process and filter information

Discussion Question

Now use the theory of reasoned action to describe your attitude toward your university when deciding on which school to attend

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 consumer’s attitude toward the ad and attitude toward the brand.

Discussion Question

•       A local pizza restaurant is having a hard time attracting customers due to a poor image.  Explain how they can change people’s attitudes by using three of the following:

–      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

Attitude change

•       Two conditions must exist to allow for attitude change:

–      The object of the attitude must no longer provide the satisfaction that it once did

–      Attitudes can change when the consumer’s aspirations change

–      Attitude change occurs when one of the three elements of attitude (affect, cognition, behaviour) undergoes a change

Attitude change via affect

•       Conditioning

–      Build up positive feelings through rewards, positive music or emotive symbols

                Feelings towards adverts/communication

–      If you like the advertisement, there is a greater chance you’ll like the product

–      Using well-liked celebrities

Mere exposure

–      Just showing an advertisement or communication to consumers can lead to a positive attitude

Attitude change via cognition

•       Changing consumer’s beliefs about the attributes of a brand

–      Providing information about the brand

•       Changing consumer beliefs about the ‘ideal’ brand

–      Specify what should be most important about the brand

•       Influencing consumers to change the importance of beliefs about the product

–      Communicate the importance of other attributes

•       Adding new beliefs about the brand

–      ‘Did you know that….?’

Attitude change via behaviour

•       Attitudes can change as a result of behaviour

•       Encourage consumers to try your product. For example, with samples or tastings

•       Encourage new behaviours related to your product (e.g. Encourage exercise to increase lucozade sales)

Changing what is ‘normal’

•       Changing what is viewed as ‘normal’ in a situation

•       For example, attitudes to red meat have changed as a result of campaigns emphasising the benefits of eating red meat

•       Males never drank wine when I was young... Seen as ‘girly’... No longer.

Influences on attitude formation and change

•       Source credibility

–      Attractiveness

–      Expertise

–      Trustworthiness

•       Message characteristics

•       Media characteristics

•       Receiver characteristics

Attitude Measurement

•       Likert scales

–      Used to measure attitudes by offering respondents a list of attitude statements, for example:

Colgate is a brand I can trust.

1. Strongly Disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neither Agree nor Disagree
4. Agree
5. Strongly Agree

•       Semantic differential scales

–      Uses a 7-point rating scale with bipolar labels at the end points

–      Tends to measure a person’s beliefs about a product,