Post on 22-Dec-2015
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 marketer’s 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. Marketer’s 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 consumer’s 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 consumer’s 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 consumer’s 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 person’s 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
person’s intention to behave 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, 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
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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