Attitude Formation and Change

What is an attitude?
 A learned predisposition to respond to an
object or a class of objects in a consistently
favorable or unfavorable way.

 Attitudes are relatively enduring.

 Attitudes are situation-related.

 Functions of Attitudes
 Utilitarian function

 Ego-defensive function

 Knowledge function

 Value-expressive function
 How do we form attitudes?
 Three different paths to attitude formation:

 Attitudes are created by first creating beliefs.

 Consumer beliefs are the knowledge that a consumer
has about objects, their attributes, and the benefits
provided by the objects.
 Consumer beliefs are created by processing
information--cognitive learning.
 Forming Attitudes, continued
 Attitudes are created directly.
 Behavioral learning
 Mere exposure

 Attitudes are created by first creating behaviors.

 Consumers respond to strong situational or
environmental forces, and after engaging in the
behavior, form attitudes about the experience.
 Structural Model of Attitude
 Tricomponent Attitude Model
 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
 The emotions or feelings associate with 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.
 Measurement Models of Attitude
 Multiattribute model
 Fishbein and Azjen
 Measures attitude score using consumers’ beliefs
and evaluations about attributes of the attitude
object.
 Several different contexts in which attitude scores are
measured.
 Attitude-toward-the-object model
 Attitude-toward-the-behavior model
 Multiattribute Model
Aj = ∑BijIi

Where:
i = attribute or product characteristic
j= brand
Such that:
A = the consumer’s attitude score for brand j
I = the importance weight given to attribute i by the
consumer
B = the consumer’s belief as to the extent to which a
satisfactory level of attribute i is offered by brand j
 Understanding the Multiattribute
Model
 All relevant product attributes, based on
consumers’ perceptions, need to be included in
the model to provide dimensionality.

 Even though there may be several relevant

attributes, they are not generally equally
important. The importance weight of the formula
allows adjustment of the importance of each
attribute individually.
 Understanding the Multiattribute
Model...
 Beliefs represent the extent to which each
product offers satisfaction for the attribute in
question.

 Compensatory model.
 Advantages of Multiattribute
Model
 Clearly shows what is important to consumers
about a given product.
 Shows how well brands do relative to each
other.
 Shows how well a specific brand does with
respect to attributes perceived as important to
consumers.
 Weakness of
Multiattribute Model
 Not a perfect predictor of consumer behavior
 Lots of variables determine behavior in
addition to attitude:
 Involvement
 Friends
 Family
 Financial resources
 Availability of product
 Theory of Reasoned Action
 Extends multiattribute model; tries to compensate for
the inability of the multiattribute model to predict
behavior.
 Assumes that consumers consciously consider the
consequences of alternative behaviors under
consideration and choose the one that leads to the
most desirable consequences.
 The outcomes of this reasoned choice process is an
intention to engage in a selected behavior--behavioral
intention.
 Theory of Reasoned Action
B~BI = Aact(w1) + SN(w2)
Where:
B = a specific behavior
BI = consumer’s intention to engage in that
behavior
Aact = consumer’s attitude toward engaging in that
behavior
SN = subjective norm regarding whether other
people want the consumer to engage in that
behavior
w1 & w2 = weights that reflect the relative influence of
the Aact and SN components on BI
 Simplified Version
Beliefs that
Beliefs that specific Motivation
the behavior Evaluation referents think to comply
leads to of the I should or with the
certain outcomes should not specific
outcomes perform the referents
behavior

Attitude toward
Subjective Norm
the behavior

Intention

Behavior
 Comparing A vs. Aact

Car (A) Buying a New Car this

Year (Aact)
Moderately priced (+) Gives me a mode of transportation (+)

Ordinary (-) Will put me in financial difficulty (-)

Well-built (+) Will lead to high upkeep costs (-)

Dependable (+) Will cost more now than later (-)

Easily serviced (+) Will lead to high insurance rates (-)

 Attitude-toward-the-Ad Model
 Very specific to understanding the impact of
advertising on consumer attitudes about a
particular product or brand.

 Exposure to advertising affects attitude-

toward-the ad and attitude-toward-the brand.
 Attitude-toward-the-Ad Model
 Very specific to understanding the impact of
advertising on consumer attitudes about a
particular product or brand.
 Exposure to advertising directly affects beliefs
about the ad and brand, and feelings about the
ad.
 Exposure to advertising indirectly affects attitude
toward the brand and attitude toward the ad.
 Exposure to ad

Judgments about Feelings from

the ad (cognition) the ad (affect)

Beliefs about Attitude toward

the brand the ad

Attitude toward
the brand
 How Can Marketers
Change Attitudes?
 Alter components of multiattribute model
 Increase belief ratings for the brand
 Increase the importance of a key attribute
 Decrease the importance of a weak attribute
 Add an entirely new attribute
 Decrease belief ratings for competitive brands
 Changing attitudes….
 Change beliefs and attitudes through
persuasion

 Elaboration likelihood model of persuasion

(ELM)
Motivation Ability
to to
Elaborate Elaborate

Amount
of
High Elaboration Low

Central Peripheral
Route to Route to
Persuasion Persuasion

Message Peripheral
Arguments Cues
Determine Determine
persuasion persuasion
 Belief and
High-involvement Cognitive Behavior
attitude
processing responses change
Central change
route

Communication
Attention and
(source,message,
comprehension
channel)

Peripheral
route Low-involvement Belief Behavior Attitude
processing change change change
 Changing attitudes...
 Changing attitudes directly though behavior

 Cognitive Dissonance Theories

 Balance Theory
 Social Judgment Theory

 Attribution Theory
 Balance Theory
 Consumers strive for consistency between
interconnected attitudes.

 Marketers can influence attitudes by creating

imbalance within the target of persuasion--
motivates consumer to change one or more of
the interconnected attitudes to restore balance.
 Social Judgment Theory
 Consumers use attitudes as a frame of reference to judge
new information.
 If high involvement:
 Narrow latitude of acceptance
 Wide latitude of rejection
 Assimilation effect
 Contrast effect
 If low involvement:
 Wide latitude of acceptance
 Wide latitude of noncommitment
 Attribution Theory
 Consumers make inferences about behaviors,
assign causality--blame or credit--to events on the
basis of their or others’ behaviors.
 In the process of assigning causality, form
attitudes.
 Marketing implications:
 Offer high quality products
 Advertising should emphasize quality.
 Moderate-sized incentives.