Consumer Attitude

Formation and Change

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Definition of Attitude

Formation of Attitudes

Changing Attitudes
 Attitude

• A settled way of thinking or feeling about

something

• We have attitudes toward many things

(objects):
• People, products, brands, advertisements,
ideas, places, activities.
 One may have Liked
the Product but
Disliked the Ad or Vice
Versa
 Attitude is a learnt
predisposition to
behave in a
Attitude consistently
definition favorable or
unfavorable manner
with respect to a
given object.

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A positive attitude is generally
necessary, but not sufficient
condition for purchase
 Attitudes

• The attitude is toward an object which may be a

store, product category , brand or anything else.
• Attitudes are predispositions developed though
learning, either through direct experience or from
others. This predisposition may lead to a favorable
or unfavorable behavior toward the object.
• Attitudes have consistency, but are not necessarily
permanent and can change over time.
Attitude

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 Nature of Attitudes

• Attitude vary in their strength

• Attitudes reflect a consumer’s values
• Attitudes are learnt
• Situation influences attitude
How are attitudes formed?
 Attitude Formation
• Conditioning
– As a result of learning that occurs by repeated exposure to
stimuli
– Consumers likely to form positive attitude towards
behaviour that continually brings rewards
• Modelling
– Observing behaviour of others we trust/admire and their
choices can result in development of attitudes
• Cognitive Learning
– By using information and arriving at logical conclusions
 Functions of Attitude

Attitudes can serve different purposes (functions)

– which explains why consumers hold an attitude

Ego-
Utilitarian
defensive

Value-
Knowledge
expressive
 Models of Attitudes

1-Tricomponent Attitude Model

2- Multi-Attribute Attitude Models

These are models that attempt to

understand the relationships between
attitude and behavior.
Tricomponent Model
Cognitive component :
Knowledge and perceptions of
the features of the object –
commonly referred to as beliefs
(Consumer believes the object
has these features)

Affective component :
Emotions and feelings consumer
has about object (extent to
which consumer rates the object
as favorable/unfavourable,
good/bad)
Cognition
Conative component : Likely
hood that an individual will
undertake a certain action
towards an object (e.g, intention
to buy)
 Tricomponent Model

Components The knowledge and

perceptions that are
• Cognitive acquired by a
• Affective combination of direct
experience with the
• Conative object and related
information from
various sources (what
we learn from others)
 Tricomponent Model

Components A consumer’s
emotions or feelings
• Cognitive about a particular
• Affective product or brand or
any other object.
• Conative
These feelings often tend
to be good or bad
feelings.

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 Tricomponent Model

Components The likelihood or tendency

that an individual will
• Cognitive undertake a specific action
or behave in a particular
• Affective way with regard to the
• Conative attitude object

Example: tendency to buy a

certain brand or from a specific
store.
The three components of attitude
are consistent. This means that a
change in one attitude component
tends to produce related changes
in the other components.

Marketing mangers find it difficult

to influence the consumer’s
behavior (conation) directly to buy
the product, instead, they
influence the behavior indirectly by
Cognition
providing information or other
stimuli that influence a belief
(cognition) or feeling (affect) about
the product.
 Multiattribute Models

Attitude models that

examine the
Multiattribute composition of
Attitude consumer attitude in
Models terms of selected
product attributes or
beliefs
 Multiattribute Attitude Models
• Consumers will like a brand
or product that has an
• The attitude-toward- adequate level of attributes
object model that the consumer thinks
• The attitude-toward- are important.
behavior model • Attitude is a function of
• Extent to which product has
• The attitude towards these attributes
• Importance of these
ad model attributes to consumer
• Example: if you are buying a home,
there is a list of attributes that the home must
have – 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, air
conditioning, and a back yard. With this
model, an attitude is positive for the house
that has the most of these attributes.
 Attitude-toward-object model

• Attitude is function of evaluation of

product-specific beliefs and evaluations
n
– Ao= Σ WiXib
i=1
– Where:
Ao= Attitude towards the object O
Wi = importance of attribute i
Xib = belief that brand b has a certain level of
attribute I
 Multiattribute Attitude Models

• The attitude-toward- • This model captures

object model individual’s attitude
towards behaving with
• The attitude-toward- respect to an object, rather
behavior model than the attitude toward
• The attitude towards the object itself
ad model • This model includes
questions such as ‘’how
likely are you to purchase
brand X’’ (behavior) rather
than ‘’how highly do you
rate brand X’’ (object)
 Attitude-Toward-Behaviour Model

• A consumer’s attitude toward a specific

behaviour is a function of how strongly he
or she believes that the action will lead to a
specific outcome (either favorable or
unfavorable).
A study: factors the affect Attitude toward
behavior of Online Shopping
The attitude toward the behavior was measured by
how consumers view nine benefits of online
shopping, including: effectiveness, convenience,
information, safety, service, delivery speed, web
design, selection, and familiarity with company name.

Actual behavior
 Attitude toward-the-ad model

A model that proposes that

a consumer forms various
feelings (affects) and
Attitude- judgments (cognitions) as
Toward-the- a result of exposure to an
Ad Model advertisement, which, in
turn, affect the consumer’s
attitude toward the ad and
attitude toward the brand.
A Conception of the Relationship Among Elements in
an Attitude-Toward-the-Ad Model

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 Attitude Change

Attitude change and formation are

not all that different. They are both
learned, they are both influenced by
many factors such as: personal
experience, personality effects,
family influence, and marketing
communications.
 Strategies of Attitude Change

Associating the Product with an Admired Group or Cause or

Event

Changing Beliefs about Own Brand/Competitors’ Brands

Altering Components of the Multi-attribute Model

Changing Basic Motivation Function

 Associating Brands with Worthy Causes

• Marketers may associate brands with worthy

causes or objects (social or cultural events) to
change attitude of consumers
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScNjboMgTKw
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pJ3wXDzNew
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SwFso7NeuA
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 Changing Beliefs about Brand

• Marketers may attempt to change consumers’

beliefs to alter their attitudes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH_f6qiH-Xc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na3_85gtfig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUzCccWAP98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj9jiDt3fo
 Altering Attributes

• Attitudes can be changed by altering the

attributes of a product or brand in different ways
– By changing the relative importance of the attribute
– By Introducing new attributes in existing product form
– By introducing innovative products
 Add on Attribute

• Adding an attribute that previously ignored or

adding one that represents an improvement
or innovation.
Changing Basic Functions of Attitude

Ego-
Utilitarian
defensive

Value-
Knowledge
expressive

Attitude change can be done by positioning the

brand as ‘serving’ one of these functions
 Utilitarian Function
• Consumers’ attitudes reflect the utilities that brands
provide
• When a product enables consumers to perform certain
tasks, their attitude toward it tends to be favorable.
• Brands can demonstrate to consumer that it possesses a
utilitarian purpose
– Example : Pears range of products claim to contain high
quality ingredients like glycerine and natural oils to take care
of even sensitive and delicate skin.
 Ego-Defensive Function
• Consumers form attitudes in order to protect
themselves from sensing doubt and to replace
uncertainty with feelings of security and
confidence.
– Example : Nomarks cream removes pigmentation,
pimples, and other marks, consumer protects his self
image
 Value-Expressive Function
• Attitudes reflect consumers’ values and beliefs
(who they think they are)
– Example : Hero Pleasure, aims at creating positive
attitude among women, with the message ‘why
should boys have all the fun?’
– Appeal to young girls who are independent,
outdoor-oriented, and are on par with boys
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 Knowledge Function

• Attitudes stem from the knowledge

consumers have about characters of people,
events, brands and objects they encounter.
• Brands can create positive attitude by
providing consumers with facts of which they
were unaware
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aye7AdhNA_A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpeLvTAniAo
 ELM
(Elaboration Likelihood Model)
Central and peripheral routes of changing attitudes
(Elaboration likelihood model of Persuasion)

Customer attitudes are

Elaboration changed by two
Likelihood distinctly different
Model routes to persuasion:
(ELM) a central route or a
peripheral route.
 Central Route

• Persuasion will likely result when a person

carefully and thoughtfully considers true
merits of information presented
• High level of message elaboration is required
• Person receiving information generates great
amount of cognition
• Attitude change will be relatively enduring
 Peripheral Route

• Persuasion results from simple inferences

made by a person from cues/stimuli received
• Recipient doesn’t carefully examine
information
• Person develops attitude through general
impressions (‘’this feels right’’)
• Attitude change unlikely to be enduring
• If peripheral cues are not noticed, attitude
change will not occur
Elaboration Likelihood Model
High
Involvement

Low
Involvement