Chapter 7:

Consumer Belief, Attitude,

& Behavior Formation and
Change

Consumer Behavior: A Framework

John C. Mowen & Michael Minor

Key Concepts

Beliefs, attitudes, &

behavioral
intentions
Attributes
Direct formation of
beliefs, etc.
Hierarchies of
effects
The attitude-towardthe-object model

The behavioral
intentions model
The elaboration
likelihood model
Balance theory
Attitude toward ads
Behavioral
influence
techniques of
persuasion

Consumer Beliefs About

Product Attributes

Beliefs result from cognitive learning.

Beliefs are the knowledge and inferences
that a consumer has about objects, their
attributes, and their benefits provided.

Objects are the products, people, companies,

and things about which people hold beliefs
and attitudes.
Benefits are the positive outcomes that
attributes provide to the consumer.
Attributes are the characteristics of an object

Additional Info on
Attributes

A halo effect occurs

when consumers
assume that
because a product
is good or bad on
one product
characteristic it is
also good or bad on
another product
characteristic.

Attribute importance

A persons assessment of
the significance of an
attribute.
Influenced by amount of
attention directed to the
feature.
A persons self-concept,
advertising, and the
salience of the attribute
can influence the attention
focused on the feature.

Consumer Attitudes

Attitude is the amount of affect or feeling for

or against a stimulus
Attitudes are stored in long-term memory
Beliefs are the cognitive knowledge about an
object

In high involvement situations, beliefs predict

attitudes.

The Functions of Attitudes

Utilitarian Function: use to obtain

rewards and avoid punishments.
Ego-Defensive Function: selfprotection, e.g., smokers
Knowledge Function: simplifies
decisions, e.g., brand loyalty
Value-Expressive Function: express
identify to others. e.g., t-shirts.

Behaviors & Intentions to

Behave

Consumer
behaviors consist
of all the actions
taken by
consumers related
to acquiring,
disposing, and
using products and
services

Behavioral
intentions may be
defined as the
intentions of
consumers to
behave.
Usually measured on
7 or 9 point scale:
low likelihood of
performing behavior
to high likelihood.

Beliefs, Attitudes, and

Behaviors May Be
Formed in Two Ways:

Direct formation is when a belief,

attitude, or behavior is created without
either of the other states occurring first.
Hierarchy of effects occurs after a belief,
attitude, or behavior is formed directly,
there is a tendency for the states to build
upon each other to create hierarchies

Direct Formation of
Beliefs, Attitudes, &
Behaviors
Direct belief formation corresponds to

the decision-making perspective and

cognitive learning.
The direct formation of attitudes is
linked to the experiential perspective.
The direct formation of behavior is
linked to the behavioral influence
perspective. Operant conditioning and
modeling.

Forming Attitudes Directly

Classical conditioning/associative
learning--positive affect is attached to
object
Mere exposure--frequent exposure to
stimulus increases liking for it. Derived
from Butterfly effect.
Moods--mood at the time of exposure to
object influences feelings about object.

Directly Forming Behavior

Strong environmental forces can

directly influence behavior, such as
from the design of the physical
environment.
Operant conditioning can influence
behavior without the formation of
beliefs or attitudes.

Hierarchies of Beliefs,
Attitudes, and
Behaviors

Decision-Making
Hierarchies

Experiential
Hierarchy

Behavioral
Influence Hierarchy

Decision making hierarchies

behavior

Experiential

High involvement: beliefs

attitudes behavior
Low involvement: beliefs
attitudes
Affect

behavior

beliefs

Behavioral influence hierarchy

Behavior

beliefs

affect

Predicting Consumer
Attitudes

Multiattribute models identify how

consumers in high-involvement
situations (i.e. standard hierarchy of
effects) combine their beliefs about
product attributes to form attitudes
about various brand alternatives,
corporations, or other objects.

Attitude-Toward-The-Object
Model
Identifies three major
factors that are
predictive of
attitudes:
Salient Beliefs

Strength of the Belief

Evaluation

Ao biei
i 1

Measurement issues

bi: 1 = low probability that object

possesses attribute. 9=high
likelihood.

ei: -3 = negative evaluation of

attribute. +3 = positive evaluation of
attribute.

Fishbein Attitude Toward Object

Model: which college will be chosen by
Student Y?
Ao = Sum (Bi x Ei)
University/College

Attribute
High Price
Good Job
Easy entry
Learn a lot

Ei
-2
3
-1
2

Ivy
Bi
9 -18
8 24
1 -3
9 18
21

State U
Bi
2 -4
6 18
4
-4
7
14
24

Local U
Bi
5 -10
3
9
8 -1
4
8
-1

Global Attitude Measure:

Direct measure of overall affect and
feelings regarding object.
Use multiple scales to measure
Bad
1 2 3 4 5 Good
Negative 1 2 3 4 5 Positive
Dislike
1 2 3 4 5 Like
Compare results of global measure to results of Attitudetoward-the-object measure.

The Behavioral Intentions

. Model
. . was developed
. . . by Fishbein and his

colleagues to improve on the ability of the

attitude-toward-the-object model to
predict consumer behavior

Included subjective norms: how other people

feel about the behavior.

Assesses the consumers attitude toward the

overt behavior of purchasing the product
rather than toward the object itself. Use
consequences of the behavior rather than
attributes of object.

When Do Attitudes Predict

Behavior?
When
consumer involvement is high.
measurement must at proper level of abstraction.
Cannot predict whether someone will go to church on
Sunday by asking them about overall attitude toward
church.
Must consider subjective norms
Situational factors
Other brands/objects
Attitude strength
Mere measurement effect: just asking intention to
buy increases likelihood of buying.
When measured close in hierarchy to behavior.
Surface traits are much like global attitude measures.

Persuasion .
Persuasion is the explicit
..
attempt to influence beliefs,
attitudes, and/or behaviors.

Communication is defined broadly

to include all aspects of the
message, including the source of
the message, the type of
message given, and through
what channel it moved (e.g.,
television, radio, or print media)

The Elaboration Likelihood

Model: a decision making
approach to persuasion
. . . is an approach
to understanding
the persuasion
process which
illustrates the
decision-making
path to belief,
attitude, and
behavior change

Central
Periphera
Routes to Persuasion

Belief and Attitude Change

May Take One of Two
The Central Route to persuasion is
Routes

when the consumer has highinvolvement information

processing
The Peripheral Route to persuasion
is when the consumer has lowinvolvement information
processing

The Central Route to

Persuasion

Moves through the high involvement

hierarchy.
The consumer attends more carefully to the
message being received and compares it to
his or her own attitudinal position.
Likely to generate a number of cognitive
responses to the communication
Central Cues refer to ideas and supporting
data that bear directly upon the quality of
the arguments developed in the message

The Peripheral Route to

Consumer moves through the low involvement
Persuasion
hierarchy.
Cognitive responses are much less likely to occur,
because the consumer is not carefully
considering the pros and cons of the issue.
Peripheral persuasion cues include such factors
as the attractiveness and expertise of the source,
the mere number of the arguments presented,
and the positive or negative stimuli that form the
context within which the message was presented
(e.g., pleasant music, source attractiveness,
source trustworthiness, etc.)
Truth effect. Repeat something often enough,
people will come to believe it.

Individual Differences in
Route to Persuasion: the
Need for Cognition
High
Attitude
Toward
Ad
Low

Strong arguments

Weak arguments
Low
High
Need for cognition

Multiattribute Models
and the Decision-Making
A-T-O model:
Path
Change the perceived evaluation of an

attribute
Change the belief that an object has a
particular attribute
add an attribute

Behavioral Intentions Model:

Influence consumer perceptions of the

consequences of a behavior.
Influence perceptions of normative influence

Experiential Path to Attitude

Change

Balance Theory
Attitudes Toward the
Advertisement

Balance Theory . . .
. . . proposes that people have a
preference to maintain a
balanced state among the
cognitive elements if these
elements are perceived as
forming a system
.basic rule: multiplication of
the signs of the relations must
come out with a positive sign.

Endorser
Sentiment
Connection

Person
?? to
+
Sentiment

Unit connection
Product

Connection
Sentiment connection: feeling toward evaluative
objects
Unit connection: psychological linkage between two
evaluative objects. Enhance by increasing the
association via attribution and Gestalt principles.

Attitudes Toward the

Advertisement . . .
. . . are a consumers general liking or
disliking for a particular advertising
stimulus during a particular
advertising exposure. Will influence
attitude toward brand.
Measurement: like a global attitude.

The Behavioral Influence

Route to Behavior
The ecological design of buildings and
Change
spaces can strongly affect the behavior of

people without them being aware of the

influence
Strong reinforcers or punishers in the
environment can induce people to take
actions that they would prefer to avoid.
Behavioral influence techniques employ
strong norms to influence behavior directly.

Behavioral Influence Techniques:

Ingratiation. . . refers to self-serving
tactics engaged in by one person to
make himself or herself more attractive
to another.
*Similarity
*conforming to wishes
*offering gifts
*express liking
*ask advice

Additional Behavioral Influence Tactics

Foot in the door: small request and then

large request. Uses self-perception and
self-consistency.
Door in the face: large request and then
small request. Uses the norm of
reciprocity.
even a penny will help. Based upon
desire to present self positively to others.

Ethical issues??

Never, ever lie to consumers.

Some Managerial
Implications position brands based upon
Positioning/differentiation:

key attributes.
Environmental analysis: assess and manipulate
environment to implement behavioral influence approach.
Market research: employ to identify salient attributes and
key benefits, measure attitudes, and predict behavioral
intentions
Marketing mix: identify benefits sought by consumers and
develop products to provide them. Develop promotions to
communicate to consumers key attributes, to influence
beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
Segmentation: Employ benefit segmentation by
identifying target markets desiring specific product
benefits.