Consumer Attitude Formation and Change

CHAPTEREIGHT

Attitude

A learned predisposition to

behave in a consistently favorable or

unfavorable manner with respect to a

given object.

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What Are Attitudes?

• The attitude “object”• Attitudes are a learned predisposition• Attitudes have consistency• Attitudes occur within a situation

Chapter Eight Slide

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Structural Models of Attitudes

• Tricomponent Attitude Model• Multiattribute Attitude Model• The Trying-to-Consume Model• Attitude-Toward-the-Ad Model

Chapter Eight Slide

Cognition

A Simple Representation of the Tricomponent Attitude Model - Figure 8.3

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The Tricomponent Model

• Cognitive• Affective• Conative

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

Components

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The Tricomponent Model

• Cognitive• Affective• Conative

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

Components

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The Tricomponent Model

• Cognitive• Affective• Conative

The likelihood or tendency that an individual will undertake a specific action or behave in a particular way with regard to the attitude object

Components

8Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Eight Slide

Issues in Attitude Formation

• How attitudes are learned– Conditioning and experience– Knowledge and beliefs

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Issues in Attitude Formation

• Sources of influence on attitude formation– Personal experience– Influence of family– Direct marketing and mass media

• Personality factors

10Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Eight Slide

Strategies of Attitude Change

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

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Changing the Basic Motivational Function

Utilitarian Ego-defensive

Value-expressive Knowledge

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Discussion Questions

• What products that you purchase associate themselves with an Admired Group or Event?

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Attitude Change

• Altering Components of the Multiattribute Model– Changing relative evaluation of attributes– Changing brand beliefs– Adding an attribute– Changing the overall brand rating

• Changing Beliefs about Competitors’ Brands

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Behavior Can Precede or Follow Attitude Formation

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• Holds that discomfort or dissonance occurs when a consumer holds conflicting thoughts about a belief or an attitude object.

Attribution Theory

• A theory concerned with how people assign causality to events and form or alter their attitudes as an outcome of assessing their own or other people’s behavior.

15Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Eight Slide

Issues in Attribution Theory

• Self-Perception Theory• Attributions toward Others• Attributions toward Things• How We Test Our Attributions– Distinctiveness– Consistency over time– Consistency over modality– Consensus

16Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Eight Slide

Chapter 8

Questions?

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Case 8-2: It’s a Whirlpool from Germany

• Do you think American consumers would view the Whirlpool washing machine differently if they knew it was manufactured in Germany?

• How might a consumer use the attitude-toward-object model to evaluate specific brand/models of washing machines

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