Attitudes and behaviour

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Attitudes and behaviour

• I think Coca-Cola tastes better. I like
  Coca-Cola. I always buy Coca-Cola

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Why is attitude important?

• Attitudes and consumer
• Research
• Forms basis of
• Developing new products
• Repositioning existing
• Products
• Creating ad campaigns
• Predicting brand preference

Incoming stimuli
Information Processing
Attitude formation/change
PURCHASE DECISION
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What is an attitude?

• A learned predisposition to respond to an object
  or class of objects in a consistently favourable
  or unfavourable way (Allport 1935)
• An enduring organisation of motivational,
  emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes
  with respect to some aspect of the individual
  world (Kretch Crutchfield 1948)
• Attitude is a function of 1) the strength of each
  of a number of beliefs about various aspects of
  the object and 2) the evaluation he gives to each
  belief as it relates to the object (after
  Fishbein 1967)

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Characteristics and structure of attitudes

• Attitudes have an object
• Attitudes have direction, degree and intensity
• Centrality
• Consistency
• Stability
• Generalisable
• Learned

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Components of attitude

• Affective component feelings, reflected in how
  you say you feel
• Cognitive component perception, reflected in
  what you believe
• Behavioural component reflected in what you do
• Any inconsistencies?

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Relationship between product/brand attitude and
psychological processes
(Based on Loudon and Della Bitta 1991)
Personality Self concept
Other beliefs And attitudes
Sources of info And influence
Direct Experience Groups Media Influential othe
rs
Beliefs about Product or brand Importance
of Beliefs about product attributes
General Attitude Toward Brand or product
Perception of Info about product Or brand
needs
values
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Attitude theories and models

• Congruity, balance and cognitive dissonance
  models are based on the general principle that
  the human mind strives to maintain consistency
  among currently perceived attitudes
• Dissonance energises behaviour to return to
  consistent state
• Multiattribute models place more emphasis on the
  complexity and interactions of attitude components

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Fishbeins multiattribute attitude model

• Attitudes are formed on the basis of beliefs
  (perceptions and knowledge)
• Beliefs arise from experience and communication
• Individuals develop intensity of feeling about
  attributes
• Overall attitude is derived from beliefs about
  various attributes

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Calculating attitude from Fishbeins model

• A overall attitude to the object
• bi strength of belief that object is related
  to attribute i
• ei evaluation or intensity of feeling
  towards attribute i
• n number of salient beliefs

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Calculating consumer attitude towards a brand
Overall attitude score 5
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Important potential of multiattribute models

• The potential advantage of multiattribute models
  over the simpler overall affect approach is in
  gaining understanding of attitudinal structure.
  Diagnosis of brand strengths and weaknesses on
  relevant product attributes can then be used to
  suggest specific changes in a brand and its
  marketing support.(Wilkie and Pessemier 1973

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The relationship of components in Fishbeins
behavioural intentions model
After Loudon and Della Bitta 1991
Beliefs about consequences of behaviour
Attitude toward the behaviour
Evaluation of consequences
Behavioural intention
Beliefs about perceptions Of others
Subjective norms About the behaviour
BEHAVIOUR
Motivations to comply
Other intervening factors
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Attitude formation peripheral or central?

• Theory of reasoned action suggesting conscious
  attitude development by consumers
• Some consumer attitudes may not depend on
  conscious or deliberate thought
• This is the central or peripheral route to
  attitude formation debate
• Systematic versus heuristic processing strategies

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Factors in attitude change

• Communicator credibility expertness,
  trustworthiness, relationship to issue
• Communicator attractiveness Tannenbaum found
  amount of attitude change directly related to
  attractiveness of change agent
• Extremity of message Hovland, the larger the
  change advocated the greater the attitude change
• Two sided or one sided message can be linked to
  cognitive ability

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Factors in persuasive communication (Gross)
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Attitude change through fear

• Rogers Protection Motivation Theory
• The problem may affect you
• The problem is serious
• You can take action to avoid the problem
• You are capable of performing the necessary action

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Level of emotional appeal
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Fear, before and after, irony
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Re-positioning and attitude change...
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...creates favourable consumer perception
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Attitude change situation

• Should attitude change be attempted in groups or
  on a one to one basis?
• Group versus individual
• Commitment in public or private
• The effect of the group

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Other factors

• Conventional wisdom is easy to change
• McGuire and Papageorgis its easier to change
  attitudes that have not previously been
  challenged there are no anti-bodies of
  pre-rehearsed objections
• Education and familiarity with the issue
  contribute to effectiveness of persuasion
• Low self esteem can lead to dependence on
  attitudes of other people, but also to defensive
  unchanging reaction

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Strategies of persuasion (Foxhall)

• Link the brand with key consumer goals (to make
  you sexy)
• Change consumer beliefs- the bs in Fishbein
  (Spend a little, live a lot)
• Change beliefs about competing brands (Why
  wait?)
• Change the evaluation the esin Fishbein (Go
  cubic and live life to the full

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Strategies of persuasion

• Add a new belief combination a new b
  (pre-worn, pre-washed, new and improved,
  flavoured inside and out)
• Change normative beliefs important others,
  celebrities, your friends all like this
• Increase the motivation to comply people will
  respect you, win more friends