THE CONSUMER AS AN INDIVIDUAL:

PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON
CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

BELIEF, AFFECT, ATTITUDE, INTENTION

What are attitudes?
Attitudes are an expression of inner feelings that reflect
whether a person is favorably or unfavorably predisposed
to some “object” (e.g.., a brand a service or a retail
establishment).

Attitude formation, in turn, is the process by which

individuals form feelings or opinions toward other people,
products, ideas, activities, and other objects in their
environment.

Attitudes are important to marketers for one simple

reason: A consumer with a positive attitude toward a
product is more likely to buy that product.
A positive attitude is generally a necessary, but not
sufficient, condition for purchase
– Mercedes seen as ‘top of class’ but intention to
purchase was low
A person’s attitude toward an object is composed of three
factors:
» Learned knowledge from the individual’s own
experiences with the object, as well as information
gathered from others
» An evaluation of the object based on the individuals
knowledge of it, and
» A predisposition to act based on that evaluation.

Attitudes have consistency:

» However, despite their consistency, attitudes are not
necessarily permanent; they do change.
» The fact that attitudes are learned means that they can
be affected by new information and experience.
» There are some attitudes that remain very resistant to
change, however, regardless of incoming information.
Attitudes are a learned predisposition:
» In the context of the consumer behavior , this implies
that: attitudes are formed as a result of direct experience
with the product, information acquired from others, or
exposure to mass media advertising and various forms of
direct marketing.
» It is important to remember that while attitudes may
result from behavior, they are not synonymous with
behavior.
» Instead, they reflect either a favorable or an unfavorable
evaluation of the attitude object.

Attitudes have direction, degree, strength and centrality

– Positive or negative
– Extent of positive or negative feelings
– Strength of feelings
– Closeness to core cultural values
Four Basic Functions of Attitudes
¤ The Utilitarian Function - How well it performs
¤ The Ego-defensive Function - To protect one’s self-concept
¤ The Value-expressive Function - To convey one’s values
and lifestyles
¤ The Knowledge Function - A way to gain knowledge

How are attitudes learned?

¤ Classical conditioning - through past associations
¤ Operant conditioning - through trial and reinforcement
¤ Cognitive learning – through information processing
– Cognitive dissonance theory
– Attribution theory
Attitude models
Structural Models of Attitudes
¤ Tri-component Attitude Model
¤ Multi-attribute Attitude Model
¤ Both assume a rational model of human behaviour
Other models of attitude formation
¤ Cognitive dissonance model
¤ Attribution theory
The tri-component model
¤ Cognitive Component
– knowledge and perceptions acquired
– through direct experience and information from various
sources.
¤ Affective component
– Emotions and feelings about the object
¤ Conative or Behavioural Component
– Action tendencies toward the object

Multi-attribute Attitude Models

Attitude models that examine the composition of
consumer attitudes in terms of selected product
attributes or beliefs.
Examples:
– Attitude-toward-object Model
– Attitude-toward-behaviour Model
– Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Model
 Discussion Question

Explain your attitude toward any brand of your

choice based on the tri-component attribute
model.

Be sure to isolate the cognitive, affective, and

conative elements.
 Attitude-toward-object model

Attitude is function of evaluation of product-specific beliefs

and evaluations
n
Ao= ∫ 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
Theory of Reasoned Action
 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).

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Holds that discomfort or dissonance occurs when a
consumer holds conflicting thoughts about a belief or an
attitude object.
Post-purchase Dissonance
– Cognitive dissonance that occurs after a consumer has
made a purchase commitment
 Attribution Theory
Examines how people assign causulty to events and form
or alter their attitudes as an outcome of assessing their
own or other people’s behaviour.
Examples
» Self-perception Theory
» Attribution toward others

Self-Perception Theory
» Attitudes developed by reflecting on their own behaviour
» Judgments about own behaviour
» Internal and external attributions
» Consumers are likely to accept credit for successful
outcomes (internal attribution) and to blame other persons
or products for failure (external attribution).
» Foot-In-The-Door Technique
 Attitudes and Marketing Strategy

» Appeal to motivational functions of attitudes

» Associate product with a special group, cause or event
» Resolve conflicts among attitudes
» Influence consumer attributions
» Alter components of the attitude
Change relative evaluation of attributes
Change brand beliefs
Add an attribute
Change overall brand evaluation
» Change beliefs about competitors’ brands
» Change affect first through classical conditioning
» Change behaviour first through operant conditioning