Consumer Behaviour Dr.

Meenakshi Gujral

ATTITUDES AND INFLUENCING ATTITUDES

Definition
An attitude is an enduring organization of motivational, emotional,
perceptual and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of our
environment. It is a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently
favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. Thus, an
attitude is the way one thinks, feels, and acts toward some aspect of his or
her environment such as a retail store, television program, or product.
Attitudes serve four key functions for individuals:
• Knowledge function – Some attitudes serve primarily as a means of
organizing beliefs about objects or activities such as brands and
shopping. These attitudes may be accurate or inaccurate with respect
to objective reality, but the attitude will often determine subsequent
behaviors rather than that reality. For example, a consumer’s attitude
toward cola drinks may be “they all taste the same”. This consumer
would be likely to purchase the least expensive or most convenient
brand. This would be true even if in a taste test the consumer could
tell the brands apart and would prefer one over the others. Obviously,
firms like Pepsi spend considerable effort to influence consumer’s
beliefs about colas.
• Value-expressive function – Other attitudes are formed and serve to
express an individual’s central values and self-concept. Thus,
consumers who value nature and the environment are likely to
develop attitudes about products and activities that are consistent
with that value. These consumers are likely to express support for
environment protection initiatives, to recycle, and to purchase and
use “green” products.
• Utilitarian / Adjustment function – This function is based on operant
conditioning. People tend to form favorable attitudes toward objects
and activities that are rewarding and negative attitudes toward those
that are not. Marketers frequently promise rewards in advertising and
conduct extensive product testing to be sure the products are indeed
rewarding.
• Ego-defensive function – People form and use attitudes to defend
their egos and self-images against threats and shortcomings. Products
promoted as very macho may be viewed favorably by men who are
insecure in their masculinity. Or individuals who feel threatened in
social situations may form favorable attitudes toward products and
brands that promise success or at least safety in such situations. These
Consumer Behaviour Dr. Meenakshi Gujral

individuals would be likely to have favorable attitudes toward

popular brands and styles of clothes and use personal care products
such as deodorants, dandruff shampoo, and mouthwash.

ATTITUDE COMPONENTS

Three components – cognitive (beliefs), affective (feelings), and behavioral

(response tendencies)

Cognitive Component consists of consumer’s belief about an object. For

most attitude objects, people have a number of beliefs.
For example: an individual may believe that Mountain Dew is popular with
younger consumers, contains a lot of caffeine, is competitively priced, and is
made by a large company. The total configuration of beliefs about this brand
of soda represents the cognitive component of an attitude toward Mountain
Dew. Beliefs can be about the emotional benefits of owing or using a
product (one can believe it would be exciting to own or drive a convertible)
as well as about objective features.
Many beliefs about attributes are evaluative in nature; for example, high gas
mileage, attractive styling, and reliable performance are generally viewed as
positive beliefs. The more positive beliefs associated with a brand, the more
positive each belief is, and the easier it is for the individual to recall the
beliefs, the more favorable the overall cognitive component is presumed to
be.

Affective Component feelings or emotional reactions to an object represent

the affective component of an attitude. A consumer who states ‘I like Diet
Coke’ or ‘Diet Coke is a terrible soda’ is expressing the results of an
emotional or affective evaluation of the product. This overall evaluation may
be simply vague, general feeling developed without cognitive information or
beliefs about the product. Or it may be the result of several evaluations of
the product’s performance on each of several attributes. Thus, the above two
statements imply a negative affective reaction to specific aspects to the
brand.

Behavioral Component of an attitude is one’s tendency to respond in a

certain manner toward an object or activity. A series of decisions to purchase
Diet Coke or to recommend it or other brands to friends would reflect the
behavioral component of an attitude.
Consumer Behaviour Dr. Meenakshi Gujral

Component Consistency
All the three attitude components tend to be consistent. This means that a
change in one attitude component tends to produce related changes in the
other components. This tendency is the basis for a substantial amount of
marketing strategy.

STRATEGIES FOR CHANGING ATTITUDES AND INTENTIONS

Though many factors can influence the marketer’s choice among these
alternatives, one fundamental consideration should be the degree of
involvement that consumers are experiencing with the product.
Low-involvement Strategies
Under low-involvement conditions consumers are not likely to make brand
choices on the basis of attitudes established through developing clearly
formulated beliefs about product or services. In essence, their interest is too
low to spend time thinking about products and evaluating them in a rational
and deliberative fashion. Options suggested by researchers –
• Link the product or service to an involving issue
• Link the product to a presently involving personal situation.
• Develop high-involvement advertisements.
• Change the importance of product benefits.
• Reveal or introduce important product characteristics.

High-involvement Strategies
A variety of strategies are available for changing consumer attitudes under
high-involvement conditions. Before implementing such strategies, however
the marketer must be clear on whether the attempt is to change consumer
attitudes about the brand, or whether it is to change attitudes about behaving
toward the brand. Options suggested by researchers –
• Change existing beliefs about the consequences of behaviour.
• Change consumer’s evaluation of the consequences of a particular
action.
• Introduce new belief/ evaluation combinations.
• Change existing normative beliefs.
• Change motivations to comply with subjective norms.
• Introduce new normative components.
(Refer Loudon & Albert for details)
Consumer Behaviour Dr. Meenakshi Gujral

Communication Characteristics that Influence Attitude Formation and

Change
Source Characteristics
The source of a communication can be an identifiable person, an
unidentifiable person (a ‘typical’ homemaker), a company or organization,
or an inanimate figure such as a cartoon character. The source of a message
is important because consumers respond differently to the same message
delivered by different sources.
Source Credibility - Influencing attitudes is easier when the target market
views the source of the message a highly credible. Source credibility appears
to be composed of two basic dimensions: trustworthiness and expertise. A
source that has no apparent reason other than to provide complete, objective
and accurate information would generally be considered trustworthy.

Celebrity Sources – Celebrities are widely used in advertising, and evidence

indicates that their use may increase firm’s value. A visible use of celebrity
endorses in recent years has been the mustache campaign for milk.

Sponsorship – Sponsorship, a company providing financial support for an

event such as the Olympics or a concert, is one of the most rapidly growing
marketing activities. It often works in much the same manner as using a
celebrity endorser. That is, the characteristics of the sponsored event may
become associated with the sponsoring organization.

Appeal Characteristics
The mature of the appeal used affects attitude formation and change. As with
all aspects of attitude change, appeal characteristics interact with the
consumer and the situation to influence attitudes. For e.g., argument-based
and negatively framed appeals have been found to be particularly effective
in new markets, whereas emotion-based and positively framed appeals work
better in more established markets.

Fear Appeals use the threat of negative (unpleasant) consequences if

attitude or behaviors are not altered. Fear appeals have been studied
primarily in terms of physical fear (physical harm from smoking, unsafe
driving, and so forth), but social fears (disapproval of one’s peers for
incorrect clothing, bad breath, or inadequate coffee) are also used in
advertising.
There is some evidence that individuals avoid or distort extremely
threatening messages. At the same time, fear appeals tend to be more
Consumer Behaviour Dr. Meenakshi Gujral

effective as higher levels of fear are aroused. Thus, those using fear appeals
want to maximize the level of fear aroused while not presenting a threat so
intense as to cause the consumer to distort, reject, or avoid the message. This
task is difficult because individuals respond differently to threats.

Humorous Appeals – at the most opposite end of the spectrum from fear
appeals are humorous appeals. Ads built around humor appear to increase
attention to and liking of the ad. Their overall effectiveness is generally
increased when the humor relates to the product or brand in a meaningful
way and is viewed as appropriate for the product by the target audience.

Comparative Ads directly compare the features or benefits of two or more

brands. Comparative ads are often more effective than non-comparative ads
in generating attention, message and brand awareness, levels of message
processing, favorable sponsor brand attitudes, and increased purchase
intentions and behaviors. They also evoke a lower level of source
believability and a less favorable attitude toward the ad. In addition, they do
not always produce the positive benefits described above. At times, the
results of such ads may be negative for the sponsoring brand; they may even
be positive for the brand with which it is being compared.

Emotional Appeals Emotional or feeling ads are being used with increasing
frequency. Emotional ads are designed primarily o elicit a positive affective
response rather than provide information or arguments. Emotional ads such
as those that arouse feelings of warmth trigger a physiological reaction.
They are also liked more than neutral ads and produce attitudes toward the
product. Emotional advertisements may enhance formation or change by
increasing:
• The ad’s ability to attract and maintain attention
• The level of mental processing given the ad
• Ad memorability
• Liking of the ad
• Product liking through classical conditioning
• Product liking through high-involvement processes

Value-Expressive versus Utilitarian Appeals value-expressive appeals

attempt to build a personality for the product or create an image of the
product user. Utilitarian appeals involve informing the consumer of one or
more functional benefits that are important to the target market.
Consumer Behaviour Dr. Meenakshi Gujral

Research indicates that banner ads should differ for the two types of
products. Or utilitarian products, banner ads serve primarily to transport
consumers to the more detailed target ads or sites. For value-expressive
products, banner ads should influence attitudes on the basis of exposure to
the banner ad itself, not on clickthrough to the target ad.