ATTITUDE AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumers are individuals with likes and dislikes. When the preponderance of people in a particular group feel one way or another about a product, service, entity, person, place or thing, it is said to be a generalized consumer attitude that could affect the marketing of that person, product or entity in positive or negative ways. Marketers strive to influence consumer attitudes, and understanding the prevailing attitude is the first step to changing it if needed.

What Can Attitudes tell us about Consumers?
Consumers who like sushi are likely to eat it
Consumers who like rich ice cream are likely to eat it
Consumers who like to “eat healthy” will be likely to eat things that are not high in calories
In reality . . .
BUT – having a positive attitude does not mean that we’ll buy a specific product
We distinguish between attitude toward the object and attitude toward the behavior of purchase
What is an Attitude?
It represents what we like and dislike
An attitude is a lasting general evaluation of something - it has knowledge of that something, liking or disliking, and the strength of the feelings.
They are lasting, but changeable
They help to direct behavior – e.g. do you recycle cans?
What functions do attitudes provide?
Utilitarian -does the clothing fit, is it appropriate, does it provide what we need?
Value-expressive:  clothing says that you are a professional
Ego-expressive: clothing conveys self-image
Knowledge: summarizes the image we are trying to give, a suit from _______  conveys that you are a professional
The Variety of Consumer Attitudes
 
Attitudes toward product – Campbell Soup at hand

Attitudes toward company  - Philip Morris, Kraft
Attitudes toward a retailer – Wal Mart
Attitudes toward product attributes – salt content
Attitudes toward various types of brand associations

•  Logos – design – do you like the Nike swoosh?
•  Symbols – meanings – do you like the Energizer bunny?
•  Product endorsers – sports figures – do you like Michael Jordan?

Attitudes toward advertising – do you like the ads for the Borgata?
 

Attitudes:  Likes and Dislikes

• Beliefs - now that the consumer has learned about our product, we assess their belief system  ( may be multiple attributes - running shoe)
• Affect (feelings) - whether they like or dislike each attribute which they know?
• Behavior - what they do in response
• Impact of valued other people
• Behavioral intentions vs. Behavior

Beliefs: Cognitive Component of Consumer Attitude

• A consumer belief is a psychological association between a product or brand and an attribute or feature of that product or brand
• Beliefs are cognitive (based on knowledge)
• The stronger the association of features or attributes with the product or brand, the stronger the consumer’s belief
• Are the consumers’ beliefs correct?

Affect: Emotive Component of Attitude

• Purchase decisions are continually influenced by affective response
• Affect—the way in which we feel in response to marketplace stimuli
• It is emotive rather than cognitive (beliefs)
• It is comprised of both our knowledge of stimuli and our evaluations of them
• Affective responses can be very general or very specific
• Affective component of attitude: functional theory of attitude, the Fishbein model, and the belief-importance modeL 

   The Fishbein Model—Changing Affective Responses

• Change Bi  - if the belief is that durability is weak, find out why? Is this true or just a rumor? Can we change the belief?
• Change Ei – if consumers don’t like an attribute, can we change their feeling? If they dislike paying over $50, can we explain why it’s worth it? Can we give them rebates?
• Add a new Bi/Ei combination – are there other beliefs or attributes that could be added?

Intention: Behavior Component of Consumer Attitude
Affect is not closely linked to actual purchase
Behavioral intention—attitude toward brand purchase
A far better predictor of behavior than either beliefs or affective responses
Behavioral intention models:
Theory of reasoned action

Theory of trying
 

Measurement of Attitudes
How much do you like Oreo cookies?
       Like very much  . . . . . . . . . . .  Dislike very much
How favorable is your attitude toward Oreos?
            Very favorable . . . . . .  . . . Very unfavorable
Oreos are:
            Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bad
  Nutritious  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   Not nutritious
Nonfattening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fattening
I like Oreos:
   strongly    agree     neither agree     disagree     strongly
     agree                      nor disagree                   disagree
 
Intentions
Do you intend to buy Oreos?
  SA     A       NAND        D        SD       NA     DK
How likely is it that you would buy Oreos?
            Very likely . . . . . . . . . . . .   Very unlikely
What is the probability that you will buy Oreos?
            0%  10%  20%  . . . . . .  100%
 
 
Theory of Reasoned Action
Behavior is a direct result of intention
Two factors involved in behavioral intention:
Attitude toward the act of purchase
Subjective norm – the feelings of others who may be important to us
 
Subjective Norm

• SN refers to the perception of what other people think we should do with respect to a certain behavior, such as brand purchase
•  
• SN consists of
• Normative beliefs: the perceived expectations that significant others think the consumer should or should not behave in a certain way (buy the brand)
• My doctor thinks that I should give my baby a particular brand of baby food.
• Motivation to comply: the extent to which the consumer considers the possible opinions of significant others when forming an intent to purchase
• Do you agree with the doctor?

Applying the Theory of Reasoned Action to Change Intentions

• It helps to identify those attributes most important in causing consumers to form positive (or negative) attitudes toward the purchase of a product
• Changing attitude toward purchase
• Change beliefs
• Change affect
•  
• It helps to identify and helps to adjust sources of social pressure and their possible role in intention formation
• Changing subjective norms
• Change Normative beliefs – what others think
• Motivation to comply – do we want to do what the others want us to do?

Hierarchies of Effects
What is the likely order?
Beliefs, affect, behavior - cognitive
Beliefs, behavior, affect - learning
Affect, behavior, beliefs - hedonic
“Try it, you’ll like it”
 
Multi-attribute models
Assume that all the attributes of products are evaluated
People have beliefs regarding a particular product’s having each attribute
Some attributes are more important than others
Buying running shoes with the proper fit is:
          Necessary   . . . . . .   Unnecessary
How likely is it that New Balance shoes can give you the correct fit?
          Very likely . . . . . . . . Very unlikely
 
 
Ideal point models
Compares your brand versus an ideal held by consumers
Measures the perceptions of the brand’s location along an attribute continuum
Multiplied by an importance level for each attribute
 
If the importance of an attribute is high
And our performance is poor
If the competitor is also poor, we have neglected an opportunity
If the competitor is good,  we are at a competitive disadvantage
And our performance is good
If our competitor is poor, we have competitive advantage
If our competitor is good, we have competition
 
If the importance of an attribute is low
And our performance is poor
If the competitor is also poor, we have a null opportunity
If the competitor is good,  we have a false alarm – it doesn’t matter
And our performance is good
If our competitor is poor, we have a false  advantage – it’s not worth it
If our competitor is good, we have false competition
 
Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumer’s (1) beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some object--within the context of marketing, usually a brand or retail store.  These components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together represent forces that influence how the consumer will react to the object.