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BBA (CAM): 5th Semester CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Paper Code - 305

Unit -2

Attitude

A learned orientation or disposition, towards an object or situation, which provides atendency to respond favorably or unfavourable to the object or situation.

It represents what we like and dislike It is how positive or negative, favourable or unfavourable a person feels towards an

object.

An attitude is a lasting general evaluation of something - it has knowledge of thatsomething, liking or disliking, and the strength of the feelings.

They are lasting, but changeable They help to direct behaviore.g. do you recycle cans?

(STIMULI: could be a product, product category, brand, people related to the product etc.)

An attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favourable orunfavourable way with respect to a given object.

Through doing and learning, people acquire beliefs and attitudes. Attitudes relevant to purchase behaviour are formed as a result of direct experience with

the product, word of mouth information acquired from others, or exposure to mass media

advertising. A company can fit its products into existing attitudes rather than trying to changing them.

Attitude change strategies include:

Changing the consumers basic motivational function, i.e., making particular needsprominent.

Associating the product with an admired group or event e.g. social support events,celebrities, etc.

Resolving two conflicting attitudes e.g. moving from negative to positive.

Altering components of a multiattribute product e.g. toothpaste (regular and herbal,etc.).

Changing consumer belief about competitors brands


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Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers

(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.

Beliefs: The first component is beliefs. A consumer may hold both positive beliefs toward an

object (e.g., coffee tastes good) as well as negative beliefs (e.g., coffee is easily spilled and stainspapers). In addition, some beliefs may be neutral (coffee is black), and some may be differ in

valance depending on the person or the situation (e.g., coffee is hot and stimulates--good on a

cold morning, but not good on a hot summer evening when one wants to sleep).

Beliefs: Cognitive Component of Consumer Attitude

A consumer belief is a psychological association between a product or brand and anattribute 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 consumers belief Are the consumers beliefs correct?

Affect: Emotive Component of Attitude

Purchase decisions are continually influenced by affective response Affectthe way in which we feel in response to marketplace stimuli It is emotive rather than cognitive (beliefs)


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It is comprised of both our knowledge of stimuli and our evaluations of them Affective responses can be very general or very specific

Intention: Behavior Component of Consumer Attitude

Affect is not closely linked to actual purchase. Behavioral intentionattitude toward brand purchase. A far better predictor of behavior than either beliefs or affective responses.

An attitude provides a series of cues to marketers. They predict future purchases, redesignmarketing effort and make attitude more favourable.

Attitudes indicate knowledge, feelings and intended action for the given stimulus.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTITUDE

1. Attitudes have an object- Objects refers to such things as: product, product category,brand service, possession, product use, advertisement price or retailer.2. Attitudes have direction, degree and intensity: Direction means the person is either

favourable or unfavourable towards an object. Degree means how much does the person

like or dislikes the object. Intensity is the level of confidence of expression about theobject.

3. Attitudes have a structure: Attitudes are organized. They have an internal consistencyand have a high degree of centrality. Attitudes are not isolated but are interconnected.

4. Attitudes are learned: Attitude acquired in the same way as culture, through classicaland instrumental conditioning and social interaction.

5. Attitudes are dynamic: Attitude do not remain stagnant and change with the situationbased on experience and information

SOURCES OF ATTITUDE

Personal Experience: We come in contact with many objects in our daily life. We evaluate the

new and re- evaluates the old. This evaluation helps in developing attitudes towards objects. We

evaluate these on the basis of:

Needs-Needs differ and vary over a period of time and hence people develop differentattitudes towards the same object at different points in their life.

Selective perception- People operate on their personal interpretation of the reality.Hence, the way people interpret the information about product, stores and so on affect

their attitude.

Personality- Perceived personality of an individual affects his attitudes towards productsand services.


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Group Associations: The groups that we value and with whom we associate influence our

attitudes. These groups could be family, peer groups, cultural groups etc.

Influential Personality: People who have a strong standing in a society are respected and their

opinions matter on a variety of issues. Opinion leaders are respected by their followers and may

strongly influence the attitude and purchase behaviour of their followers.

What functions do attitudes provide?

1. Utilitarian -does the clothing fit; is it appropriate, does it provide what we need?2. Value-expressive: clothing says that you are a professional. Attitude can express

consumers self-image and value system, particularly for a high involvement product.

3. Ego-expressive: clothing conveys self-image. Attitudes protect the ego from anxietiesand threats. Consumer purchase many products such as deodorants to avoid anxiety-producing situations.

4. Knowledge: summarizes the image we are trying to give, a suit from _______ conveysthat you are a professional

Factors affecting relation between Attitude, Beliefs, and Behaviour

1. Lack of involvement of an individual2. Lack of Purchase Feasibility: The positive attitude may not necessarily lead to the act of

purchase.

3. Lack of product direct experience4. Changing market condition5. Poor attitude accessibility: Consumer retain brand beliefs in memory as schema

representing their association with the brand.


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THEORIES AND MODELS OF ATTITUDE

Theories

Heiders Balance theory Congruity theory Dissonance Theory

Heiders Balance theory

Balance Theory is a motivational theory of attitude change, proposed by Fritz Heider (Heider

1958). It conceptualizes the cognitive consistency motive as a drive toward psychological

balance. It maintains that people seek to achieve balanced between their thoughts (Beliefs) and

feeling (evaluation). It mainly concern with the transfer of information between people. The

consistency motive is the urge to maintain one's values and beliefs over time. There are 3

elements in attitude formation: The person; other person; and the object. Heider proposed that

there are two generic types of relationship that exist between the elements, sentiment" or liking

relationships balanced if the affect valence in a system multiplies out to a positive result.

For example: a Person (P) who likes an Other (O) person will be balanced by the same valence

attitude on behalf of the other. Symbolically, P (+) > O and P < (+) O results in psychological

balance.

This can be extended to objects (X) as well, thus introducing triadic relationships. If a person P

likes object X but dislikes other person O, what does P feel upon learning that O created X? This

is symbolized as such:

P (+) > X

P (-) > O

O (+) > X

Multiplying the signs shows that the person will perceive imbalance (a negative multiplicative

product) in this relationship, and will be motivated to correct the imbalance somehow. The

Person can either:

Decide that O isn't so bad after all,

Decide that X isn't as great as originally thought, or

Conclude that O couldn't really have made X.


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Any of these will result in psychological balance, thus resolving the dilemma and satisfying the

drive. (Person P could also avoid object X and other person O entirely, lessening the stress

created by psychological imbalance.)

Balance Theory is also useful in examining how celebrity endorsement affects consumers'

attitudes toward products. If a person likes a celebrity and perceives (due to the endorsement)that said celebrity likes a product, said person will tend to liking the product more, in order to

achieve psychological balance.

However, if the person already had a dislike for the product being endorsed by the celebrity, she

may like the celebrity less in addition to liking the product more, again to achieve psychological

balance. To predict the outcome of a situation using Heider's Balance Theory, one must weigh

the effects of all the potential results, and the one requiring the least amount of effort will be the

likely outcome.

Congruity Theory

This theory was developed by Osgood and Tannenbaum. It deals with attitudes (evaluations) and relationships Attitudes are measured on a 7 point scale from +3 to -3. Attitudes are always toward some object. Objects may become linked in our mind, that is form a bond. There are two types of

bonds:

Associative (positive link between objects) Dissociative (negative link between objects)These links are similar to unit formation in the Balance model of Heider.

Congruity exists when our evaluation of (attitude toward) two objects that areassociatively bonded are identical in magnitude and direction. We like the Democratic

Party (+2), and we like National Health Insurance (+2) and we learn that the Democratic

Party endorses National Health Insurance (Associative Bond).

Congruity also exists when our evaluation of (attitude toward) two objects that aredissociatively bonded are identical in magnitude and opposite in direction. We like the

Democratic Party (+2), and we dislike Multinational Companies (-2) and we learn that

the Democratic Party rejects Multinational Companies (Dissociative Bond). Incongruity exists when our evaluation of (attitude toward) two objects that are

associatively bonded are not identical in magnitude. We like the Democratic Party (+2),

and we like Election Reform (+1) and we learn that the Democratic Party endorses

Election Reform (Associative Bond).

Incongruity also exists when our evaluation of (attitude toward) two objects that aredissociatively bonded are not identical in magnitude. We like the Democratic Party (+2),


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and we dislike Continuation of Tax Advantages (-1) and we learn that the Democratic

Party rejects Continuation of Tax Advantages (Dissociative Bond).

When there is incongruity people feel the effects and are motivated to change theirattitudes to make them congruent. Both attitudes change. The weaker attitude changes

more, the stronger attitude changes less. Attitudes do not change direction (sign).

Let stronger attitude magnitude = S, weaker attitude magnitude = W (no signs, absolutevalues). Then S (before change) becomes (after change) S-((W/(S+W))*(S-W)), and W

(before change) becomes (after change) W+((S/(S+W))*(S-W)). Signs of the new values

are the same as the signs of the old values.

When there is a dissociative bond between two attitudes with the same sign, or an associative

bond between two attitudes with opposite sign, the theory does not apply. We tend to not believe

the bond in this case.

Dissonance Theory

1. This theory was proposed by Leon Festinger, and has generated more research andcontroversy than any other cognitive consistency theory because of its ability to make

non-obvious predictions.

2. Two cognitive elements can stand in relationship to each other as consonant (one impliesthe other), dissonant (one implies the opposite of the other) or irrelevance (one has no

implication for the other)

3. Dissonance is distressful and we seek to reduce it.4. Magnitude of dissonance is a function of

o Importance of the items:o The number of cognitive elements involved.

5. Dissonance can be reduced by Changing the behavioral element. Change the attitudinal element. Add cognitive elements consonant with the behavioral element. Change the importance of the cognitive or behavioral elements.


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STRUCTURAL MODEL OF ATTITUDE

TRI COMPONENT ATTITUDE MODEL MULTI ATTRIBUTE MODEL THEORY OF TRYING-TO CONSUMER MODEL ATTITUDE-TOWARDS-THE AD MODEL

1. COMPONENT ATTITUDE MODEL:Three Components Model:

Cognition component: knowledge and perception acquired by peoplebeliefs Affect component: feelingabout product or brandfavourable or unfavourable

feeling. Positive or negative.

Conation component: likelihood or the probability of the consumer to take a definiteaction with regard to the attitude object, which may be actual behaviour also calledbuyer`s intention.

Multi Attribute Model

According to the Fishbein model, a consumer's overall attitude toward an object (o) is

determined by:

E = the evaluation of the goodness of a particular attribute an object may have

B = the strength of belief that a particular object has that attribute

Examples of the above:

If a particular consumer believes that trans fats are really, really bad for his health and is going

out of his way to avoid them

And that same consumer believes that Grease-ian Formula Potato Chips are very high in transfats

Then that particularconsumers attitude about Grease-ian Formula Chips is very negative.

Let's use numbers: Suppose (for the sake of simplicity) that both the goodness and belief scalesrank from -10 to 10. Let's further suppose that our consumer (above) ranks the attribute "contains

trans fat" as having a goodness score of -9. Let's also assume that this same consumer HIGHLY

believes (+9) that our client's chips contains trans fats. For this particular consumer, his overall

attitude toward our object (the chips) is -81 (-9 times 9).


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Now imagine trying to determine the overall attitude toward our object measured across many

consumers. This would simply involve calculating the overall attitude of each consumer, one by

one, and adding the (E x B)s for each and every one.

(In Detail, will continued in hard copy notes)

PERSONALITY

Meaning of personality

The inner psychological characteristics that determine and reflect how a person responds to his

or her environment. Inner characteristics are those specific qualities and attributes traits, factors,

mannerisms that distinguish one person from another

Nature of personality:

Personality reflects individual difference:

Individual personalities are unique combination of factors so no individuals are alike. Many individuals may be similar in terms of single personality characteristic which help

marketers to categorize consumers into different groups and identify their market

segment.

Personality is consistent and enduring:

Personality has both consistency and endurance.Personality can change: due to certain events, circumstances or situations. Some major life

events and gradual maturing process changes the personality.

Theories of personality:

There are three major theories of personality they are

1. Freudian theory,2. Neo-Freudian theory3. Trait theory.4. Jungian Theory

1. FREUDIAN THEORY

Freudian theory of personality; psychoanalytic theory:

It assumes that the needs which motivate human behaviour are driven by primary instincts- life

and death. The life instincts are considered to be predominantly sexual in nature, whereas the


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death instincts are believed to be manifested through self-destructive and/or aggressive

behaviour.

Sigmund Freuds theory of personality is a cornerstone of modern psychology .This theory is

built on bases of unconscious needs.

Id, superego, and ego

The personality of an individual is assumed to have developed in an attempt to gratify these

needs, and consists of the id (pleasure seeking), super ego (acts within the rule of the

society) and ego. This theory is based on the premise that unconscious (biological) needs are root

forces determining human motivation and personality

Human personality consists of 3 interacting systems:

i. Id

ii. Superego

iii. Ego

Id: Warehouse of primitive or instinctual needs for which individual seeks immediatesatisfaction. Eg: hunger, thirst, etc.

Superego: Individuals internal expression of societys moral and ethical codes of conduct. It

sees whether individual satisfies the need in the socially acceptable fashion.

Ego: Individuals conscious control that balances the demands of the id and superego

The id was conceptualized as a warehouse" of primitive and impulsive drives basic

physiological needs such as thirst, hunger etcfor which the individual seeks immediate

satisfaction without concern for the specific means of satisfaction.

In contrast to the id, the superego is conceptualized as the individual's internal expression of

society's moral and ethical codes of conduct. The superego's role is to see that the individual

satisfies needs in a socially acceptable fashion. Thus, the superego is a kind of "brake" that

restrains or inhibits the impulsive forces of the id.

Finally, the ego is the individual's conscious control. It functions as an internal monitor that

attempts to balance the impulsive demands of the id and the sociocultural constraints of the

superego.

The Id and the superego are two opposite sides of the personality, the Id being ones primitive

drive to seek immediate gratification and the superego representing ones morals placed upon

them by their care taker. The id and the superego are constantly at odds; therefore the ego serves

as a mediator, compromising between the id and the superego to fulfill the desires of the id but

stay within the boundaries and morals placed upon one by society. The ego defense mechanisms


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deal with conflicts between the superego and the id. These include repression, denial,

rationalization, reaction formation, displacement, regression, sublimation and projection.

Application of Freud Theory in Marketing

Many marketers have been extensively used specially in advertising to have a favourable opinion

of them towards their products. This theory finds wide application in brand positioning.

Positioning is adopted by marketers so as to carve out a distinct and valued slot in consumer

minds. Consumers have a tendency to assign certain psychological and symbolic values to the

brand. The term brand personality is a metaphor for the emotional relationship that exists

between a consumer and a brand. Consumers prefer to look beyond the functional value and

performance and look at a brand with human description.

For example, the recent positioning and promotion of the motorcycle Pulsar as a Definitely

male. Such a positioning targets the needs of those male customer who need their masculine

desires to be satisfied. This positioning uses the ID factor to promote it.

2. NEO-FREUDIAN PERSONALITY THEORY:Neo-Freudian, stressed that people continuously attempt to establish significant and rewarding

relationships with others. He was particularly concerned with the individual's efforts to reduce

tensions, such as anxiety. Social relationships are fundamental to the formation and development

of personality. He also placed much emphasis on the individual's efforts to overcome feelings of

inferiority

Three personality groups of individuals are:

Compliant individuals are those who move toward others (they desire to be loved,wanted, and appreciated).

2 Aggressive individuals are those who move against others (they desire to excel and winadmiration).

3, Detached individuals are those who move away from others (they desireindependence, self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and individualism or freedom from

obligations).

Application of Neo-Freud Theory in Marketing

The Neo-Freudian theory did not have influence in the field of marketing. But many of the

advertisements indicate that marketers have been using this theory intuitively. These ads depict

products or services to provide an opportunity to individuals to belong, to be appreciated by


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others. Advertisements like those of Close Up confidence, Rexona deodorant, Axe perfumes,

Denim after shave lotion etc. are all targeted to creating the self-image by focusing on enhancing

self-confidence or in reducing tension.

3. TRAIT THEORYTraits are distinguishing, relatively enduring ways in which one individual differs from another.

Personality is measured and quantified e.g. the degree of assertiveness, responsiveness to change

or level of sociability.

Marketers identify specific traits and then develop consumer profiles which enable a distinct

market segment to be determined.

For example, Aspirers seek status and self- esteem (materialism) and are targeted with products

which act as symbols of achievement e.g. designer clothes, latest hi-fi etc.

This theory is a quantitative measure. Personality theory with a focus on psychological characteristics Trait - any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from

another

Personality is linked to how consumers make their choices or to consumption of a broadproduct category - not a specific brand.

The traits that are measured are: Consumer innovativeness: how receptive a person is to a new experience. Consumer materialism: the degree of consumer attachment to a wordly possession. Consumer ethnocentrism: the consumers likelihood to accept or reject foreign made

products.

The trait which measures just one trait, such as self-confidence, the personality tests measure

such traits as consumer innovativeness, consumer materialism and consumer ethnocentrism, the

explanation for this are:

Consumer innovativeness: The degree to which consumers are receptive to new products, new

services or new practices.

a) How receptive a person is to a new experience.b) Consumer innovators are the first to try new product.c) Some of the personality traits that differentiate innovators and non-innovators.

Dogmatism:


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A personality trait that reflects the degree of rigidity a person displaystoward theunfamiliar and toward information that is contrary to his or her own established beliefs.

High dogmatic-discomfort with new product. Low dogmatic-like to try new product.

Social character:

It is a personality trait that range from inner-directedness to other-directedness.

a) Inner-Directed: Consumers who tend to rely on their own inner values More likely to be innovators Tend to prefer ads that stress product features and benefits

b) Other-Directed:

Consumers who tend to look to others for direction Less likely to be innovators Tend to prefer ads that feature social acceptance

Need for uniqueness: Consumers who avoid appearing to conform to expectations or standards

of others.

Optimum stimulation level:

A personality trait that measures the level or amount of novelty or complexity that individuals

seek in their personal experiences. High OSL consumers tend to accept risky and novel productsmore readily than low OSL consumers.

Variety-novelty seeking: Measures a consumers degree of variety seeking

Cognitive personality factors

Consumer researchers have been increasingly interested in how cognitive personality factors

influence various aspects of consumer behavior. In particular, two cognitive personality traits i.e.

need for cognition and visualizers versus verbalizershave been useful in understandingselected aspects of consumer behavior.

Need for cognition (NC)


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Cognition measures a person's craving for or enjoyment of thinking, researchers suggests that

consumers who are high in NC are more likely to be responsive to the part of an ad that is rich in

product-related information or description; consumers who are relatively low in NC are more

likely to be attracted to the background or peripheral aspects of an ad, such as an attractive model

or well-known celebrity.

Visualizers versus verbalizers

People who are open to and prefer the written word as a way of obtaining information are

visualizers, and the people who are more likely to respond to and prefer visual images or

messages as source of information.

Consumer materialism

Materialism is a personality like trait which distinguishes between individuals who regard

possessions as essential to their identities and their lives those for whom possessions are

secondary. Researchers have found some characteristics of materialistic people, they are:

they value acquire and showoff possessions. they are self-centered and selfish people they seek lifestyle full of possession they are not satisfied with their possessions.

Consumer Ethnocentrism

Consumers who are highly ethnocentric are likely to feel that it is inappropriate or wrong to

purchase foreign made products because of resulting economic impact on the domestic economy.

Brand personality

Its defined as Brand image or identity expressed in terms of human characteristics.

Distinguishing and identifiable characteristics which offer consistent, enduring and predictable

messages and perceptions. What people associate the brand with.

Brand personality is a setoff human characteristic associated with a brand.

Application of Trait Theory in Marketing

When marketers want to communicate about new products or services to consumers who display

high dogmatism, would go in for an ad having an authoritative person endorsing the brand. For

example, during initial stage of Oral B brush launch a dentist was shown advocating the

advantages of the brush to non-innovators. Consumers with low dogmatism accept ads showing

benefits.


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4. Jungian TheoryCarl Jung had conducted systematic investigations of the unconscious dynamics with the

association test. He had given more focus to the question of personality type in the associationtest. Based on the typology of the personality, he grouped them into two types, which are as

under:

Extrovert Introvert

The extrovert was very much interested in building a social relationship. The introvert was

occupied with his own inner world of fantasy and body activity and was relatively incapable of

outgoing social interactions. This concept was further elaborated by going for a sub-division of

the mental operation into four basic activities, which are as under:

Sensing Feeling Thinking Intuiting

According to Jung, individuals are strong either in sensation or intuition while gathering

information, and while evaluating the information they are strong either in thinking or feeling.

Sensing Thinking (ST) Intuitive Thinking

-Empirical & rational in decision making -Takes a broader perspective of the situation

-Risk avoider, will search in depth - Thinks, uses logic & imagination in decision

for information

-Price sensitive & materialistic in considering - Speculative-considers many options before

motives decision

-Short term consideration -Takes long term view

Application of Jungian Theory in Marketing

The study of such psychological inventory indicators helps in learning about the impact of the 4

personality types on CB. For instance, if 4 individuals representing these personality types are in

the market for purchase of a two-wheeler, both the sensing-thinking and sensing-feeling will


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gather information about the product from various sources like auto magazines, internet etc. The

sensing-thinking types will arrive at their own decision and purchase a two wheeler, while the

sensing feeling ones will include the recommendations of mechanics and prefer to buy from a

reputed service dealer. The intuitive-thinking and the intuitive -feeling types will buy on their

own gut feeling or hunch.

Self and self-image

Consumers have a variety of lasting image of themselves; these images are associated with

personality in that individuals consumption relates to self-image.

One or multiple selves: A consumer who acts differently in different situations or with different

people, for instance a person is likely to behave in different ways at home, at work or with

friends. Its normal that a person is likely to display different personality in different situations

and social roles.

Extended self: It is an interrelationship between consumers self-image and their possession. A

consumers possession may extend theirself-image in number of ways- Actually, Symbolically,

Conferring status or rank, Bestowing feelings of immortality, Endowing with magical powers.

Altering the self: The consumers who try to modify their appearances to become a different or

improved self by using all kind of accessories, this is frequently done to express their

individualism or uniqueness by creating a new self and maintaining the existing self.


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