Consumer Attitudes

Unit 2: Individual Determinants of Consumer Behaviour

 ❑ According to Gordon J. Allport, “Attitudes are
learned predispositions to respond to an object
or class of objects in a consistently favourable
or unfavourable way”.

❑ Schiffman & Kanuk have defined ‘attitude’, in

the context of consumer behaviour by
modifying the above definition as “a learned
predisposition to behave in a consistently
favourable or unfavourable way with respect to
the given object”.
Definition ❑ Observations:
1. Attitudes are not directly observable but
must be inferred from what people say or
do.
2. Numerous consumer behaviours, such as,
consistency of purchase,
recommendations to others, rankings,
beliefs, evaluations and intentions are
related to attitudes.
 Definition (tri-
component approach)

❑ According to Krech and Crutchfield,

“An attitude is an enduring
organization of motivational,
emotional, perceptual and
cognitive processes with respect to
some aspect of our environment”.
❑ This definition views attitudes as
being composed of:
(i) cognitive (knowledge
and beliefs),
(ii) affective (emotional) and
(iii) conative (behavioural)
components.
 ❑ The preceding definition highlights the
following aspects:
❑ The attitude is always ‘towards
some object’;
❑ Attitudes are ‘learned
predispositions’;
❑ Attitudes have ‘consistency’; and
Characteristics ❑ Attitudes ‘occur within a situation’
and Functions
of Attitudes ❑ According to Daniel Katz (Functional
Theory of Attitudes), attitudes perform
the following four important functions for
individuals:
❑ Utilitarian Function
❑ Value-expressive Function
❑ Ego-defensive Function
❑ Knowledge Function
 ❑ This attitude function serves consumers in
achieving desired benefits. We hold certain
Utilitarian brand attitudes partly because of a brand’s
utility.
Function
❑ If a product has been useful in the past, out
attitude towards it is likely to be favourable.
Value Expressive
Function
❑ Attitudes reflect the consumer’s
self-image, values and outlook,
particularly in a high involvement
product.
❑ If a consumer segment holds
positive attitudes towards being “in
fashion”, then their attitudes are
likely to be reflected in this
viewpoint.
❑ Advertisers often appeal to the
value-expressive nature of attitudes
by implying that purchase or use of
a certain product will lead to
desired achievement, self-
enhancement or independence.
 ❑ Attitudes formed to protect the ego, or self-image, from
anxieties and threats help fulfil this function.
❑ Ads for many personal care products such as mouthwashes,
toothpastes, deoderants, anti-pimple creams and cosmetics
Ego-Defensive are a good example.
❑ Advertising capitalizes on the fear of social embarrassment
Function and rejection and greater social acceptance through use of
certain products.
❑ This encourages consumers in developing positive attitude
towards brands linked with social acceptance, confidence,
appreciation or being attractive and desirable to the
opposite sex.
 Knowledge
Function
❑ Individuals generally have a strong need for
knowledge and seek consistency, stability
and understanding.
❑ To fulfil this need, attitudes help people
organize the considerable amount of
information to which they are exposed
every day.
❑ Consumers ignore irrelevant information
and store what is meaningful to them.
❑ The knowledge function also reduces
uncertainty and confusion.
❑ Advertising is a means of acquiring
information about products and services.
❑ Comparative advertising attempts to
change consumers’ negative attitudes
towards the advertised brands, based on
prior knowledge, by emphasizing its
advantages over the competing brands.
Tri-Component Model of Attitude

Cognitive

Affective
Conative
Attitude Components and Manifestations
MANIFESTATION

COMPONENT
EXPOSURE Beliefs about ATTITUDE
specific attributes
or attitude object
▪ Product or Cognitive
service,
▪ Message Overall
Emotions or
factors, intention
feelings about
▪ Retailer, Affective towards
specific attributes
▪ Salesmen, attitude
or attitude object
▪ Situation object
factors, Behavioural
etc. Conative intentions with
regard to specific
attributes or
attitude object
 ❑ Cognition (Thinking): It represents
an individual’s knowledge about a
particular object, which includes its
attributes and benefits based on
customer’s own experiences and
information gathered from
marketers, opinion leaders, other
The Three customers, etc. about the product.
❑ Affect (Feeling): It encompasses
Components the customer’s feelings
emotions about an object, namely,
or

– in brief the evaluation of a product or

brand.
❑ Conation (Doing): This stage is an
individual’s attention to act in a
particular way or a predisposition
to take a specific action.
 ❑ Cognitions consists of the
knowledge and perceptions that
are acquired by a combination of
direct experience with the attitude
object and related information
from various sources.
❑ This knowledge and resulting
The perceptions commonly take the
form of beliefs, i.e., the consumer
believes that the attitude object
Cognitive possesses various attributes and
that specific behaviour will lead to
Component specific outcomes.
 The Cognitive Component (an example)

A Consumer’s belief system for two types of HDTVs

Product LCD Plasma/LED
Brand Off- Reflectivity Motion blur Colour Off- Reflectivity Motion blur Colour
attributes viewing of screen saturation viewing of screen saturation
angle angle
Beliefs Image Reflects less More than A bit worse Excellent Glass screen Negligible Generally a
fades light plasma/LED than from all reflects light, little better
slightly plasma/LED angles so may be than LCD.
from the an issue.
side

Evaluations ++ ++++ - ++ ++++ - +++ ++

 The Affective
Component
❑ The affective component of
attitude consists of a
consumer’s emotions or
feelings about a particular 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
product or brand. Refreshing Not Refreshing
❑ The emotions or feelings are
frequently treated by Positive Negative

consumer behaviour Pleasant Unpleasant

researchers as primarily Appealing to Unappealing to
evaluative in nature’ i.e., others others

they capture an individual’s

direct or global assessment
of the attitude object (i.e.,
the extent to which an
individual rates the attitude
object as “favourable” or
“unfavourable”, “good” or
“bad”.
 The Affective Component (an Example)

VERY NOT AT
ALL
Relaxed
Attractive Looking
Tight
Smooth
Supple
Clean
Refreshed
Younger
Revived
Renewed
The Conative
Component
❑ Conation is concerned with the likelihood or tendency that an
individual will undertake a specific action or behave in a
particular way with regard to the attitude object.
❑ According to some interpretations, the conative component
may include the actual behaviour itself.
❑ In marketing and consumer research, the conative component
is frequently treated as the expression of the consumer’s
intention to buy.