McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Attitudes and Intentions

Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Chapter 6

Introduction• Attitudes and intentions are two important

variables in forming consumer behavior.

• Positive attitudes toward the product or brand increase the probability of intention and actual purchase.

Topics• Definition of Attitude

• How are Attitudes Formed

• How are Attitudes Measured

• How and When Do Attitudes Influence Behavior?

• How to Change a Person’s Attitude

What is Attitude?• Lasting evaluations of various aspects of the

social world, evaluations that are stored in memory

• Learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object

How are Attitudes Formed?• Classical conditioning

• Operant conditioning

• Observational or Modeling

Classical Conditioning• Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan

Pavlov, classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

Classical Conditioning• In order to understand how classical

conditioning works, it is important to be familiar with the basic principles of the process.

• The four basic principles of the process are: unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response

Classical ConditioningThe Unconditioned Stimulus (US) - is one that

unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response. For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may immediately feel very hungry. In this example, the smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus.

The Unconditioned Response (UR) - is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus. In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell of food is the unconditioned response.

Classical ConditioningThe Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - is previously neutral

stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response. In our earlier example, suppose that when you smelled your favorite food, you also heard the sound of a whistle. While the whistle is unrelated to the smell of the food, if the sound of the whistle was paired multiple times with the smell, the sound would eventually trigger the conditioned response. In this case, the sound of the whistle is the conditioned stimulus.

The Conditioned Response (CR) - is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. In our example, the conditioned response would be feeling hungry when you hear the sound of the whistle.

Classical Conditioning• Many studies show that when initially

neutral stimuli are paired repeatedly with positive or negative stimuli, subjects will develop positive or negative attitudes toward the previously neutral stimulus

• Example: Music, sexy voices, bodies, celebrities (stimuli)

Operant Conditioning• Persons are rewarded for expressing the

“correct” attitudes/punished for “incorrect”

Punishment

Observational Learning• Persons form attitudes by observing and

then imitating models that they like and admire

• Example: Your mother states that “only biodegradable products should be used to do laundry” (Will you model that attitude?)

Got Milk?

How are Attitudes Formed?• Attitudes can be formed through the

following:1. During an exposure to an advertisement

2. During a casual discussion with a friend about a product

3. While making a purchase decision in the grocery store

How are Attitudes Measured? • The multi-attribute model indicates that our

attitude towards an object (e.g. product or brand) is predicated upon what we consider to be an appropriate range of beliefs about that object and how we evaluate these.

How are Attitudes Measured contd.

Example for Multi-attribute modelAttitude for 7up

Salient beliefsHow likely is it that 7up has no caffeine?Extremely Unlilkely 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Likely

How likely is it that 7up is made from all natural ingredients?Extremely Unlilkely 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Likely

Belief Evaluation7up has no caffeineVery Bad 0 1 2 3 Very Good

7-up has all natural ingredientsVery Bad 0 1 2 3 Very Good

How are Attitudes Measured contd.

• Surveys using different rating scales can also be used to measure attitudes

• The Semantic Differential Scales incorporates a set of five or seven point bipolar scales. The scales are characterized by opposites such as good/bad, active/passive, hot/cold, rough/smooth, and strong/weak

How are Attitudes Measured contd.

Example for Semantic Differential scale

For Direct Mail you receive, in general do you think it is:

Interesting 1 2 3 4 5 Uninteresting

Informative 1 2 3 4 5 Uninformative

Intrusive 1 2 3 4 5 Not intrusive

Relevant 1 2 3 4 5 Irrelevant

How are Attitudes Measured contd.

• Likert scaling technique presents series of statements about the topic concerned and respondents are asked to indicate their degree of agreement with each, according to a five point scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”

How are Attitudes Measured contd.

I like having a product or service

Information communicated to me

1 2 3 4 5

I like to decide for myself when and where to look for product or service information

1 2 3 4 5

The more that organizations know about me, the better they can meet my needs

1 2 3 4 5

Example for Likert ScaleStrongly

agreeStrongly disagree

Group Assignment• Form 4 groups of 8-10 members each.

• Construct a Likert scale survey to determine your classmates’ attitudes on the assigned product category.

• Survey all your classmates except those who are part of your group. (30 respondents)

• Compile and analyze the data using Mean or average.

Group Assignment• Prepare a report about your group’s

findings.

• Submit the report, together with the surveys, on August 10, 2011 (Wednesday).

• Assigned product categories:– Group 1: 3D movies or movies available in 3D – Group 2: Frozen Yoghurt (White Hat, Oh My

Yoghurt, etc)– Group 3: Colored contact lens– Group 4: Couple’s shirts

Intention• A plan, goal or objective

• The theory of planned behavior indicates that individuals consider the implications of their actions before deciding how to behave

• The best predictor of behavior in a situation is the strength of our intentions with respect to that situation

Intention contd.• According to the theory, intentions will be based

on:– Atitudes toward the behavior in question (e.g. Regular

Hot oil treatment makes me hair look straighter and smoother.)

– Subjective norms are person’s belief s about how others will evaluate the behavior (e.g. my friends think that hot oil is too expensive)

– Perceived behavioral control is the extent to which person believes behavior is hard or easy to control (e.g. With my weekly allowance, I can afford it)

Intention and Behavior• Identifying intention is an input to forecasts• Intention and behavior though are not always

congruent (e.g. Ana may have the intention to buy a car but she lacks budget)

• To accurately predict behaviors, marketers should measure consumers’ intentions at the same level of abstraction and specificity as the action, target, and time components of the behavior.

Factors that Reduce the Relationship between Intention and Behavior

• Intervening Time

• Level of Specificity (e.g. You have the intention to wear jeans on Wednesday, which is the washday, but you have a case presentation in class)

• Unforeseen environmental event (e.g. You wanted to buy Frito Lay but it’s out-of-stock)

Factors that Reduce the Relationship between Intention and Behavior

• Unforeseen situational context (e.g. You have negative attitudes toward cheap champagne but you had to prepare for a party)

• Degree of voluntary control (e.g. the intention to shop is there but you got a flu)

• Stability of Intentions

• New Information

The End

Time for a short quiz!