literature review of consumer attitude

8/18/2019 Literature Review of Consumer Attitude

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Consumer attitudes are both an obstacle and an advantage to a marketer. Choosing to

discount or ignore consumers’ attitudes of a particular product or service—while

developing a marketing strategy—guarantees limited success of a campaign. In

contrast, perceptive marketers leverage their understanding of attitudes to predict the

behavior of consumers. These savvy marketers know exactly how to distinguish the

differences between beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors while leveraging all three in the

development of marketing strategies.

n attitude in marketing terms is defined as a general evaluation of a product or

service formed over time !"olomon, #$$%&. n attitude satisfies a personal motive—

and at the same time, affects the shopping and buying habits of consumers. 'r. (ars

)erner !#$*$& defines consumer attitude simply as a composite of a consumer’s

beliefs, feelings, and behavioral intentions toward some ob+ect within the context of

marketing. consumer can hold negative or positive beliefs or feelings toward a

product or service. behavioral intention is defined by the consumer’s belief or

feeling with respect to the product or service.

)erhaps the attitude formed as the result of a positive or negative personal experience.

aybe outside influences of other individuals persuaded the consumer’s opinion of a

product or service. ttitudes are relatively enduring !-skamp "chult/, #$$0, p. %&.

ttitudes are a learned predisposition to proceed in favor of or opposed to a given

ob+ect. In the context of marketing, an attitude is the filter to which every product and

service is scrutini/ed.


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The functional theory of attitudes—developed by 'aniel 1at/—offers an explanation

as to the functional motives of attitudes to consumers !"olomon, #$$%&. 1at/

theori/es four possible functions of attitudes. 2ach function attempts to explain the

source and purpose a particular attitude might have to the consumer. 3nderstanding

the purpose of a consumer’s attitude is an imperative step toward changing an

attitude. 3nlike 1at/’s explanation of attitude—as it relates to social psychology,

specifically the ideological or sub+ective side of man—consumer attitudes exist to

satisfy a function !1at/, *456&.

The utilitarian function is one of the most recogni/ed of 1at/’s four defined

functions. The utilitarian function is based on the ethical theory of utilitarianism,

whereas an individual will make decisions based entirely on the producing the

greatest amount of happiness as a whole !"idgwick, *4$6&. consumer’s attitude is

clearly based on a utility function when the decision revolves around the amount of

pain or pleasure in brings.

The value7expressive function is employed when a consumer is basing their attitude

regarding a product or service on self7concept or central values. The association or

reflection that a product or service has on the consumer is the main concern of an

individual embracing the value expressive function !"olomon, #$$%&. This particular

function is used when a consumer accepts a product or service with the intention of

affecting their social identity.

The ego7defensive function is apparent when a consumer feels that the use of a

product or service might compromise their self7image. oreover, the ego7defensive

attitude is difficult to change. The ego7defensive attitude—in general psychology—is

a way for individuals deny their own disconcerting aspects !8arayan, #$*$&.

marketer must tread lightly when considering a message strategy to a consumer with

an attitude based on the ego7defensive function.


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The knowledge function is prevalent in individuals who are careful about organi/ing

and providing structure regarding their attitude or opinion of a product or service

!"olomon, #$$%&. marketer can change a consumer’s knowledge function based

attitude by using fact7based comparisons and real7world statistics in the message

strategy. 9ague and non7relevant marketing campaigns are ineffective against a

knowledge attitude audience.

dvertising campaigns that appeal to consumer behaviors based on the value7

expressive or utilitarian functions are the most common !"irgy, *44*&. 3tilitarian

advertisements deliver a message regarding the benefits of using a product or service.

dvertising targeted to consumers with value7expressive attitudes will typically

include product symbolism and an image strategy. In either case, it is important to

understand why a consumer holds a particular attitude toward the product or service.

The :C odel of ttitudes—consisting of the three components; affect, behavior,

and cognition—accentuates the relationship between knowing, feeling, and doing

!"olomon, #$$%&. ffect is the feeling an individual has regarding an ob+ect. In the

current context, affect represents the emotion or opinion about a product or service.

:ehavior is the responses of a consumer resulting from affect and cognition. :ehavior

only implies intention. Cognition is an individual’s belief or knowledge about an

attitude ob+ect.

The hierarchy of effects is the result of all three components working together. The

hierarchy of effects is a concept used to distinguish between the involvement levels or

motivation an individual might have toward the attitude ob+ect. The standard7learning

hierarchy, low7involvement hierarchy, and experiential hierarchy are the three

hierarchies of effects. 'r.


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included, and represented by the component order—behavior, belief, and affect

!8ovack, #$*$&.

The standard7learning hierarchy, also known as the high7involvement hierarchy

assumes that the consumer will conduct extensive research and establish beliefs about

the attitude ob+ect. The consumer will then establish feelings regarding the attitude

ob+ect. The feelings—or affect—are followed by the individual’s behavior. The

cognition7affect7behavior approach is prevalent in purchase decisions where a high

level of involvement is necessary.

The low7involvement hierarchy consists of a cognition7behavior7affect order of

events. consumer with an attitude formed via the low7involvement hierarchy of

effects bases the purchase decision on what they know as opposed to what they feel.

The consumer establishes feeling about a product or service after the purchase. This

limited knowledge approach is not suitable for life7changing purchases such as a car

or new home.

The experiential hierarchy of effects is defined by an affect7behavior7cognition

processing order. In this scenario, the consumer is influenced to purchase based

entirely on their feeling regarding a particular product or service. Cognition comes

after the purchase and enforces the initial affect. 2motional contagion is common in

attitudes formed by the experiential hierarchy of effects !"olomon, #$$%&. 2motional

contagion, in this situation, suggests that the consumer is influenced by the emotion

contained in the advertisement.

The elaboration likelihood model !2(& offers a theory concerning attitude change.

"imilar to the :C model of hierarchy, the 2( model is based on the level of

involvement in the purchase !)etty Cacioppo, *4%*&. 'epending on the level of

involvement and motivation, the consumer will follow one of two possible routes.


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The central route is when the consumer is highly involved in every aspect of the

purchase. consumer following the central route extends extra effort in researching

and understanding the products or services. The peripheral route—as the name

implies—is followed by a consumer with low involvement in the purchase process.

"ocial +udgment theory offers another explanation for attitude changes, whereas a

consumer compares current information to previous notions !8ovack, #$*$&.

Incoming messages are filtered down two possible paths—latitudes of acceptance and

latitudes of re+ection. If the new information is similar to existing information, the

consumer follows the latitude of acceptance. In contrast, if the information is

disparate, the consumer follows the latitude of re+ection !"olomon, #$$%&.

ultiattribute models are used to understand and measure attitudes. The basic

multiattribute model has three elements—attributes, beliefs, and weights. ttributes

are the characteristics of the attitude ob+ect. :eliefs are a measurement of a particular

attribute. =eights are the indications of importance or priority of a particular attribute.

multiattribute model can be used to measure a consumer’s overall attitude.

The most influential multiattribute model—the >ishbein model—also uses three

components of attitude. The first, salient beliefs, is a reference to the beliefs a person

might gain during the evaluation of a product or service. "econd, ob+ect7attribute

linkages, is an indicator of the probability of importance for a particular attribute

associated with an attitude ob+ect. 2valuation, the third component, is a measurement

of importance for the attribute. The goal of the >ishbein model is to reduce overall

attitudes into a score. )ast and predicted consumer behavior can be used to enhance

the >ishbein model !"mith, Terry, anstead, (ouis, #$$%&.

more advanced and automated modeling techni?ue, semantic clustering, is used to

analy/e and predict consumer attitudes. =hile proven effective for measuring the


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flow and direction of information, recently semantic clustering is being used to elicit

attitudes toward brands !"haughnessy, #$*$&. :logs and forums are a prime target for

an analyst using the semantic clustering techni?ue.

@esults from a multiattribute will reveal several pieces of information that can be

used in various marketing applications. If the competitor scores higher on a particular

attribute, a marketer should downplay the attribute and emphasi/e the importance of a

high7scoring attribute of his or her own. (ikewise, if the score reveals a broken

connection between a product and attribute, the marketer can develop a message

strategy to establish the link. 'ifferentiation is an important advantage to marketers.

3sing the results of a multiattribute model, a marketer can develop and market new

attributes to existing products.

Changing a consumer’s attitude towards a product, service or brand is a marketer’s

Aoly Brail. Three attitude change strategies include; changing affect, changing

behavior, and changing beliefs !)erner, #$*$&. Classical conditioning is a techni?ue

used to change affect. In this situation, a marketer will sometimes pair or associate

their product with a liked stimulus. The positive association creates an opportunity to

change affect without necessarily altering the consumer’s beliefs. ltering the price or

positioning of a product typically accomplishes changing behavior. -ne example is

the use of coupons or incentives to promote sales.

Changing beliefs is the most difficult of the three. marketer can leverage several

approaches to changing a consumer’s beliefs about a product. >our common

approaches include; change current held beliefs, change the importance of beliefs,

add beliefs, and change ideal. Changing beliefs is sometimes a necessary, for

example, when a mature product is to be reintroduced into the market !rora, #$$6&.


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arketing spans many disciplines including mathematics, and psychology. ath

plays an important role is predicting consumer behavior. 3nderstanding the reasons

behind consumer behavior re?uires knowledge of several theories of psychology.

These two disciplines combine to aid in the complete rationali/ation of consumer

behavior. ttitudes are easily formed, but difficult to change. arketing is an ongoing

attempt to instill a positive attitude toward a specific product or service.

ttitudes can be influenced by many factors outside the product attributes. "ocial and

cultural environment as well as demographic, psychographic, and geographic

conditions can sometimes shape consumer behavior. Consumer attitude, if positive, is

an advantage to a marketer. savvy marketer can build a model for prospecting new

consumers from the attributes of a satisfied customer. 'irect marketing companies

create higher response rates by using look7alike modeling based on existing

customers—individuals with a positive attitude.

Consumer behavior is the study of how a consumer thinks, feels, and selects between

competing products. oreover, the study of attitudes is critical to understanding the

motivation and decision strategies employed by consumers. The combination of

beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors influence how a consumer reacts to a product or

service. arketers develop relative, compelling marketing messages using the same

combination of information, and ultimately influence consumer behavior.

literature review of consumer attitude

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