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Chapter 7
Consumer Attitude Formation
and Change
Consumer Behaviour
Canadian Edition
Schiffman/Kanuk/Das
Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Opening Vignette


The impact of SARS on tourism
- real risk was low, but perceived risk was high
- led to negative attitude towards Canada,
especially Toronto



Attitude change through
- value-expressive appeals
- use of celebrities

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education

7-2

Attitudes
 A learned predisposition to behave in a

consistently favorable or unfavorable
manner with respect to a given object
 A positive attitude is generally a necessary,
but not sufficient, condition for purchase
– Mercedes seen as ‘top of class’ but intention to
purchase was low

7-3

Characteristics of Attitudes
 Attitudes

have an “object”
 Attitudes are learned
– Can ‘unlearn’
 Attitudes

have behavioural, evaluative and
affective components
– Predisposition to act
– Overall evaluation
– Positive or negative feelings
» continued


7-4

Characteristics of Attitudes
 Attitudes

have consistency
 Attitudes have direction, degree, strength
and centrality
–
–
–
–

Positive or negative
Extent of positive or negative feelings
Strength of feelings
Closeness to core cultural values

 Attitudes

occur within a situation


7-5

Four Basic Functions of
Attitudes
 The

Utilitarian Function

– How well it performs
 The

Ego-defensive Function

– To protect one’s self-concept
 The

Value-expressive Function

– To convey one’s values and lifestyles
 The

Knowledge Function

– A way to gain knowledge

7-6

How are attitudes learned?
 Classical

conditioning - through past
associations
 Operant conditioning - through trial and
reinforcement
 Cognitive learning – through information
processing
– Cognitive dissonance theory
– Attribution theory


7-7

Attitude Models
 Structural

Models of Attitudes

– Tri-component Attitude Model
– Multi-attribute Attitude Model
– Both assume a rational model of human
behaviour
 Other

models of attitude formation

– Cognitive dissonance model
– Attribution theory

7-8

The Tri-component Model
 Cognitive

Component

– knowledge and perceptions acquired
– through direct experience and information from
various sources.
 Affective

component

– Emotions and feelings about the object
 Conative

or Behavioural Component

– Action tendencies toward the object

7-9

Conation

Cognition

Affect


7-10

Multi-attribute Attitude Models
 Attitude

models that examine the
composition of consumer attitudes in terms
of selected product attributes or beliefs.
 Examples
– Attitude-toward-object Model
– Attitude-toward-behaviour Model
– Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Model

7-11

Attitude-toward-object model
 Attitude

is function of evaluation of
product-specific beliefs and evaluations
n

– Ao= WiXib
i=1

– Where:
Ao= Attitude towards the object O
Wi = importance of attribute i
Xib = belief that brand b has a certain level of
attribute I
continued


7-12

Theory of Reasoned Action

– A comprehensive theory of the interrelationship
among attitudes, intentions, and behaviour


7-13


7-14

Attitude-Toward-Behaviour
Model
A

consumer’s attitude toward a specific
behaviour is a function of how strongly he
or she believes that the action will lead to a
specific outcome (either favorable or
unfavorable).


7-15

Cognitive Dissonance Theory
 Holds

that discomfort or dissonance occurs
when a consumer holds conflicting
thoughts about a belief or an attitude object.
 Post-purchase Dissonance
– Cognitive dissonance that occurs after a
consumer has made a purchase commitment


7-16

Why Might Behaviour Precede
Attitude Formation?
 Cognitive

Dissonance
Theory
 Attribution
Theory

Behave (Purchase)

Form Attitude


Form Attitude

7-17

Attribution Theory
 Examines how people assign casualty to

events and form or alter their attitudes as an
outcome of assessing their own or other
people’s behaviour.
 Examples

– Self-perception Theory
– Attribution toward others

7-18

Self-Perception Theory
 Attitudes

developed by reflecting on
their own behaviour
 Judgments about own behaviour
 Internal and external attributions

» Continued


7-19

Self-Perception Theory
 Consumers

are likely to accept credit for
successful outcomes (internal attribution)
and to blame other persons or products for
failure (external attribution).
 Foot-In-The-Door Technique


7-20

How We Test Our Attributions
 Distinctiveness
 Consistency

over time
 Consistency over modality
 Consensus


7-21

Attitudes and Marketing Strategy
 Appeal

to motivational functions of
attitudes
 Associate product with a special group,
cause or event
 Resolve conflicts among attitudes
 Influence consumer attributions
» Continued


7-22

 Alter

–
–
–
–

components of the attitude

Change relative evaluation of attributes
Change brand beliefs
Add an attribute
Change overall brand evaluation

 Change

beliefs about competitors’ brands
» Continued


7-23

 Change

affect first through classical
conditioning
 Change behaviour first through operant
conditioning


7-24

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