Functions of consumer attitudes By Kelly Mullins

Consumer value framework

What is an attitude? Babin & Harris, Relatively enduring overall evaluations of objects, products, services, issues or people. Hawkins, Best & Coney, A learned predisposition to respond in a favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object.

Example:

Your attitude as a consumer greatly impacts your behaviour towards purchasing products and services.

So what makes you like certain products and services and not others? Value Satisfaction Happiness Positive Attitude

The ABC Approach Affect Behaviour Cognition I’m scared of snakes… I will scream and run when I know a snake to be near… I believe snakes to be dangerous and vicious

The Hierarchy of Effects Model High-Involvement Hierarchy (Standard Learning) Cognition – Affect - Behaviour

High-Involvement Hierarchy

The Hierarchy of Effects Model High-Involvement Hierarchy (Standard Learning) Cognition – Affect - Behaviour Low-Involvement Hierarchy Cognition – Behaviour - Affect

Low-Involvement Hierarchy

The Hierarchy of Effects Model High-Involvement Hierarchy (Standard Learning) Cognition – Affect - Behaviour Low-Involvement Hierarchy Cognition – Behaviour - Affect Experiential Hierarchy Affect – Behaviour - Cognition

Experiential Hierarchy

The Hierarchy of Effects Model High-Involvement Hierarchy (Standard Learning) Cognition – Affect - Behaviour Low-Involvement Hierarchy Cognition – Behaviour - Affect Experiential Hierarchy Affect – Behaviour - Cognition Behavioural Influence Hierarchy Behaviour – Cognition - Affect

Behavioural Influence Hierarchy

The Functional Theory of Attitudes - Attitudes perform 4 functions: Utilitarian Knowledge Value - Expressive Ego- Defensive

Utilitarian Function

Knowledge Function

Value – Expressive Function

Ego – Defensive Function

The ATO Approach So how do marketers measure consumer attitudes? Attitude-Toward-the-Object Model 1. Salient Belief The predominant belief 2. Strength of the Belief The degree to which the product actually possesses the attribute 3. Evaluation of the Attribute How important is the attribute?

An example: How likely is it that the Honda Civic has Central Locking? How bad/good is it that the Honda Civic has Central locking?

The ATO Approach Table …Holden Barina with 34 points!

How do marketer’s measure attitudes? - survey a small section of a segment and obtain average figures that help them in determining the attitudes of entire segments rather than just individuals.

References Babin, BJ & Harris, EG 2013, CB5, Cengage, United States Desai, J & Desai, U, 2013, Measuring Consumer Attitude towards Nokia and Sony Ericsson Brand of Mobile Handsets, Journal of Marketing and Communication, Vol: 8 pp Grewal, R, Mehta, R & Kardes, F, 2004, The Timing of Repeat Purchases of Consumer Durable Goods: The Role of Functional Bases of Consumer Attitudes, Journal of Marketing Research, vol: 41 pp Hawkins, Best & Coney, 1994, Consumer Behaviour: Implications for Marketing Strategy, 6 th edn, Sydney NSW: McGraw-Hill Krystallis, A, Vassallo, M, Chryssohoidis, G, 2012, The usefulness of Schwartz's ‘Values Theory’ in understanding consumer behaviour towards differentiated product, Journal of Marketing Management, vol: 28, pp