1. Lecture 6 Laura Grazzini laura.grazzini@unifi.it
Consumer Behaviour
Lecture 6
Laura Grazzini

2. Learning Objectives Nature and power of attitudes
How do we form attitudes?
How do marketers change attitudes?
The elements of communication (sources and messages)

3. The attitudes
Attitude: is a lasting, general evaluation of people, objects, advertisements, or issues Attitude object (AO): is anything toward which one has an attitude
We use the term attitude in many contexts. Attitudes are general evaluations of people, objects, or issues that tend to last. They also tend to be predictive of behavior and to endure over time. Anything toward which one has an attitude is known as an attitude object.
An attitude is a predisposition to evaluate an object or product positively or negatively. We form attitudes toward products and services that often determine whether we will purchase them or not.

4. The attitudes
An enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive process with respect to some aspects of the individual’s world. More specifically, an attitude refers to a predisposition to respond in a consistent or predictable manner to a stimulus Attitudes can be towards: Physical object (e.g. a brand or product), Social object (e.g. a sales assistant), An action (e.g. buying products that can harm the environment), Advertising (e.g. a particular ad)
We use the term attitude in many contexts. Attitudes are general evaluations of people, objects, or issues that tend to last. They also tend to be predictive of behavior and to endure over time. Anything toward which one has an attitude is known as an attitude object.
An attitude is a predisposition to evaluate an object or product positively or negatively. We form attitudes toward products and services that often determine whether we will purchase them or not.

5. The components of attitude: the ABC model
An attitude has three components: • Cognition – refers on what he believes to be true about the attitude object • Affect – refers on how a consumer feels about an attitude object • Behavior – refers on his intention to take action about it
The ABC Model of Attitudes
An attitude has three components: affect, behavior, and cognition.
Affect refers to the way a consumer feels about an attitude object.
Behavior involves the person’s intentions to do something with regard to an attitude object (this intention always results in behavior).
Cognition refers to the beliefs a consumer has about an attitude object.
The ABC model emphasizes the interrelationships among knowing, feeling and doing.
This model emphasises the interrelationships between knowing, feeling and doing. Consumers’ attitudes towards a product cannot be determined simply by identifying their beliefs about it. For example, a researcher may find that shoppers ‘know’ a particular digital camera has a 10X optical zoom lens, records in full HD and is wifi-enabled, but such findings do not indicate whether they feel these attributes are good, bad or irrelevant, or whether they would actually buy the camera.

6. Hierarchies of effects
Which come first: knowing, feeling or doing? We can identify a hierarchy of effects that specifies that a fixed sequence of steps occur en route to an attitude.
The three hierarchies are:
The standard learning hierarchy—Think Feel  Do: (CAB) this is a problem-solving process, so it assumes the consumer is highly involved, motivated to seek out information, weigh alternatives and come to a thoughtful decision. A consumer approaches a product decision as a problem-solving process. First, they form beliefs about a product by accumulating knowledge (beliefs) regarding relevant attributes. Next, the consumer evaluates these beliefs and forms a feeling about the product (affect). Finally, based on this evaluation, the consumer engages in a relevant behaviour, such as buying the product or supporting a particular team
The low-involvement hierarchy—Do  Feel  Think: (BAC) consumer acts on limited knowledge and forms an evaluation after buying the product. the consumer does not initially have a strong preference for one brand over another, but instead acts on the basis of limited knowledge and then forms an evaluation only after the product has been purchased or used
The experiential hierarchy—Feel  Do  Think: (ABC) consumer acts based on emotional reactions. This perspective highlights the idea that attitudes can be strongly influenced by intangible product attributes such as package design, and by consumers’ reactions to accompanying stimuli such as advertising and even the brand name.

7. How do we form attitudes?
We form an attitude in several different ways.

8. Attitude commitment
Consumers vary in their commitment to an attitude; the degree of commitment relates to their level of involvement with the attitude object.
Consumers vary in their commitment to an attitude. Their degree of commitment relates to their level of involvement with the attitude object. The lowest level is compliance. At the compliance level, we form an attitude because it helps us gain rewards or avoid punishment. At the identification level, we form an attitude to conform to another person’s or group’s expectations. At the highest level of involvement, called internalization, our attitudes become a deep part of our value system. At this level, attitudes are difficult to change because they are important to us.
All Attitudes Are Not Created Equal
Consumers vary in their commitment to an attitude; the degree of commitment is related to their level of involvement with the attitude object.
There are three levels of commitment:
Compliance means that we form an attitude because it helps us to gain rewards or avoid punishment; this type of commitment requires the lowest level of involvement. A person may drink Pepsi because that is the brand the café sells and it is too much trouble to go elsewhere for a Coca-Cola.
Identification occurs when we form an attitude to conform to another person or group’s expectations (e.g. imitating the behavior or desirable models). Advertising that depicts the social consequences of choosing some products over others is relying on the tendency of consumers to imitate the behaviour of desirable models
Internalization means that deep-seated attitudes have become part of our value system. These attitudes are very difficult to change because they are so important to the individual. For example, many consumers had strong attitudes towards Coca-Cola and reacted very negatively when the company attempted to switch to the New Coke formula. This allegiance to Coke was obviously more than a minor preference for these people: the brand had become intertwined with their social identities, taking on patriotic and nostalgic properties.

9. For Reflection
Think of one product from your personal experience about which you have each of these three kinds of commitment. What do you buy just to comply, perhaps with your need to fulfill something? What do you buy because you identify with the brand? What do you buy because "it's you"?
Consumers vary in their commitment to an attitude. Their degree of commitment relates to their level of involvement with the attitude object. The lowest level is compliance. At the compliance level, we form an attitude because it helps us gain rewards or avoid punishment. At the identification level, we form an attitude to conform to another person’s or group’s expectations. At the highest level of involvement, called internalization, our attitudes become a deep part of our value system. At this level, attitudes are difficult to change because they are important to us.
All Attitudes Are Not Created Equal
Consumers vary in their commitment to an attitude; the degree of commitment is related to their level of involvement with the attitude object.
There are three levels of commitment:
Compliance means that we form an attitude because it helps us to gain rewards or avoid punishment; this type of commitment requires the lowest level of involvement. A person may drink Pepsi because that is the brand the café sells and it is too much trouble to go elsewhere for a Coca-Cola.
Identification occurs when we form an attitude to conform to another person or group’s expectations (e.g. imitating the behavior or desirable models). Advertising that depicts the social consequences of choosing some products over others is relying on the tendency of consumers to imitate the behaviour of desirable models
Internalization means that deep-seated attitudes have become part of our value system. These attitudes are very difficult to change because they are so important to the individual. For example, many consumers had strong attitudes towards Coca-Cola and reacted very negatively when the company attempted to switch to the New Coke formula. This allegiance to Coke was obviously more than a minor preference for these people: the brand had become intertwined with their social identities, taking on patriotic and nostalgic properties.

10. Attitude models
Attitude models specify the different elements that might work together to influence people’s evaluations of attitude objects. Multi-attribute models assume that a consumer’s attitude toward an object depends on the beliefs he has about several attributes and the level of importance that he gives to each of them.
This type of model assumes that a consumer’s attitude toward an attitude object depends on the beliefs that she has about several of its attributes. The three elements that make up multiattribute models are attributes, beliefs, and important weights. The attributes are used to evaluate the attitude object. The beliefs refer to the assessment of whether the brand has specific attributes. Importance weights reflect the relative priority of an attribute to the consumer.
Multi-attribute attitude models assume a consumer’s attitude toward an attitude object depends on the beliefs she has about several of its attributes, which can be identified and used to derive a measure of overall attitude.
Basic multi-attribute models specify attributes (characteristics of the Ao), beliefs (cognitions about the specific Ao), and importance weights (the relative priority of an attribute to the consumer).

11. An example of the basic multi-attribute model (college decision)

12. Theory of Reasoned Action
The Theory or Reasoned Action (TRA) assumes that individuals behave in a rational manner to achieve favourable results and to avoid disappointing others by confounding their expectations. The starting point for this theoretical development is the expectancy-value construction: people behave according to their beliefs about the outcomes of their behaviour and the values they attach to those outcomes (Jackson 2005). TRA is based on the proposition that an individual’s behaviour is determined by the individual’s behavioural intention (BI) to perform that behaviour, which provides the most accurate prediction of behavior. Attitude toward the behaviour is defined as “a person’s general feeling of favourableness or unfavourableness for that behaviour” (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980). Subjective Norm is defined as a person’s “perception that most people who are important to him think he should or should not perform the behaviour in question” (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980). Attitude toward behaviour is a function of the product of one’s salient belief (B) that performing the behaviour will lead to certain outcomes, and an evaluation of the outcomes (E), i.e., rating of the desirability of the outcome. Thus, a person who holds strong beliefs that positively valued outcomes will result from performing the behaviour will have a positive attitude toward the behaviour. Conversely, an individual who holds strong beliefs that negatively valued outcomes will result from the behaviour will have a negative attitude.
Subjective Norm is a function of the product of one’s normative belief (NB) which is the “person’s belief that the salient referent thinks he should (or should not) perform the behaviour” (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980), and his/her motivation to comply (MC) to that referent. A person who believes that certain referents think she should perform a behaviour and is motivated to meet expectations of those referents will hold a positive subjective norm. Conversely, a person who believes these referents think she should not perform the behaviour will have a negative subjective norm, and a person who is less motivated to comply with those referents will have a relatively neutral subjective norm.

13. Theory of Planned Behaviour
According to the TPB, three major factors influenced intentions to perform a given behaviour: a favourable or unfavourable evaluation of the behaviour (attitude toward the behaviour), perceived social pressure to perform or not perform the behaviour (subjective norm), and self-efficacy in relation to the behaviour (perceived behavioural control). PBC is defined as “the person’s belief as to how easy or difficult performance of the behaviour is likely to be” (Ajzen & Madden 1986). PBC is a function of control beliefs (CB) and perceived facilitation (PF). Control belief is the perception of the presence or absence of requisite resources and opportunities needed to carry out the behaviour. Perceived facilitation is one’s assessment of the importance of those resources to the achievement of outcomes (Ajzen & Madden 1986).

14. IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION TEST
edu/implicit/selectatest. html

15. The functional theory of attitudes (Daniel Katz)
Daniel Katz developed the functional theory of attitudes to explain how attitudes facilitate social behavior. This theory suggests that attitudes exist because they serve some function for the person. Two people can have an attitude toward some object for very different reasons.
The functional theory of attitudes was initially developed by psychologist Daniel Katz to explain how attitudes facilitate social behavior. The following attitude functions were identified by Katz:
Utilitarian function— Utilitarian function. The utilitarian function is related to the basic principles of reward and punishment. We develop some of our attitudes towards products simply on the basis of whether these products provide pleasure or pain. If a person likes the taste of a cheeseburger, that person will develop a positive attitude towards cheeseburgers.
Value-expressive function—Value-expressive function. Attitudes that perform a value-expressive function express the consumer’s central values or self-concept. A person forms a product attitude not because of its objective benefits, but because of what the product says about them as a person (e.g. ‘What sort of woman reads Elle?’). Value-expressive attitudes are highly relevant to lifestyle analyses
Ego-defensive function—Ego-defensive function. Attitudes that are formed to protect the person, from either external threats or internal feelings, perform an ego-defensive function. An early marketing study indicated that housewives in the 1950s resisted the use of instant coffee because it threatened their conception of themselves as capable homemakers
Knowledge function—Knowledge function. Some attitudes are formed as the result of a need for order, structure or meaning. This need is often present when a person is in an ambiguous situation or is confronted with a new product

16. How do marketers change attitudes?
Marketers try to persuade consumers and these persuasion attempts are based on basic psychological principles. There are six approaches to persuasion, as shown in the slide.
Reciprocity means that we are more likely to give if we first receive.
Scarcity means that people tend to find things that are not readily available more desirable.
Authority means that we tend to believe authoritative sources.
Consistency means that we try not to contradict what we’ve said before.
Liking means that we will agree with those we like or admire.
Consensus means that we will consider what others do before we decide what to do.

17. SUMMARY
Attitudes are very powerful, and they are formed in several ways. People try to maintain consistency among their attitudinal components and their attitudes and behaviors.