ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE:How attitudes are learned?

<< ATTITUDES:Characteristics of Attitudes, Attitudes have consistency

ATTITUDE CHANGE STRATEGIES:Resolving two conflicting attitudes >>

Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

LESSON34

ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE

CHAPTER 5: INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Understanding:

· Attitude Formation

· Attitude Change

Attitude Formation

How do people, especially young people form their initial general attitudes towards clothing they wear, e.g. casual

wear, and business attire? How do they form attitudes towards certain brands of clothing? How do friends and

family members come to admire certain celebrities? Why some attitudes do seem to persist infinitely while others

change fairly often?

Our examination of attitude formation is divided into three areas:

How attitudes are learned?

Sources of influence on attitude formation?

Impact of personality on attitude formation?

How attitudes are learned?

Attitude formation refers to the shift from having no attitude toward an object to having some attitude toward the

object. The shift from no attitude to attitude formation is the result of learning.

Consumers often purchase new products that are associated with a favorably viewed brand. Their favorable

attitude toward the brand is the result of repeated satisfactions with other products produced by the same

company. The behavior can be explained in terms of classical Conditioning

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3: After Repeated Pairings

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

Attitude Formation without Prior Knowledge

Sometimes consumers purchase a product without prior knowledge or attitude towards it e.g. the last bottle of

aspirin on the gas station min mart.

Consumers Experiments

Sometimes consumers make trial purchases of new brands from product categories in which they have little

personal involvement. If the find the purchased brand to be satisfactory, they are likely to develop a favorable

attitude toward it

Information about the Products

In situations in which consumers are seek to solve a problem or satisfy a need, they are likely to form attitudes

(either positive or negative) about products on the basis of information exposure and their own cognition

(knowledge and beliefs). The more information consumers have about a product more likely are they to form

attitudes toward it, either positive or negative. Regardless of available information consumers are not always ready

or willing to process product related information

Formation of attitudes is strongly influenced by consumers' personal experience, influence of family and friends

and direct marketing of the companies.

Strategies of Attitude Change

Much of is true about attitude formation is also true about attitude change. Attitude changes are learned and

influenced by personal experience, sources of information, and personality.

Altering consumer attitudes is a key strategic consideration for marketers. Marketers who are fortunate enough to

be market leaders and enjoy a significant amount of consumer goodwill and loyalty the overriding goal is to fortify

the existing positive attitudes. The objective of the competitor marketers is to change the attitudes of the

customers of the market leaders and win them over.

Attitude Change Strategies available to the marketers include:

Changing the consumers basic motivational function

Associating the product with admired group or events

Resolving two conflicting attitudes

Changing consumers beliefs about competitor's brands

1. Changing the consumers basic motivational function

An effective strategy of changing consumer attitudes towards a product is to make particular needs prominent.

One method of changing motivation is called Functional Approach

According to functional approach consumers attitudes can be classified in terms of four functions:

a) Utilitarian function

b) Ego-Defensive Function

c) Value Expressive Function

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

d) Knowledge Function

a. Utilitarian Function

Certain brand attitudes are held because of utility. When a product has been useful and helpful for us in the past,

our attitude towards it tends to be favorable. One way of changing attitudes in favor of products is by showing

people that it can serve a utilitarian purpose that they may not have considered. Dishwashing detergent bar that

also keeps the skin of hands glowing and leaves its refreshing scent in your hands

b. Ego-Defensive Function

Most people want to protect their self images from inner feelings of doubt they want to replace their uncertainty

with a sense of security and personal confidence. Some Ads acknowledge this need of consumers to increase both

their relevance to the consumer and likelihood of favorable attitude change by offering reassurance to the

consumers' self images. For example

A retailer of fashion clothing stresses in its headline:

o When I believe in myself everything becomes possible

A lighters manufacturing company countering the trends towards disposable lighters

o True love is not disposable

c. Value Expressive Function

Attitudes are an expression of consumers' general values, lifestyle and outlook. By knowing the target consumers'

attitudes marketers can anticipate their values, lifestyles or outlook and can reflect these characteristics in their

advertising and direct marketing efforts. For example if consumer segments generally hold a positive attitude

towards owning the latest designer jeans, then their attitudes towards new brands of designer jeans are likely to

reflect that orientation. Similarly if a segment of consumers has an attitude towards being high tech then their

attitudes towards thin wall mounted HDTV;s are likely to reflect this viewpoint.

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