ATTITUDE

DEFINITION AND MEANING OF CONSUMER ATTITUDE 

• An attitude may be defined as a feeling of favorableness or

unfavorableness that an individual has towards an object (be it a person,
thing or situation). It is a learned predisposition to exhibit and act based
on evaluation resulting in a feeling of like or dislike towards and object. 

• As Schiffman has defined, “Attitudes are an expression of inner feelings

that reflect whether a person is favorably or unfavorably predisposed to
some "object" (e.g., a brand, a service, or a retail establishment),” and
“Attitude formation, in turn, is the process by which individuals form
feelings or opinions toward other people, products, ideas, activities, and
other objects in their environment”. 
Relationships
Components of ATTITUDE 
Cont.
• The knowledge component is reflected in the learned knowledge that a consumer
obtains from his interaction with others as well as his own experiences. 
• The feeling component is reflected in his evaluation, and the resultant feeling of
favorableness and unfavorableness.
• The behavioral component is reflected in the predisposition to act (purchase)
based on the evaluation. 
Nature of ATTITUDES 

1. Attitudes are directed towards an object (product/service offering,

price, store, dealer, promotion, advertisement etc.) about which a
consumer has feelings and beliefs. 

2. Attitudes have a direction; they could be positive or negative. A

consumer could possess feelings of like/dislike, favorableness and
unfavorableness towards a product or service as well as the mix.
They vary in degrees and intensity, and can fall anywhere along a
continuum from very favorable to very unfavorable. 
3. Attitudes are consistent in nature, particularly with respect to the third
component, i.e. behavior. Consumers are consistent with respect to their
behavior. However, they are not entirely permanent and may change if
the cognitive or the component is changed. This implies that if the
consumer witnesses new experience or is exposed to new information
about product/service offering and the mix (cognition), and) feelings are
changed from dislike to like (affect), attitudes towards the offering and
the mix can undergo change. In other words, while attitudes are stable
and do not change frequently, they can be changed if something is done
to change them. 
4. Attitudes are a learnedccpredisposition. Attitudes are learned; they are
formed as a result of i) self experiences with the product/service offering and
the mix; ii) interaction with other people, be it family, friends, peers and
colleagues; iii) information obtained from the marketer through promotion
particularly advertisements as well as dealers and salespeople. Attitude
formation as a process is impacted by needs and motivation, perception as
well as learning. 

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5. Attitudes cannot be observed directly. While attitudes are comprised of
three components, behavior is just one of them. It is only this component that
can be seen; the cognitive and affect components cannot be seen. Thus it is
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said that attitudes cannot be seen; they can only be inferred from the manner
in which an individual behaves. Thus, we can infer that a person who buys
Colgate Total toothpaste and disregards Pepsodent has a positive attitude
towards Colgate. 
6. While attitudes can be inferred from our behavior, it is not
synonymouscc to behavior. It has two other components, and reflects a
learned predisposition to act favorable or unfavorably towards a product
and service offering and the mix. 

7. Attitudes are situationcc specific; they occur within a situation.

Sometimes depending upon the situation, a consumer may exhibit a
behavior that may be inconsistent with his/her attitude. He may prefer to
buy Pepsodent over Colgate because the former is on a sales promotion
and gets him a free toothbrush. 
FUNCTIONS OF ATTITUDE
a) Utilitarian function:
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b) Ego defensive function:

Consumers form attitudes as they help defend their ego, self-image and
self-concept. If a consumer is high on ethnocentrism, and patronizes
Indian products, he would have a positive attitude towards Indian
brands. He would speak for and promote such brands even if he knows
that a foreign made product provides better value. Attitudes are formed
to protect the ego. 
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c) Value expressive function:
Positive attitudes are formed when a product or service expresses a
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persons’s values and lifestyle, personality and self image, and self
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concept. This is because attitudes provide people with a basis for

expressing their values. In cases where there is a mismatch between the
product image and a consumer’s self-image, a negative attitude is
developed. Attitudes are a reflection of value. 

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d) Knowledge function:

Attitudes are formed when consumers want to reaffirm their knowledge

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base, to finally help them simplify purchase decision making. If a

consumer thinks positive about a brand, it helps reaffirm his opinion,
and makes decision making simpler and faster. Attitudes cc helps in
decision making. 
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STRUCTURAL MODELS OF ATTITUDE

1. The tricomponent attitude model 

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- the knowledge or the cognitive component comprises the cognitive processes that
lead to the formation of attitudes. In terms of marketing, the knowledge or cognitive
component of the tricomponent model consists of consumers' knowledge about the
products/service offering and the marketing mix.

- Consumer attitudes are formed on the basis of experiences as well as information

received from personal (WOM, family, friends, peers etc.) as well as impersonal
(marketer’s sources) sources of information that are retained in one’s memory. These
get shaped by beliefs and opinions, where the consumer begins to perceive that the
attitude object (person, situation or thing) possesses certain attributes and acts of
behavior would lead to outcomes. The beliefs and opinions get repeatedly
reinforced, and finally give rise to attitudes. This knowledge component leads to the
emotional component. 
- the feeling or the affect component comprises the emotional
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component of attitudes. In fact, this is understood to be the attitude

itself, as it depicts emotional states that are positive, neutral or negative.
In marketing terms, it refers to a consumer’s feelings about a
product/service offering and the marketing mix. These emotions could
relate to an attribute or the overall object. It is evaluative in nature and
would vary on a continuum as like or dislike, favorableness or
unfavorableness. It manifests itself through feelings and resultant
expressions like happiness, sadness, anger, surprise etc., and is
indicative of consumer reaction towards the offering and the mix, which
subsequently affects the purchase decision making as well as the
purchase process. Such reactions and resultant states also get stored in
our memory. Their retrieval, recall and recollection also impacts future
decision making. 
- the behavioral or the conative component of attitudes depicts the
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outcome of an attitude. As attitudes are formed out of psychographic

components, they cannot be seen. The first two components, knowledge
and feeling are not expressive or illustrative of attitudes. It is only this
third component through which attitudes can be inferred. The conative
component, is indicative of the an individual’s tendency to behave [act
or not to act (to buy or not to buy)] in a particular manner with respect
to the attitude object (product/service offering, brand etc.). 

• As per the model, the knowledge and the feeling component cannot be
seen, they can only be inferred; it is only the behavioral component
which can be observe 
2. The multiattribute attitude models 
a) The Attitude-towards-Object Model: The attitude-toward-object model states
that a consumer’s attitudes towards a product/service offering or a brand, is a function
of the presence or absence of certain attributes, and the corresponding evaluation.
Attitude is function of evaluation of product -specific beliefs and evaluations. In other
words, while evaluating an offering, the consumer’s attitude would be based on: 
- the presence of attributes, and the aggregation of a consumer’s belief about
each of these, and 
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- the overall evaluation of the relevance of each of these attributes in providing

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the necessary gains and benefits. 
For example, let us take the example of Complan as a health drink. A lady wants her
children to grow faster, taller and healthier. She would have a positive attitude
towards Complan, if it contains vitamins and minerals, and she gives value
(importance) to such vitamins and minerals. 
Example
b) The Attitude-towards-Behavior Model: The attitude-toward-
behavior model focuses on the individual’s acts of behavior towards the
attitude object rather than mere affect or feeling towards the object. The
premise is that a consumer may have positive feelings towards an attitude
object, but he may have a negative attitude regarding his intention for buying
such a product/service offering. Thus, a positive attitude towards the offering
may not necessarily end up as an act of purchase. 

For example, let us take the example of a Philips Home Theatre. A consumer
is aware that a Philips Home Theatre would have a bigger screen, and better
audio visual effects. He would also be aware of the high price, and may
decide against the act of purchase. Either he would not have the money or he
may not think it wise to spend so much of money for a TV. Thus, while he
has positive feelings and a favorable attitude towards the product offering,
he does not have a positive feeling to indulge in the act of purchase. 
Example
c) The Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Model: 
The model can be explained working backwards from behavior (i.e. act
of purchase of a product/service offering). The behavior of a consumer
is based on his intention to act, i.e. overall favorability toward the
purchase. There are certain factors that lead to an intention to act. These
are the consumer's attitude toward behavior and the subjective norm. 
d) The Attitude-towards-the-Ad Model 
The theory behind the model states that consumers form judgments and
feelings as a result of exposure to an advertisement. Not only does a
consumer form attitudes towards the advertisement, he or she also forms
an opinion towards the brand. 

This model lays emphasis on the impact of an advertisement, either in

print or in audio-visual on the formation of consumer attitudes towards
product and service offerings and or brands. Once exposed to an
advertisement, a consumer forms the cognition (knowledge) and the
affect (feeling) components of the attitude; it leads to judgments about
the Ad (cognition) and feelings from the Ad (affect).