Lecture Consumer behaviour: Chapter 11 - Cathy Neal, Pascale Quester, Del Hawkins

Chapter 11 - Attitude and attitude change. In this lecture we will discuss exactly what an attitude is, discuss the components that make up an attitude, look at ways we can change attitudes, and discuss the use of marketing communications in changing attitudes.

• What are attitudes?

• Main components of attitudes

• Strategies that can be used to change attitudes

• Effect of marketing communication on attitudes

• Strategic implications of attitudes

• An attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in

a consistently positive or negative way to a given object or event

• Favourability: the positive or negative evaluation

of the object or event

• Intensity: the strength with which the consumer can hold an attitude

• Confidence: the degree to which the consumer believes their attitude is ‘right’

11–6Attitude Components and Manifestations

– many beliefs relate to the evaluation of attributes

– the cognitive component represents the summation of

evaluations

– multi-attribute model

– Based on experience or cognitive information

– Response is person-situation specific

– Cultural influence

– Behaviour

– Intention

– Situational influence

• The three components of an attitude (cognitive,

affective and behavioural) have a tendency to be consistent

• A change in one component will have a flow-on

effect on the other components

11–11Attitude-Component Consistency

As components of attitude are an integral part of a

marketing strategy, it is important to be able to

measure each component

Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree Disagree

I like the taste of Diet Coke.

Diet Coke is overpriced Caffeine is bad for your health

(Measuring Actions or Intended Actions)

Have you ever purchased Diet Coke?

Yes How often? _

 No

What is the likelihood you will buy Diet Coke the next time you purchase a soft drink?

 Definitely will buy

 Probably will buy

 Probably will not buy

 Definitely will not buy

Changing or establishing an attitude requires

manipulation of one or more of the components of the attitude (i.e cognitive, affective or behavioural)

• Changing the behavioural component

• Changing the cognitive component

– four basic strategies

PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour 4e by Neal, Quester, 

Hawkins

11–20

Attitude-Change Strategies (cont.)

• Change affective component

– Involves changing the consumer’s ‘feel’ about a product, without necessarily directly influencing their beliefs or

behaviour

Attitude Change in Ads

Attitude Change in Ads (cont.)

• Change behavioural component

– Alter the purchase behaviour or consumption behaviour directly, which may in turn lead to a change in belief or affect

– Change in beliefs or improved knowledge base will have subsequent influence on affect and behaviour

PPTs t/a Consumer Behaviour 4e by Neal, Quester, 

Hawkins

11–24

Attitude-Change Strategies (cont.)

• Change behavioural component

– Operant conditioning

– Change the beliefs about the attributes of the brand

– Change the relative importance of these beliefs

– Add new beliefs

– Change the beliefs about the attributes of the ‘ideal’ brand

Adding a New Belief

Matching Endorser with Product and Target Audience

(message is constructed to elicit a positive

response/feeling rather than provide information)

Ad Seeking an Emotional Response