Attitude Formation and Change

Introduction:

Attitudes can’t be seen directly, so they must be inferred from what people say and do. Attitudes can be extremely helpful in determining why customers prefer a particular store or format. They can be used to assess the effectiveness of marketing activities, such as an ad campaign aimed at improving consumer attitudes to boost sales. However, a variety of other factors can influence sales. As a result, advertising can positively impact the store and its brands – as well as target segments. For example, consumer attitudes toward health and fitness can have significant consequences for industries such as cigarettes, liquor, fitness equipment, and diet foods. Consumers’ attitudes toward it determine an advertisement’s effectiveness.

In contrast to earlier definitions, according to Martin Fishbein, a more recent approach sees attitudes as multidimensional. According to this theory, an individual’s overall attitude toward an object is a function of

(1) the strength of each belief (the consumer has a number of beliefs) she or he holds about various attributes of the object, and

(2) the evaluation she or he gives each belief as it relates to the attitude object. Beliefs are the cognitive component, and they refer to the likelihood that an individual attaches to a piece of knowledge as accurate.

Attitudes are relatively stable and are reflected in a person’s behaviour, but they are not always unchangeable. When all of the circumstances are favourable, attitude consistency is more visible.

Attitude Formation:

Attitudes are learned predispositions. This suggests that an individual’s starting point for creating a positive or negative attitude is to have no attitude toward an attitude object.

Consumers with a positive attitude toward a brand name may acquire new products without experience with the category. For example, a consumer who has had a positive experience with a Samsung refrigerator, washing machine, and television but has no prior experience with a microwave oven purchases a Samsung microwave oven based on positive experiences with the company’s products. According to classical conditioning theory, the existing brand name (Samsung) serves as an unconditioned stimulus due to previous satisfying experiences. In contrast, the new product (oven) is the conditioned stimulus.

Personal experience with a product or service is a big part of how people form opinions. Compared to the indirect experience that consumers gain as a result of ad exposure, these attitudes are more persistent and harder to alter.

For example, if a person with a painful headache goes to the nearby chemist shop in search of an OTC drug, the only product available is Disprin, which she or he has never tried before and thus has no opinion about. She or he gets immediate headache relief after taking Disprin. This positive experience leads to a positive attitude toward Disprin. The same thing happens when you try out free samples or buy a bunch of low-cost things on trial.

In addition to direct personal experience, family, friends, and people we admire or respect influence our perspectives. The family has a particularly powerful impact because it is here that we learn many of our fundamental values and ideas through behaviour reinforcement.

Consumers generate positive or negative attitudes due to detailed information processing in high-involvement rational purchases. However, this in-depth data processing yields only two or three essential beliefs, which influence the ensuing attitude. As a result, advertisers must concentrate on a small number of relevant differentiating features of a product or service.

Strategies of Attitude Change:

A. Multi-attribute Models and Attitude Change:

Based on Fishbein’s multi-attribute model, four strategies can be considered to change attitudes:

1. By changing the values consumers place on product attributes (ei component in the model)
2. By changing consumers’ brand beliefs (bi component in the model)
3. By changing brand evaluations (Attitude0 component)
4. By changing behavioural intentions (Attitude beh).

1. Changing Values Placed on Product Attributes:

Most consumers believe that some product attributes are more important than others. Marketers frequently attempt to persuade consumers of the superiority or importance of those traits in which their brands excel. This necessitates persuading customers to reconsider the value associated with a specific attribute. Apple computers, for example, lack a floppy drive, leading users to believe that floppies are unreliable for data storage. Epson tries to persuade customers that their inkjet printers do not require a printing head replacement every time the ink cartridge is changed.

A marketer may persuade customers that a mouthwash with a terrible flavour is of good quality.

2. Changing Consumer’s Beliefs:

Most marketers focus on the cognitive component of changing attitudes, which is a typical and effective method. The shifting beliefs technique focuses on shifting beliefs about a brand’s performance on one or more qualities. Marketers, on the other hand, try to change consumers’ priority on certain traits to others that are more important to their brand. This can be accomplished by emphasising the relevance of existing traits while also integrating new ones into the brands. Micro Peizo technology, which leads to better colour reproduction in prints, is highlighted by Epson printers. Apple persuades customers that a powerful processor powers its computers. As a result, these computers are technologically better. Consumers are persuaded by Nizoral shampoo advertisements that the Ketoconazole component provides improved dandruff protection.

3. Changing  Brand Evaluation:

This technique focuses on changing consumers’ general brand attitudes rather than specific features. This can be done by linking a pleasant emotion with the use of the product. One such attempt is the Nescafe commercial “ho shuru har din aise.” Another example of associating emotion with a business is Hallmark cards’ “When you care enough to send the absolute best” commercials. Some companies assert that they are the most popular, while others attempt to copy them.

4. Changing  Behaviour:

The development of cognition and affect may precede the development of consumer purchase or usage behaviour. D S Kempf claims that behaviour can directly lead to emotion, cognitions, or both at the same time. Consumers typically test new products on the cheap because they have no past information or experience with them. For instance, a thirsty customer spots a new brand of cold drink at a vendor and orders it. Such purchases are frequently made to gain knowledge and satisfy a specific need, such as quenching one’s thirst. Marketers sometimes provide a discount to entice customers to buy a brand they do not prefer. The notion is that after consumers try the brand, their perceptions will alter. For example, a detergent may be sold at a reduced price, but after use, the buyer discovers that the new and original brands function nearly identically. The customer decides to stick with the new brand and will do so even if the price drops to the standard list price.

B. Katz Functional Theory and Attitude Change:

 According to Daniel Katz, attitudes have four purposes. These functions include utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-defensive, and knowledge functions.

1. Changing Attitudes through Utilitarian Function:

Showing how the product can solve an issue that was before unconsidered is a very powerful way to change brand attitudes. Teflon has a variety of applications; M-Seal is used to seal leaks, but it’s also utilised in auto repair shops and garages to level tiny dents and deep scratches (the manufacturers have not promoted this second utilitarian function). Nestle was able to persuade consumers that Milkmaid is ideal for making pastries and pastries. Because they fulfil a set of utilitarian functions, new uses of a product are typically useful in producing a favourable change in consumers’ sentiments about the brand.

2. Changing Attitudes Using the Value-expressive Function:

Attitudes reflect our general values, lifestyles, and perspectives. Value-expressive functions are complex to change since they connect to personal values and are highly significant to people. Committed vegetarians, for example, would avoid products containing animal fats. Anchor White toothpaste is attempting to persuade this demographic that it is completely vegetarian and has been authorised by the Vegetarian Society of London. Most commercials for ready-to-wear clothing capitalise on this value-expression function since most of our country’s younger generation has favourable thoughts about wearing the latest fashion outfits.

3. Changing Attitude through Ego-defensive Function:

Extremely firmly held attitudes frequently serve the ego-defensive function and are the least likely to absorb outside influences. A cigarette smoker or tobacco chewer is expected to ignore any information on the dangers of smoking or chewing tobacco. This is an ego-protective function that leads to a purposeful attempt to ignore hurtful knowledge. A positive advertising strategy would be to advise them on how to minimise or reduce their use of tobacco. Such a strategy could be effective in changing people’s minds.

4. Changing Attitudes through the Knowledge Function:

This technique to changing attitudes focuses on the consumer’s cognitive needs. The information-processing work is made more accessible by the knowledge function. To build favourable consumer sentiments, most marketers seek to build an unambiguous positioning for their businesses. Apple has established a clear posture and presented thorough information to persuade customers of the superiority of its many models. Customers of Apple have established strong opinions about the company and would not switch to another brand of computer.

If Apple had opted to make its processors and other components available to assemblers on the open market, it would have failed to achieve such a dominant standing.

C. Elaboration Likelihood Model and Attitude Change:

Consumers process information through a “central channel” in high-involvement situations, as previously discussed. They study and process message elements that they believe are relevant to a meaningful and logical evaluation of the brand in a purposeful and conscientious manner. Consumers use a more “peripheral approach in low-involvement situations,” where non-message factors like music, colour, and spokesperson are more likely to be digested. This suggests that, in high-involvement situations, communications conveying information on product qualities, benefits, and performance are the most effective way to influence attitudes. Effective spokespersons and brand symbols are the most successful ways to shift perspectives in low-involvement situations. For example, several rival soft drink firms use well-known actors and athletes as spokespersons to influence consumer sentiments.

When consumers are digesting marketing-related signals, the ELM model also takes into account their thoughts (also known as cognitive reactions). Consumers develop more relevant ideas for communications in high-involvement situations, according to this theory. For example, when a weight-conscious customer views an advertisement for Personal Point Weight Reduction Programme, he or she may think to themselves, “This looks like a promising programme, I think I should join it.” Alternatively, the customer may believe, “I don’t believe their claims; no one can lose weight so quickly without major consequences.” Support Arguments are the thoughts that support the ad message in the first example (SAs). Counter Arguments (CAs) to the ad message are the second sort of reasoning. Such ideas imply that the consumer is processing information in a high-involvement environment.

In low-involvement situations, consumers may react with thoughts on the model’s appearance, the spokesperson’s voice or outfit, the background, and so on, all of which are peripheral indications unrelated to the ad content. A buyer who isn’t concerned in weight reduction or gain, for example, might conclude, “Personal Point is a modern organisation with a really pretty-looking concept.” Source bolsters relate to such positive feelings towards the message source. “Personal Point releases this commercial, and their goal is to sell this application, so why should anyone accept their claims?” the consumer would think. Source derogations are such negative ideas regarding the source.

To positively influence attitudes, the marketer must inhibit the formation of opposing arguments while encouraging the development of support arguments. One approach to do this is to create two-sided refutational messages.

“You might think Personal Point’s programme isn’t as effective as stated, or that it has adverse effects,” for example, according to a Personal Point promotional message. You’re in for a treat because the programme is 100 percent effective and free of adverse effects, as verified by actual users.” To further underline the point, some names and addresses, as well as before and after photos, are provided.

Marketers may try to discourage source derogators and increase source bolsters in low-involvement situations. More attractive, pleasant, and reputable spokespersons or models can be used to draw attention to the advertising. Another useful strategy is to use testimonials from independent institutions or experts.

Because there may only be superficial information processing and consumers may not pay attention to expert approval under low-involvement situations, source attractiveness is more likely to favourably impact attitudes than the other two techniques.

Post-purchase Attitude Change:

A. Cognitive Dissonance Theory:

After making a relatively high-involvement buying decision, consumers may suffer doubt, discomfort, or worry, according to Leon Festinger. Cognitive dissonance is the term for these feelings. Purchase decisions, especially for expensive things, necessitate some degree of compromise, and as a result, feelings of dissonance are common; nonetheless, they are likely to induce anxiety over the decision made.

The likelihood of customers experiencing dissonance, as well as the severity of that dissonance, is determined by:

1. Degree of commitment: If changing one’s mind is easy, the consumer is less likely to feel dissatisfied.
2. Decision importance: If the purchase decision is more essential, the consumer is more likely to suffer dissonance.
3. Difficulty of selecting among alternatives: The number of options considered, the amount of significant attributes associated with each alternative, and the extent to which each alternative includes attributes not found in the other options all influence decision difficulty. When it’s tough to choose between the options, the consumer is more likely to experience dissonance.
4. Personality traits of individuals: Some people are more prone to anxiety than others. If the person is nervous, she or he is more likely to suffer dissonance.

Marketers can use several tactics to alleviate consumer dissatisfaction. Kenneth B Runyon has proposed five ways to reduce dissonance and influence consumer perceptions positively.

1. Use brochures or advertisements to provide more product information and advice for product care and maintenance.
2. Offer warranties and assurances to alleviate post-purchase uncertainty.
3. Ensure excellent customer service and prompt follow-up on complaints to give post-purchase support.
4. Promote dependable product quality and performance to ensure recent customers are satisfied with their buy.
5. Follow up with direct contacts after the sale to ensure that the consumer understands how to use the goods and is satisfied.

B. Attribution Theory:

According to attribution theory, consumers strive to establish causes (attributions) for events after the fact (D J Bem). According to the theory, consumer attitude formation and modification is the outcome of consumers examining their own behaviour and making judgments about it. If a consumer uses Colgate toothpaste regularly, she or he may conclude that she or he enjoys the toothpaste (has a positive attitude toward the brand) based on her or his behaviour. Consumers are also more likely to give themselves full credit for any accomplishment (internal attribution) and blame failures on others or external factors (external attribution).

Marketers should give consumers positive reasons for their purchases after the fact to positively influence opinions. This necessitates that marketers provide high-quality items and allow consumers to see themselves as the cause for selecting the appropriate brand (“I am capable of choosing the appropriate product.”) A buyer, for example, purchases a brand of toothpaste at a 30% discount. As a result, she or he attributes the purchase to a significant discount. This is unlikely to positively impact the consumer’s perception of the toothpaste brand (the consumer tells herself/himself, “I bought this brand because it was cheap.”) Marketers must explain crucial non-price reasons for customers to buy the same brand again and again.