How do consumers develop beliefs
about and preferences for brands based on the information they have processed?
We will look at some factors that do affect the development of consumers’
attitudes and changes.
When consumers processed
information about certain brands, it is the beliefs of a particular brand that
often influences their attitudes which determines whether consumers would buy
the product.
The Nature of Consumer Attitudes
Gordon Allport came up with the
definition of attitude which is now frequently used as; “Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to an object or class
of objects in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way.”
Brand attitudes are consumers’ learned tendencies to evaluate brands in a
consistently favorable or unfavorable way; that is, consumers’ evaluation of a
particular brand on an overall basis from poor to excellent.
Three Components of Attitudes
1. Beliefs: The Cognitive Components
2. Overall Brand evaluation – the
Affective Component
3. Intention to buy – The Behavioral
Component
Beliefs: The
Cognitive Components – Consumers beliefs about a brand are
the characteristics they ascribe to it. Through market research, marketers
develop a vocabulary of product attributes and benefits similar to a large food
company.
Let
us look at an example;
Vocabulary
of Brand Beliefs for ABC Soft Drink Products
|
Product
Attributes
|
Products
Benefits
|
|
Caloric
Content
Vitamin
Content
Natural
Ingredients
Sugar
content
Carbonation
After
taste
|
Restores
Energy
Nutritional
Good
for the whole family
Gives
a lift
Good
at mealtimes
Thirst-quenching
|
If
marketers find that the attributes per beliefs show weaknesses against
competitors, than marketers might consider a repositioning strategy to strengthen
the beliefs and attitudes of consumers.
Overall Brand evaluation: The Affective Component - Represents the consumers’
overall evaluation of the brand. Beliefs about a brand are multidimensional in
nature because they represent the brand attributes consumers perceive. The
affective component is one dimensional meaning the overall evaluation of a
brand can be measured by rating the brand, example from Poor to excellent etc.
Intention to Buy: The Behavioral Component – The third attitude which is the
behavioral tendency to act toward an object, which is generally measured in
terms of intention to buy. This is an important area to marketers in that
measuring consumers’ intent to purchase can or may result in developing
marketing strategies to capture such intentions.
Within the consumer dimension,
marketers may test the marketing mix to determine what the most likely
influences on behavior are. For example; alternative product concepts,
advertisements, packages etc.
Attitudes and
Hierarchy of Effects
The
relationship between the three components of attitudes is known as the
hierarchy of effects and there are three different hierarchies that we will
look at.
1. A
high-involvement hierarchy
2. A
low-involvement hierarchy
3. An experiential
hierarch
Let
us look at High-Involvement versus
Low-Involvement Hierarchy. When consumers are involved, they first
develop beliefs about the brand through a process of active information
search. On this basis, they evaluate the brand, develop definite brand
attitudes, and make a purchase decision accordingly.
In
the Low-involvement hierarchy,
consumers form beliefs passively. They make a purchase decision with limited
information because it is not worth the time and trouble to engage in active
information search.
The
Experiential Hierarchy is based
primarily on a consumer’s emotional response to the brand. In the experiential
hierarchy, consumers are more likely aware of stimuli such as symbols, signs,
images that shape their feelings about a brand.
Three hierarchy
of Effect
|
Types
of Hierarchy
|
Sequences
|
Nature
of Information Processing
|
|
High-Involvement
|
Beliefs
Evaluation
Behavior
|
Active
purchase specific processing
|
|
Low-Involvement
|
Beliefs
Behavior
Evaluation
|
Passive,
purchase specific processing
|
|
Experiential
|
Evaluation
Behavior
Beliefs
|
Active,
Ongoing processing
|
Attitude
Development
Attitude
develop over time through the learning process that we all go through and that
can be influenced by family influences, peer-group influences, information and
experiences as well as personality.
Family
Influences
– The family is an important influence on purchase decisions. In PNG family can
influence us in the type of food we eat. When children grow up into adults,
their parent’s influences subconsciously may also influence them in making
important purchase decisions.
Peer-Group
Influences
– Studies have found that peer groups do influence purchase decision of
consumers. Example: Smoking and drinking among young people, the type of clothes
to ware and so forth.
Information and
Experiences – Past experience on products or brands can
influence the consumers purchasing decisions. Experiences also tend to
condition consumers in their purchase behavior.
Personality –
Consumers’ personality affect their attitudes. Example: Traits such as
Aggressiveness, Extroverts, Introverts, Authoritarian etc. Given the different
type of traits consumers have, this can also have an influence over the type of
activities they get involved with which will also influence their purchasing
decision.
Functions of
Attitudes
– Daniel Katz gave four classifications of attitude functions.
1. Utilitarian
2. Value-expressive
3. Ego-defensive
4. Knowledge
Utilitarian –
Function of attitudes guides the consumer in achieving desired benefits.
Value-expressive –
Function of attitude guides the consumer towards for example; self-image.
Ego-defensive –
Function of attitude is the protection of ego from anxieties and threats etc.
Knowledge –
Function of attitude helps the consumers organizes the mass information
required or exposed to.
Students
are encouraged to read Chapter 8 of Henry Assael Consumer Behaviour text book.
Source:
Henry Assael (2005) Consumer Behaviour A Strategic Approach (Biztantra)
No comments:
Post a Comment