ATTITUDES

DEFINITION OF ATTITUDE
A Mental, Emotional Or Rational Pre-disposition With Respect To A Fact, State, Person Or An Object. It May Also Be Defined As An Enduring Feeling Of Favourableness Or Unfavourableness Towards An Object, Idea Or Behaviour. Attitude Is A Critical Element In A Buying Decision. Attitude Interacts With Belief Systems And Cultural Values. A Belief Is A Strongly Held Opinion-- Not Always Based On Objective Facts. A value is culturally determined. In the context of consumer behavior we are studying the attitude of buyers towards all the relevant attributes of a product or services as well as the marketer and markets. Marketers want to change attitudes because they are thought to influence consumption behaviours. Marketers need to build positive attitudes towards their products and services. Attitudes are easier to change than beliefs or values.

Characteristics of Attitude
The attitudes that have significant influence on an individuals behavior & personality have certain characteristics. Attitude is formed on the basis of learning, knowledge, information, education, upbringing, thinking, lifestyle, experience, predisposition, belief, faith, outlook, communication, observation, etc. It can be good or bad, optimistic or pessimistic, positive or negative, broad or narrow friendly or unfriendly & so on. It may be consistent, may change with several external factors like time or environment, may be influenced or even can influence another attitude.

FUNCTIONAL THEORY OF ATTITUDE

From The Marketing Point Of View This Is Based On The Need Fulfillment Of A Buying Behavior. The Functions That Attitudes Perform Are : 1.Utilitarian Consumers Buy Products To Fulfill Their Need, Enjoy Some Benefit, Get Some Extra Features & Receive After-sales Service. If They Get It As Per Their Expectations, They Develop A Positive Attitude Towards That Product. If Not Then A Negative Attitude Is Developed. Marketers Usually Stress & Highlight The Positive Aspects Of Their Products To Form A Positive Attitude. 2.Value-expressive The Importance Of Values In Our Life Cant Be Over Emphasized. We learn It Thro Our Upbringing & Training. This Value System Prevents Or Encourages The buyers To Buy Certain Products Related To Smoking, Drugs, Environment, Health, Ethics, Wildlife, Etc. 3.Ego-defensive We Are All Concerned About Our Self-esteem & Ego And Always Try To Safeguard Those. Products Related To Boosting The Ego Or Self Esteem Are The Target Of Such A kind Of Attitude. 4.Knowledge Function Man Is Ever Inquisitive, Curious, Seeking Knowledge. He Gets New information And Understanding About Products And Services Which Help In Creating, modifying & Changing The Attitude Towards It. 5.Combination Function More Often Individuals Develop Attitudes Towards A Product, Which Are A Combined Effect Of All These Functions.

FORMATION OF ATTITUDE People Are Not Born With An Attitude. But They Develop It Over The Growing & Learning Period. There Are Several Ways The Attitude Can Be Formed :

1.Classical Conditioning Attitudes About The Products Are Formed Over The Years By Continuous Tutoring & Exposing The Consumers To Products Attributes. Thus Slowly The Consumer's Attitude Is Reinforced. 2.Instrumental Conditioning Sometimes This Attitude Is Formed Out Of An Incidence. This Is Not Intentional, But Due To Some Reason If The Consumer Tries Some New Product &Develops A Favourable Or Unfavorable Attitude, Which Lays The Foundation Of Future Strengthening Of Attitude. 3.Cognitive Learning Theory This Is Similar To Classical Conditioning, With A Difference That It Is Associated With Learning Thro Mental Processing & Evaluation, Experience Of Using The Products Over A Period Of Time.

TRI-COMPONENT MODEL :
According to the tri-component model, attitudes consist of three major components (1)cognitive (knowledge, leering), (2) affective (feelings, emotions), & (3) conative (tendency, intention or inclination) 1.Cognitive component The first part of the tri-component attitude model cognitive component consists of a persons cognitions, i.e., the knowledge & perceptions that are acquired by a combination of direct experience with the attitude object & related information from various sources. This knowledge & resulting perceptions commonly take the form of beliefs, i.e., the consumer believes that the attitude object processes various attributes and that specific behaviour will lead to specific outcomes. 2.Affective component The second part of the tri-component attitude model affective component consists of a persons emotion or feelings about a particular product or a brand. These emotion & feelings are frequently treated by consumer researchers as primarily evaluative in nature, i.e., they can be rated with degrees of an attribute good/bad, favourable/ unfavourable. Additionally the state of mind (emotionally charged states like happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, distress, shame, guilt, surprise etc.) also affects the attitudes by enhancing positive or negative emotions or feelings. 3.Conative component - The third part of the tri-component attitude model conative component consists of a persons likelihood or tendency to undertake a specific action or behaviour towards the attitude object. Often this means the actual action or behaviour itself, or the intention to buy a particular product. Buyer intention scales like How likely one is to buy or The chance that one will buy are used to assess the likelihood /chances that a person buying a product.