Chapter 7:

Consumer Belief, Attitude,

& Behavior Formation and
Change

Consumer Behavior: A Framework

John C. Mowen & Michael Minor
Key Concepts
 Beliefs, attitudes, &  The behavioral
behavioral intentions intentions model
 Attributes  The elaboration
 Direct formation of likelihood model
beliefs, etc.  Balance theory
 Hierarchies of effects  Attitude toward ads
 The attitude-toward-  Behavioral influence
the-object model techniques of
persuasion
 Consumer Beliefs About
Product Attributes
 Beliefs result from cognitive learning.
 Beliefs are the knowledge and inferences that a
consumer has about objects, their attributes,
and their benefits provided.
 Objects are the products, people, companies, and
things about which people hold beliefs and attitudes.
 Benefits are the positive outcomes that attributes
provide to the consumer.
 Attributes are the characteristics of an object
 Additional Info on
Attributes
 A halo effect occurs  Attribute importance
when consumers  A person’s assessment of
assume that the significance of an
because a product attribute.
is good or bad on
 Influenced by amount of
attention directed to the
one product feature.
characteristic it is  A person’s self-concept,
also good or bad on advertising, and the
another product salience of the attribute
characteristic. can influence the attention
focused on the feature.
 Consumer Attitudes
 Attitude is the amount of affect or feeling for or
against a stimulus
 Attitudes are stored in long-term memory
 Beliefs are the cognitive knowledge about an
object
 In high involvement situations, beliefs predict
attitudes.
The Functions of Attitudes
 Utilitarian Function: use to obtain
rewards and avoid punishments.
 Ego-Defensive Function: self-
protection, e.g., smokers
 Knowledge Function: simplifies
decisions, e.g., brand loyalty
 Value-Expressive Function: express
identify to others. e.g., t-shirts.
Behaviors & Intentions to
Behave
 Consumer  Behavioral intentions
may be defined as the
behaviors consist intentions of
of all the actions consumers to behave.
taken by  Usually measured on 7
consumers related or 9 point scale: low
likelihood of
to acquiring, performing behavior to
disposing, and high likelihood.
using products and
services
 Beliefs, Attitudes, and
Behaviors May Be
Formed in Two Ways:
 Direct formation is when a belief, attitude,
or behavior is created without either of the
other states occurring first.

 Hierarchy of effects occurs after a belief,

attitude, or behavior is formed directly,
there is a tendency for the states to build
upon each other to create hierarchies
Direct Formation of
Beliefs, Attitudes, &
Behaviors
 Direct belief formation corresponds to
the decision-making perspective and
cognitive learning.
 The direct formation of attitudes is
linked to the experiential perspective.
 The direct formation of behavior is
linked to the behavioral influence
perspective. Operant conditioning and
modeling.
Forming Attitudes Directly
 Classical conditioning/associative
learning--positive affect is attached to
object
 Mere exposure--frequent exposure to
stimulus increases liking for it. Derived
from Butterfly effect.
 Moods--mood at the time of exposure to
object influences feelings about object.
Directly Forming Behavior
 Strong environmental forces can
directly influence behavior, such as
from the design of the physical
environment.
 Operant conditioning can influence
behavior without the formation of
beliefs or attitudes.
 Hierarchies of Beliefs,
Attitudes, and
Behaviors
 Decision-Making
Hierarchies
 Experiential
Hierarchy
 Behavioral
Influence Hierarchy
 Decision making hierarchies
 High involvement: beliefs
attitudes behavior
 Low involvement: beliefs behavior
attitudes
 Experiential
 Affect behavior beliefs
 Behavioral influence hierarchy
 Behavior beliefs affect
Predicting Consumer
Attitudes
 Multiattribute models identify how
consumers in high-involvement
situations (i.e. standard hierarchy of
effects) combine their beliefs about
product attributes to form attitudes
about various brand alternatives,
corporations, or other objects.
Attitude-Toward-The-Object
Model
Identifies three major
factors that are
predictive of n
Ao = ∑ biei
attitudes:
Salient Beliefs


Strength of the Belief


i =1
Evaluation

 Measurement issues
 bi: 1 = low probability that object
possesses attribute. 9=high
likelihood.

 ei: -3 = negative evaluation of

attribute. +3 = positive evaluation of
attribute.
 Fishbein Attitude Toward Object
Model: which college will be chosen by
Student Y?
Ao = Sum (Bi x Ei)
University/College

Attribute Ivy State U Local U

Ei Bi Bi Bi
High Price -2 9 -18 2 -4 5 -10
Good Job 3 8 24 6 18 3 9
Easy entry -1 1 -3 4 -4 8 -1
Learn a lot 2 9 18 7 14 4 8
21 24 -1
 Global Attitude Measure:
Direct measure of overall affect and
feelings regarding object.

Use multiple scales to measure

Bad 1 2 3 4 5 Good
Negative 1 2 3 4 5 Positive
Dislike 1 2 3 4 5 Like
Compare results of global measure to results of Attitude-
toward-the-object measure.
 The Behavioral Intentions
Model . . .
. . . was developed by Fishbein and his
colleagues to improve on the ability of the
attitude-toward-the-object model to
predict consumer behavior
 Included subjective norms: how other people
feel about the behavior.
 Assesses the consumer’s attitude toward the
overt behavior of purchasing the product
rather than toward the object itself. Use
consequences of the behavior rather than
attributes of object.
 When Do Attitudes Predict
Behavior?
 When consumer involvement is high.
 measurement must at proper level of abstraction.
Cannot predict whether someone will go to church on
Sunday by asking them about overall attitude toward
church.
 Must consider subjective norms
 Situational factors
 Other brands/objects
 Attitude strength
 Mere measurement effect: just asking intention to
buy increases likelihood of buying.
 When measured close in hierarchy to behavior.
Surface traits are much like global attitude measures.
Persuasion .
Persuasion is the explicit attempt
.. to influence beliefs, attitudes,
and/or behaviors.

Communication is defined broadly to

include all aspects of the message,
including the source of the message,
the type of message given, and
through what channel it moved (e.g.,
television, radio, or print media)
The Elaboration Likelihood
Model: a decision making
approach to persuasion
. . . is an approach
to understanding
the persuasion
process which
illustrates the
decision-making
path to belief,
attitude, and
behavior change
Central Peripheral
Routes to Persuasion
Belief and Attitude Change
May Take One of Two
Routes
 The Central Route to persuasion is
when the consumer has high-
involvement information
processing
 The Peripheral Route to persuasion
is when the consumer has low-
involvement information
processing
The Central Route to
Persuasion
 Moves through the high involvement
hierarchy.
 The consumer attends more carefully to the
message being received and compares it to
his or her own attitudinal position.
 Likely to generate a number of cognitive
responses to the communication
 Central Cues refer to ideas and supporting
data that bear directly upon the quality of
the arguments developed in the message
 The Peripheral Route to

Persuasion
Consumer moves through the low involvement
hierarchy.
 Cognitive responses are much less likely to
occur, because the consumer is not carefully
considering the pros and cons of the issue.
 Peripheral persuasion cues include such factors
as the attractiveness and expertise of the
source, the mere number of the arguments
presented, and the positive or negative stimuli
that form the context within which the message
was presented (e.g., pleasant music, source
attractiveness, source trustworthiness, etc.)
 Truth effect. Repeat something often enough,
people will come to believe it.
 Individual Differences in
Route to Persuasion:
the Need for Cognition

Strong arguments
High

Attitude
Toward
Ad
Low Weak arguments

Low High
Need for cognition
 Multiattribute Models
and the Decision-Making

Path
A-T-O model:
 Change the perceived evaluation of an attribute
 Change the belief that an object has a particular
attribute
 add an attribute
 Behavioral Intentions Model:
 Influence consumer perceptions of the
consequences of a behavior.
 Influence perceptions of normative influence
Experiential Path to Attitude
Change

 Balance Theory
 Attitudes Toward the
Advertisement
 Balance Theory . . .
. . . proposes that people have a
preference to maintain a
balanced state among the
cognitive elements if these
elements are perceived as
forming a system
….basic rule: multiplication of
the signs of the relations must
come out with a positive sign.
 Endorser

Sentiment
Connection
+
+ Unit connection
Person

?? to Product
+
Sentiment
Connection
Sentiment connection: feeling toward evaluative
objects
Unit connection: psychological linkage between two
evaluative objects. Enhance by increasing the
association via attribution and Gestalt principles.
Attitudes Toward the
Advertisement . . .
. . . are a consumer’s general liking or
disliking for a particular advertising
stimulus during a particular advertising
exposure. Will influence attitude toward
brand.

Measurement: like a global attitude.

The Behavioral Influence
Route to Behavior
Change
The ecological design of buildings and spaces
can strongly affect the behavior of people
without them being aware of the influence
 Strong reinforcers or punishers in the
environment can induce people to take
actions that they would prefer to avoid.
 Behavioral influence techniques employ
strong norms to influence behavior directly.
Behavioral Influence Techniques:

Ingratiation. . . refers to self-serving

tactics engaged in by one person to
make himself or herself more attractive
to another.
*Similarity *conforming to wishes
*offering gifts *express liking
*ask advice
 Additional Behavioral Influence Tactics
 Foot in the door: small request and then
large request. Uses self-perception and
self-consistency.
 Door in the face: large request and then
small request. Uses the norm of
reciprocity.
 even a penny will help. Based upon
desire to present self positively to others.
 Ethical issues??
 Never, ever lie to consumers.
 Some Managerial
Implications
 Positioning/differentiation: position brands based upon
key attributes.
 Environmental analysis: assess and manipulate environment
to implement behavioral influence approach.
 Market research: employ to identify salient attributes and key
benefits, measure attitudes, and predict behavioral intentions
 Marketing mix: identify benefits sought by consumers and
develop products to provide them. Develop promotions to
communicate to consumers key attributes, to influence beliefs,
attitudes, and behaviors.
 Segmentation: Employ benefit segmentation by identifying
target markets desiring specific product benefits.