Consumer Attitude PDF

Consumer Attitude Attitude is a lasting, general, evaluation of an object, person (including oneself), group, issue, or concept on a dimension ranging from negative to positive. Attitude provides summary (positive / negative or mixed) evaluations and are often assumed to be derived from speci c be...

Consumer Attitude Attitude is a lasting, general, evaluation of an object, person (including oneself), group, issue, or concept on a dimension ranging from negative to positive. Attitude provides summary (positive / negative or mixed) evaluations and are often assumed to be derived from speci c beliefs, emotions, and past behaviors associated with those objects. You can’t observe an attitude. Attitude is a grade that you give. Direct experience is when consumers form an attitude because they have already used the product.Direct interaction with the attitude object contributes to the formation of a positive or negative evaluation. Attitudes formed through direct experience are strong predictors of future behavior. e.g.: You may drink Pepsi because your previous and direct experience was great and you have formed a positive attitude toward the brand. Classical conditioning refers to when a positive or negative stimulus is paired repeatedly with an initially neutral attitude object. When this occurs, the evaluation paired with the neutral stimulus becomes associated with the attitude object itself. This can occur at unconscious level. e.g.: A child hearing his/her parents constantly saying that fast-food is not good for health. This action and the stimulus of fast food harfulness form an association in the child’s mind who may develop a general negative attitude about fast food. Operant / instrumental conditioning is when an attitude object becomes associated with a positive or negative consequence. Speci cally, when behavior toward an attitude object is reinforced, a positive attitude toward the attitude object will form. When behavior toward an fi fi  attitude object is punished or associated with negative consequences, an unfavorable attitude will form. e.g.: A child doesn’t have to clean the table (unpleasant event) after the meal if they eat their vegetable (desired behavior) or a parent gives his/her children an extra allowance (reinforcer) for doing the dishes (desired behavior). Genetic determinants - Identical twins (even when raised in separate environments) show a higher correlation in their attitudes than fraternal twins, providing evidence for a genetic basis of attitudes. This is likely because of the in uence of genetics on temperament and personality, which in turn in uence attitudes. Attitudes that have a genetic basis appear to be more di cult to alter and exert a stronger in uence on behavior. in some cases at least his or her intentions to take action about it. A behaviour is observed and factual. What are the behaviours you can observe in marketing area ? Behavior = action In the 1930s / 1940s, critics on the relationships between attitudes and behaviors were raised. Since then, researchers examined particular conditions under which attitudes will be likely to guide behaviour. ONLY UNDER CERTAIN CONDITION Those conditions are about attitudes that are speci c, strong, or formed through direct experiences. Belief is the cognitive information that a person holds about an attitude object Belief is the cognitive information that a person holds about an attitude objects. Unlike knowledge, beliefs need not be objectively “true” or “correct”. Beliefs are acquired either through personal experience or through other socialization process and may or may not carry an emotional charge. Beliefs make up product and brand images that a ect buying behaviour. BELIEFS In marketing, beliefs have been conceptualized in an object-attribute terms i.e. « consumer k’s belief as to the extent to which attribute i is o ered by brand j » (Wilkie and Pessemier, 1973, p.429). ff fl fl fl fi ff ffi  Beliefs toward a product or a brand can be positive, neutral or negative. Motivation is an internal state that drives people to identify and buy products that ful ll conscious and unconscious needs or desires. The need creates a state of tension that drives the consumer to attempt to reduce or eliminate it. PERCEPTION => gave the verb perceive Perception is a process and refers to the way sensory information (i.e. stimuli) is selected, organized, interpreted and consciously experienced. Consumer’s perception refers to how individuals view and understand a brand or its products or services based on sensory information. Consumer’s perception of a brand integrates its functional attributes (e.g. perceived taste, perceived smell, perceived price, etc.) and its symbolic attributes (e.g., perceived brand image, perceived quality, perceived authenticity, perceived value, etc.). EXAMPLE OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF A WASHING MACHINE 1. Performance: how good the washing machine washes the clothes? 2. Features: Does it have an eco-mode of washing clothes? 3. Conformance with speci cations: how frequently the defects happen? 4. Reliability: will its performance vary after 2-3 years of continuous use? 5. Durability: what is its average life span? 6. Serviceability: Is the service system e cient, competent, and convenient? 7. Fit and nish: is the product stylish and has a smart look? Sensation refers to the immediate response of our sensory receptors (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, ngers, skins) to basic stimuli such as light, color, sound, odor and texture. → SENSORY MARKETING Perception is not only conditioned by physical stimuli, but also by the relationship (i.e. cognitive and a ective) between these stimuli and the environment and the client's internal state. Perception is more complicated than attitude , sometimes if we have a bad day , we will be less impacted by the stimulus. STIMULI Sights: colors, images, texts, vidéo, graphic, light, the environment Sounds: voice overs, sound e ects, thematic e ects. Scent / smells: environmental scents, fragrances, food scents. Taste: sample, new avors. Texture / touch: comfort, hands-on tests. fi fi ff fl fi ff ffi ff fi EXPLORING AND MEASURNG CUSTOMER EMOTION Emotions are context-speci c (Richins, 1997). Plutchik (1982) proposes 8 primary emotions: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust and joy. Ekman (1999) suggests six basic emotions: fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, and surprise. It is therefore necessary to conduct a preliminary study to identify the emotions related to the topic of the market study (e.g., emotions felt by consumers would be di erent depending whether the study investigates insect- based food or visiting an amusement park). Qualitative study: interviews, focus group, in-home video, netnography ( check online), observation in a retail store → exploratory study Quantitative study: use of scale measurement (nominal, ordinal or psychometric scales) Likert scale involve asking individuals to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a statement on a scale of 1 to 5 (up to 7), where 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 (or 7) represents strongly agree. Star rating or slider involve rating a product, service, or brand on a scale of 1 to 5 (or 10), where 1 represents the lowest rating and 5 (or 10) represents the highest rating. ff fi Pictoral = easy to understand , like for children smiley happy not happy  Exploratory study is a study design in which the major emphasis is on gaining ideas and insights; particularly helpful in breaking broad, vague problem statements into smaller, more precise subproblem statements. Example: The SNCF conducted an exploratory study to identify the triggers of users’ incivility. The aim was to collect information about opinions, attitudes and feelings towards the SNCF. The interviews of users, experts and the observation of 2 SNCF agents during their working day were implemented. Conclusive study is a study designed to assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating, and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation. It is more formal and structured than exploratory study. Descriptive study explanatory is a type of conclusive study that has as its major objective the description of something – usually market characteristics or functions. Examples (refer to the SNCF illustration) To describe the characteristics of respondents (e.g., pro le of users) To estimate the percentage of units in a speci ed population exhibiting a certain behavior (e.g., percentage of users who are uncivil) To determine the triggers of incivility (e.g., how do users perceive the SNCF service quality, the contact with agents, etc. ?) Causal/ Con rmatory study is a type of conclusive study where the major objectives is to obtain evidence regarding cause-and-e ect (causal) relationships. Examples (refer to the SNCF illustration) To determine whether the control by SNCF agents (causal variable) will in uence the numbers of incivility (e ect variable). To determine whether the level of service quality (causal variable) will in uence the type of uncivility (e ect variable). To determine whether users a ect (causal variable) will in uence the propensity to be rude. ff ff fi ff ff fi fi fl fl fl  Primary data is originated by the researcher for the speci c purpose of addressing the study problem. Primary data is data that needs to be collected. Primary data are harder to get because the data are not available, you a-have to ask people and ASK THE GOOD QUESTIONS! Secondary data is data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand. Secondary data are existing data. We have secondary data rst And we use it to : Identify the problem Better de ne the problem Develop an approach to the problem Formulate an appropriate research design Answer certain study questions Interpret primary data more insightfully Internal data is data available within the organization for which the study is being conducted. External data that are external to the organization for which the study is being conducted. The need of qualitative study fi fi fi  Explore why/how consumers behave. Focus on motivations, attitudes, opinions through interviews/groups. Question Should Starbucks extend its activities by o ering a drive-thru service in some of its restaurants on the outskirts of large European cities? -Determine and justify the way you will select participants 3 sampling methods: Purposive sampling Convenience sampling Snowball sampling Convenience sampling It is pure chance Find the correct location (e.g., where customers purchase) and /or Send invitations to any individuals. Those who will be concerned (according to the initial target) will participate Purposive sampling Identify key characteristics of individuals who should participate, determine organizations or groups where these individuals can be found, invite them to participate in the study based on convenience Snowball sampling Choose rst participant based on pro le, invite to participate, ask him/her to identify others, verify that the referrals meet the pro le and invite referrals to participate fi fi ff fi Qualitative study is an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples intended to provide insight and understanding of the problem setting. Qualitative study explore, understand and explain the underlying factors of consumer’s behaviour, attitude, motivations and opinions. There are direct and indirect qualitative study procedures. Depth interviews are structured, direct, personal interview in which a single respondent is probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings on a topic. Semi-structured interviews rely on an interview guide which summarizes the main themes that should be addressed during the interview T-TEST t-tests is used to determine if there is a statistical di erence between the means of two independant groups. The test requires a continuous dependent variable and an independent variable comprising 2 groups. Example: Kamal studies the relationship between individuals’ gender (i.e. males and females) and their perception about a product (measured by an interval scale). ANOVA ANOVA compare the means of 3 or more groups / conditions. The independent variable is qualitative and the dependent variable quantitative. Example: Molly studies the relationships between 3 presentations of a product (at the head of the shelf, at the top of a shelf and at the bottom of the shelf) and the sales. The null hypothesis is that there is no signi cant di erence between the means of all the groups. If the null hypothesis is rejected, ANOVA just states that there is a signi cant di erence between the group but not where those di erences occur. To determine where the group di erences are, post-hoc tests are subsequently used (e.g., Dunn test). ff ff fi ff ff fi ff