3.2. The Nature And Role Of Attitudes

Attitude is one of the most extensively examined topics in all of marketing. The reason is simple: Understanding how people feel toward different objects (such as brands within a product category) makes it possible to predict and influence behavior so that it is compatible with the marketing communicator's interests.

What is an attitude?

Attitudes are hypothetical constructs; they cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. Because attitudes cannot be observed, a variety of perspectives have developed over the years in attempting to describe them'. The term attitude will be used here to mean a general and enduring positive or negative feeling toward or evaluative judgment of some person, object, or issue. Beyond this basic definition are three other notable features of attitudes: They:

1) are learned,

2) are relatively enduring, and

3) influence behavior.

Consider the following examples of consumer attitudes that express feelings and evaluations with varying degrees of intensity: "I like Diet Pepsi», "I think Hootie and the Blowfish are great», "Mike Tyson is a creep», "I favor recycling», and "I love the Cleveland Indians» All of these attitudes are learned and will likely be retained until there is some strong reason to change them; moreover, it can be expected that the holders of these attitudes would behave consistently with their evaluations – drinking Diet Pepsi, going to a Hootie concert, turning the channel when Tyson appears on TV, recycling aluminum cans, jumping at an opportunity to attend a Cleveland Indians baseball game, and so on.

The preceding description focuses on feelings and evaluations, or what is commonly referred to as the affective component; this is generally what is referred to when people use the word attitude. However, attitude theorists recognize two additional components, cognitive and conative. The cognitive component refers to a person's beliefs (i.e., knowledge and thoughts) about an object or issue ("Timberland shoes are stylish and durable"; "Snackwell low-fat cookies taste nearly as good as the 'real thing'").

The conative component represents one's behavioral tendency, or predisposition to act, toward an object. In consumer-behavior terms, the conative component represents a consumer's intention to purchase a specific item. Generally speaking, attitudes predispose people to respond to an object, such as a brand, in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way.

A clear progression is implied: from initial cognition, to affection, to conation. An individual becomes aware of an object, such as a new brand, then acquires information and forms beliefs about the brand's ability to satisfy consumption needs (cognitive component). Beliefs are integrated, and feelings toward and evaluations of the product are developed (affective component). On the basis of these feelings and evaluations, an intention is formed to purchase or not to purchase the new product (conative component). An attitude, then, is characterized by progressing from thinking (cognitive), to feeling (affective), to behaving (conative).

An illustration will help clarify the notion of attitude progression. Consider the case of Doug, who recently purchased a new Ford Contour. When in the process of making a brand-choice decision, Doug knew precisely what he wanted in a new automobile: economy, reasonable passenger and luggage space, good resale value, and a smooth-shifting automatic transmission. He acquired a variety of information about the Ford Contour and other models from friends and acquaintances, from advertisements, and from his own shopping experiences. He formed beliefs about product features and about specific automobile models as a result of this information search-and-processing activity.

These beliefs (representing the cognitive-attitude component) led Doug to form specific feelings toward and evaluations of various automobile models (affective component). He liked the Honda Accord, except for what he considered to be a rather jerky-shifting automatic transmission. Overall, his most positive affect was toward the Ford Contour, and his intention to purchase this model (conative component) finally materialized when he drove the new automobile away from the Ford dealership.