BUS630: Consumer Behavior

4a. Explain why it's important for consumer researchers to understand the nature and power of attitudes

• In marketing, why is it important to understand consumer attitudes?
• How might consumer attitudes affect marketing?
• How can information about attitudes be used in marketing?

Our attitudes can affect our buying decisions, how we feel about a product, or how much time we might spend investigating information about a product. Attitudes may also change over time, which can make the marketing aspect of understanding attitudes quite encompassing.

By researching consumer attitudes about a specific product, a marketing company may be able to better understand how to sell that product. This might be accomplished by focus groups, surveys, or interviewing the public to see how they feel about a product or industry.

If a consumer has a positive attitude about beach vacations because, as a child, they spent summer vacations at the beach with family, then their general attitude about beach vacations as an adult will be positive. This person may also be more open to commercials or promotions about beach vacations.

Marketers need to understand general attitudes about products or services to successfully promote those products. If most of the population has a generally poor attitude about a product, then the marketer may need to change tactics to properly market that product.

To review, see Understanding Attitudes and How Attitudes Influence Buyer Choices.

 

4b. Identify how we use attitude models to identify specific components for predicting a consumer's overall attitude toward a product or brand

• According to the ABC Model of Attitudes, what are the three parts of attitudes?
• In marketing, why is it important to understand consumer attitudes?
• How might consumer attitudes affect marketing?

According to the ABC Model of Attitudes, there are three parts: affective (feelings and emotions), behavioral (response tendencies based on past and future), and cognitive (thoughts and beliefs). When all three parts are aligned, the attitude is stronger. For example, most people love their country and feel patriotic and positive about their country, and their behavior may also support that belief.

The three parts of attitudes include:

1. Our feelings and emotions help us to show affective attitudes. For example, we may feel connected to products we used when we were younger. Although it may not apply to our real life today, we may still purchase those products because of those feelings.
2. How we act or what we would like to do is considered our behavioral attitude. For example, we may intend to attend a local art festival this weekend, or we may intend to celebrate July 4th weekend with family. We may intend to purchase a new car soon because we are having issues with the current car. These are our intentions.
3. Our thoughts and beliefs are our cognitive attitudes. These are the beliefs we have about a topic. Sometimes, we may adopt our beliefs because of someone else. Our parents or friends may have mentioned their beliefs, which sound like a good idea to us, so we adopt these views as our own.

To review, see Understanding Attitudes and How Attitudes Influence Buyer Choices.

 

4c. Identify how the structure of the message determines how persuasive it will be

• Thinking about past marketing, what are three examples of consumer persuasion?
• Is building trust with consumers important in marketing? Why or why not?
• How might marketing be used to convey authority?

Every day, we are bombarded with marketing and messages, and sorting through that information can take time and effort. What we focus on may help our understanding of certain topics. What information we believe and find trustworthy may influence our purchasing decisions. The more we trust the source of information, the more we might be persuaded. Fear and humor can also be used to appeal to consumers.

Three trust characteristics lead to trusting a source of information: perceived authority, honesty, and likability.

Perceived authority may include information we receive from people or sources that we believe are an authority on the subject. For example, you may trust your doctor when giving medical advice because they have a medical degree and experience.

Honesty is another characteristic that leads to trusting information from individuals. For example, the more honest an individual seems, the more we may believe what they say.

Likability is the final factor in a persuasion model. The more likable a person is, the more we may believe what they say. If we have genuine feelings about someone, their opinion matters more. For example, if you have an acquaintance you've always liked but maybe don't know a lot about, you may be more likely to believe and trust information from that person.

To review, see Changing Attitudes and Communication Appeals.

 

4d. Assess why audience characteristics help to determine whether the nature of the source or the message itself will be relatively more effective

• How can emotion influence a marketing message?
• Can an emotional message be an effective way to get a point across? Why or why not?
• If an individual is likable or attractive, how can they influence others?

Marketers may use emotional, cognitive, and physical attraction to influence a consumer's purchasing habits.

You can probably remember a commercial that was based on emotional marketing. Perhaps it was for a dog shelter that showed images of dogs who have been mistreated. During this commercial, dog lovers may have felt terrible and wished to donate to the cause to stop dog abuse. The marketer used emotion and feelings to persuade people to donate money.

In addition, a marketer can use physical appeal marketing to help influence you. For example, if you are trying to get into better shape, and the physical trainer at your gym is physically appealing or attractive, you may be more likely to accept advice or information from that person.

Another influence may be cognitive. Someone who uses information or presents a message about factual knowledge they are more influential than us when it comes to a specific subject. An example of this may be a college professor or a doctor. Because they are an authority in their chosen subject, we may be more likely to listen or be influenced by the information they give us.

To review, see Changing Attitudes and Communication Appeals.

 

Unit 4 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

• ABC Model of Attitudes
• consumer attitudes
• emotional marketing
• physical appeal marketing
• trust characteristics