What Are Consumer Attitudes?
Generally speaking, attitudes are the beliefs, perceptions, and emotions that people have toward the people, places, and things in their environment. These responses are then expressed through actions, and can reflect either favorable or unfavorable judgements. In terms of marketing, attitudes refer to the way that consumers evaluate products and services, leading to their buying practices in regards to those feelings and beliefs. Bearing this in mind, marketers have a vested interest in learning about their customers’ attitudes. Not only does this information supply valuable feedback, but it also can provide deep levels of insight about consumers that might lead to enhanced productivity in terms of more focused marketing strategies. Since consumer attitudes are so pivotal in any evaluations of buyer behavior, companies need to study what constitutes these attitudes in order to understand the factors influencing people’s attitudes towards their products and brands.
One technique that continues to be used in studies of consumer attitudes is the ABC model, which was developed at Yale in the 1960s. It helps marketers to define attitudes by breaking them down into three major components: Affect, Behavior, and Cognition. Affect describes the feelings and emotion-based opinions that people have about products or services. Behavior refers to what consumers’ intentions are, in terms of what actions might be taken. And the cognitive factor is primarily concerned with what people are thinking, when it comes to their buying decisions. Although these components can be seen separately, there is actually quite a bit of overlap between them. Cognitive and affective, or “thinking” and “feeling,” are clearly related aspects; and behavior is directly influenced by them both. Although still a useful tool, the ABC model has been criticized due to how the parts relate to each other. As marketing director, Chris Drew, explains, “We want to study how people’s behavior is related to how they think and feel about attitude objects. We do not want to simply define their behavior as an inherent part of their attitude.” (https://helpfulprofessor.com).
Attitudes Towards Brands
Consumers’ brand attitudes can be said to consist of two factors: the positive or negative beliefs, thoughts and attitudes about brands, and the strength of their convictions about these perceptions. Since people feel an affinity towards brands they can relate to, a company must do everything possible in order to make its brand relatable. By the same token, a brand needs to be portrayed in a consistent manner, cultivating a sense of stability throughout all the different advertising and messaging platforms used to promote it. One way to accomplish both these goals is to create a brand personality that can shape messaging and create a sense of relationship with consumers. This can be done by coming up with human attributes associated with a brand’s attributes, emotionally as well as physically.
CEO, Stephanie Burns, has observed, “When treating your brand like it’s a person, it’s easy to pull out the small nuances that will create quick connection. You will begin to identify what attracts people to your brand and then build upon what makes them fall in love with you” (https://www.kapokmarketing.com). This type of approach has been consistently demonstrated by Nike, a sports brand that ranks above all others, worldwide. Nike has successfully created a brand personality that has become legend, not just due it’s oft-repeated catchphrase of Just do it, but also because it has come to be associated high performance and adventure, two attributes certain to garner a sense of positive brand attitude in consumers. Similarly, Patagonia has developed a brand personality of being rugged and powerful; what’s more, they back up their image by a demonstrated commitment to social and environmental causes.
Why are Consumer Attitudes Important?
In today’s marketplace, consumer attitudes simply cannot be ignored. For a company to achieve broad-based success, it must gain a thorough understanding of consumer attitudes towards its products and brands in order to best predict consumer behavior. Being able to navigate through the interrelated spheres of consumer perceptions and actions is an important component of any successful marketing strategy. As explained by marketer, Radhika Duggal, “Attitudes are widely regarded as one of the most important drivers of purchase behavior, so it’s no surprise that savvy marketers strive to understand and influence their target customers’ attitudes. In the interconnected landscape in which our consumers live, work, and play, this includes not only understanding and influencing attitudes toward our own products, but also attitudes toward the category, competitors’ products, influencers and any other elements surrounding a purchase decision.” (https://www.forbes.com).
After evaluating consumer attitudes, a company may decide to attempt to make changes if they ascertain general negativity, specific complaints, or a decrease in sales. Figuring out the reasons behind these factors requires diligence, as well as a firm commitment to make whatever changes are deemed necessary to remedy the problem. Analyzing consumer behavior begins with identifying attitudes, and then compiling data for interpretation. After that, a course of action needs to be put in place, with the goal of improving consumers’ perceptions, turning negative evaluations into positive ones. The success of these strategies then must be measured, using customer-related metrics. Putting time and energy into studying consumer attitudes, and taking action to change them when it’s called for, can be instrumental in enabling a company to present its products and brands in such a way as to positively impact consumer behavior.