Chapter Two: Psychological Factors

of Consumer decision (Internal

factors)
Chapter Two: Psychological
Factors of Consumer decision
(Internal factors)
2.1 Motivation
2.2 Perception
2.3 Learning
2.4 Belief & Attitude
2.5 Personality
 2.1 Motivation
Motivation refers to the processes that lead people to behave
as they do. It occurs when a need is aroused that the consumer
wishes to satisfy.
The need creates a state of tension that drives the consumer
to attempt to reduce or eliminate it.
This need may be utilitarian (i.e., a desire to achieve some
functional or practical benefit, as when a person loads up on
green vegetables for nutritional reasons) or it may be hedonic
(i.e., an experiential need, involving emotional responses or
fantasies as when a person feels “righteous” by eating kale).
The desired end state is the consumer’s goal. Marketers try
to create products and services to provide the desired
benefits and help the consumer to reduce this tension.
 Motivation (Contd.)
Dynamics of Motivation
As defined earlier also, consumer motivation is an internal state that drives us
to identify and buy products or services that fulfill our conscious and
unconscious needs or desires.
A. Level of Motivation
• The level of motivation would depend on the intensity of our need. Our
motivational levels may vary from low to high depending on how important is
that purchase. Where fulfillment rewards are low, as with routine purchases
like salt, sugar, tea, shampoo etc., motivation levels are also relatively low.
On the other hand, with a complex, risky and emotionally-charged process
such as buying a new car, the drive to achieve the best result is high.
B. Motivational Behaviour
• The behavioural aspect of consumer motivation concerns the actions we take
before purchasing and consuming goods or services. We might do a lot of
research-evaluating alternatives, testing and sampling-before making a
purchase decision. We might decide to buy something based on which goods
or services most closely meet and satisfy motivational wants and needs.
 Motivation (Contd.)
Needs and Wants
It is important that the marketers understand the various needs, and provide
relevant product and service offerings that blend with the consumer(s)
segment(s) and their wants.
The two terms “need” and “want” often used interchangeably hold two
different meanings.
Need: is a state of felt deprivation while a want is a desire for a specific
satisfier.
Want: The various options are the wants.
 Motivation (Contd.)
 While needs lie at the core of marketing,

Marketers can never create needs.

Needs pre-exist a marketer.

They are already known and experienced by consumers.

However consumers fail to identify needs as the needs lie at the sub conscious
level and remain unfelt.
In such cases, a marketer can just help a consumer identify such needs.

Also most of the times, human need are dormant and lie at a latent state. They get
aroused suddenly by stimuli internal to the individual and his physiology.
 Motivation (Contd.)
The motivations may be physiologically, psychologically, or
environmentally driven.
The entire chain of need, want, goal, action, satisfaction comprises the
cognition, affect and behavior components within an individual.
However, the process gets started with cognition, and therefore
marketers need to inform and educate the consumers about their
product/service offerings and the marketing mix.
 Motivation (Contd.)
Motivation as a Psychological Force
• Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action.
• Needs are the essence of the marketing concept. Marketers do not create needs
but can make consumers aware of needs.
Model of the Motivation Process
 Motivation (Contd.)
Needs and Goals are Dynamic
Some important reasons why motivated behavior never comes to an end include
the following:
1. Needs are never satisfied completely or permanently: At nearly regular
intervals we become hungry and need food to satisfy this recurring need.
Similarly, most people experience the social need and regularly seek company of
others, their affection and approval
2. New needs emerge: At any given time, a need may be predominantly active
but as soon as it is satisfied another need emerges. According to Maslow, a
hierarchy of needs exists.
3. Success and failure influence goals: Research has shown that individuals
who are successful in achieving their goals usually aspire to achieve higher
goals. This probably happens because success gives them more confidence in
their ability.
4. Substitute goals are formed: This may happen when someone is unable to
achieve a specific goal to satisfy certain needs and settles for some other goal. It
may however, not be as satisfactory as the original goal but would be sufficient
to just satisfy and relieve tension.
 Motivation (Contd.)
Goals
The sought-after results of motivated behavior
Generic goals are general categories of goals that consumers see as a way to
fulfill their needs
Product-specific goals are specifically branded products or services that
consumers select as their goals
The goals selected by an individual depend on their
Personal experiences
Physical capacity
Prevailing cultural norms and values
Goal’s accessibility in the physical and social environment
10
 Motivation (Contd.)
The nature of goals
a) Multiplicity and Selection of Goals:
A need/want may be fulfilled through attainment of various goals.
 For example, thirst may be quenched with water, a fruit juice, a cola; and
even within fruit juice, the choice could vary amongst many like orange juice,
lime juice, or mixed fruit juice.
b) Conflicting needs and goals: A consumer may often find himself amidst
conflicting needs and goals at the same time or at various times, and this leads
to what is referred to as an intra-individual conflict, something that the person
feels within himself.
11
 Motivation (Contd.)
Conflicting goals could lead to three types of intra individual conflict these are:-
Approach-approach conflict
In this approach, the consumer finds himself in a situation where he has to
make a choice between two desirable alternatives each of which are equally
attractive.
Approach-avoidance conflict
Here the consumer is faced with an option that has both a positive and a
negative to it, i.e., the goal presents something attractive, yet something
unattractive to it.
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
It involves choosing between two equally unattractive and undesirable
alternatives; 12
 Motivation (Contd.)
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
System of Needs
For many years, psychologists and others have attempted to develop a
comprehensive list of motives
The most influential motive is seen as enjoying the most dominant
position and so on through the entire list.
The hierarchy of needs proposed by Abraham H Maslow in 1943 is
perhaps the best known. Maslow classified needs into five groupings,
ranking in order of importance from low-level (biogenic) needs to
higher-level (psychogenic).
 According to this scheme, individuals strive to fulfil lower-level needs
first, before, higher-level needs become active.
 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow proposed that human needs could be classified into five basic
levels, viz., basic/primary needs, safety/security needs, social/affiliation
needs, ego/esteem needs and self actualization needs.
Each of the needs could be ranked in order of importance from the
lowest to the highest through a pyramidical structure.
Consumer behaviorists have found the versatility of the theory highly
useful while testing consumer motivation.
• The five needs and the terminology has been universally used and tested
across disciplines.
• The need classification is generic enough to include needs that
individuals possess.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Implication for Marketers
a. The five-need classification clearly spells out the various reasons for which
people get motivated towards product/service offerings:
• food, water, houses: basic /primary/ physiological needs
• life insurance policies, savings and current accounts in banks:
safety/security needs
• membership to clubs, buying houses in residential societies:
social/affiliation needs
• cars, jewellery, membership to premium clubs and societies: ego/esteem
needs
• admission to professional courses: self actualization needs.
The theory provide help to marketers to understand consumer behavior
and needs.
 Freudian Theory

Freud's psychoanalytic theory had a strong influence on the

development of modern psychology and on explanations of
motivation and personality and has been used to study
consumer motivations.
He proposed that the real psychological forces shaping
consumers' purchase behaviour are often complex and
unconscious and it is not possible for a casual observer or
the consumers themselves to fully understand their own
motivations.
Motivation researchers conduct "in-depth" interviews with a
few dozen consumers to explore unconscious motives.
They also use "projective techniques" such as word
association tests, sentence completion tests and picture
interpretation etc. More recent research points out that each
product has the potential of arousing a unique set of motives
 McGuire's Comprehensive Scheme of Psychological Motives
As we have seen, Maslow presented basic motives in a hierarchy of five levels.
Other researchers have proposed hundreds of additional specific motives.
William J. McGuire (1996) presented a more comprehensive list of 16 motive
categories.
He first divides motivation into four main categories based on two criteria:
1. Cognitive or affective motivation.
2. Preservation or growth motivation.
3. Is the behaviour proactive or a reaction to something in
the environment?
4. Is the behaviour helping to attain a new internal state or a
new external relationship to the environment?
These four principal categories are further subdivided on the bases of
motivation source and motivation objective.
Source: William J. McGuire (1996) ("Some Internal Psychological Factors Influencing Consumer Choice,"
 McGuire's Comprehensive Scheme of Psychological Motives
Cognitive motives focus on a person's need for
maintaining a coherent and organized view of the world to
achieve a sense of meaning. Affective motives deal with
the need to reduce or avoid any tension and accomplish
satisfying feeling states and achieve personal goals.
Preservation-oriented motives focus on trying to maintain
balance, and growth motives relate to personal
development.
The third criterion differentiates between internally
aroused motives and motives aroused in response to
circumstances.
The fourth criterion helps distinguish outcomes that are
internal to the individual and those concerned with
relationship with the environment.
McGuire's Comprehensive Scheme of Psychological Motives
 McGuire's Comprehensive Scheme of Psychological Motives

Cognitive Preservation Motives

• Consistency Need (active, internal): This need focuses on maintaining a consistent and
coherent view of oneself and the world. These aspects include beliefs, attitudes, behaviours,
opinions, self-images, and view of others etc. Reduction of cognitive dissonance is a common
motive of this category.
• Attribution Need (active, external): This need focuses on understanding and inferring
causes for various occurrences. Humans have a tendency to attribute causes of success to self
and unfavourable outcomes to some outside causes or forces. Attribution theory attempts to
explain consumers' need to attribute who or what causes the things that happen.
• Categorisation Need (passive, internal): Consumers have a need to categorise complex
information in order to organise and understand it easily. There is too much information and
almost every day we are exposed to new experiences, so we have need to establish distinct
categories that facilitate processing large amounts of information.
• Objectification Need (passive, external): Motives of this category focus on observable
stimuli or symbols that help people to draw conclusions about what they feel and know. We
establish impressions, feelings, and attitudes by observing our own and others behaviour to
draw inferences what one feels and thinks. The way people dress often communicates the
subtle meaning of a desired image and the lifestyle.
 McGuire's Comprehensive Scheme of Psychological Motives

Cognitive Growth Motives

• Autonomy Need (active, internal): The need for independence and individuality is viewed as
an important characteristic in many cultures around the world. People seek individuality and
personal growth through self-actualisation and development of distinct identity. This need is
present among individuals in all cultures, only the degree of intensity varies.
• Stimulation Need (active, external): This need focuses on seeking stimulation through new
events circumstances, or exploration. Consumers indulge into variety seeking just for the sake of
change and brand switching to satisfy this need. It is interesting to note that consumers exposed
to too much change desire stability and those in stable environments seek change to escape
boredom.
• Matching Need (passive, internal): People are motivated to create mental images of ideal
situations according to their perceptions and on an ongoing basis match (compare) their
perceptions of actual situations to these ideals. This leads to changes in their behaviours and
results are compared in terms of progress towards the desired ideal state.
• Utilitarian Need (passive, external): This type of motivation focuses on the need to make use
of different sources of information in the external environment for one's advantage. This theory
views the consumer as a problem solver who considers situations as opportunities to gain useful
information and new skills.
 McGuire's Comprehensive Scheme of Psychological Motives
Affective Preservation Motives
• Tension-reduction Need (active, internal): People are faced with various situations in their
daily lives when their needs are not fulfilled, causing undesirable stress and tension. People feel a
need to avoid or reduce tension. For example, some persons avoid buying new brands.
• Self-expression Need (active, external): This need deals with projecting one's identity to
others so that others know who they are, what type of products they use and make a statement
about their lifestyle. Purchase of different types of products such as clothing and autos allows
consumers to project an identity as these are viewed as possessing symbolic meanings.
• Ego Defence Need (passive, internal): It is another important motive and concerns the need
to protect oneself from social embarrassment and other threats to self-concept. For example,
consumers who are high self-monitors avoid social risk in case of socially visible products and buy
well-known brands to avoid any chance of making socially incorrect purchase.
• Reinforcement Need (passive, external): People often experience strong motive to behave in
certain manner because that behaviour brought rewards in similar situations in the past. This is
what the theory of instrumental conditioning emphasises. For example, many sales promotions
such as contests and sweepstakes bring tangible rewards for some consumers and excitement to
all the participants.
 McGuire's Comprehensive Scheme of Psychological Motives

Affective Growth Motives

• Assertion Need (active, internal): This need leads one to compete, achieve success, power,
and admiration. For those having this motivation dominance, accomplishment and success are
important. Many nutritious products are promoted on this theme (the commercial of Butter Bite
biscuits).
• Affiliation Need (active, external): People seek acceptance, affection, and warm personal
relationships with others. Group membership is important to most people in their lives and to
fulfil this need they observe group norms including purchase decisions. Many commercials of
soft drinks focus on this motive.
• Identification Need (passive, internal): This motive drives people to adopt new identities
and roles to increase one's self-concept. People gain pleasure from adding satisfying roles and
by enhancing the importance of already adopted roles. Many ads focus on encouraging a good
host image by using certain brands.
• Modelling Need (passive, external): Modelling is major learning method by which children
learn to become consumers. Children imitate the behaviour of elders and learning takes place.
It also explains the tendency of group members to adopt certain behaviours approved by group
members. Many ads use endorsers that are believed to be role models using certain brands to
convince conformists.
 2.2 Consumer Perception

Definition and Meaning of Consumer Perception

Perception is a three-stage process that translates raw stimuli into
meaning. Perception is the process by which physical sensations, such
as sights, sounds, and smells, are selected, organized, and
interpreted. The eventual interpretation of a stimulus allows it to be
assigned meaning. A perceptual map is a widely used marketing tool
that evaluates the relative standing of competing brands along
relevant dimensions.
The term “perception” can be defined as the ability to derive meaning.
Derived from the word “perceive”, it refers to the ability of giving meaning to
whatever is sensed by our sense organs.
 It is the process through which an individual interprets ones’ sensory
impressions to give meaning to them.
Schiffman defines it as “the process by which an individual selects, organizes,
and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.”
 Difference between Perception and Sensation
Sensation is the ability of our five sense organs to sense a stimulus.
It is an auto reflex mechanism (direct and immediate) of our sense organs, i.e.
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin towards a stimulus in the environment. This
stimulus could be anything, a person, object, situation or thing.
In terms of marketing, it could be a product, a brand name, an advertisement or
even a store.
Thus sensation is the reaction or response of a sense organ or a sensory receptor
towards a stimuli.
Perception is much broader in scope.
It is complex process by which a person organizes facts around the stimuli and
gives meaning to it.
The perceptual process depicts a complex and dynamic interplay of three
processes, viz., selection, organization and interpretation.
 Nature of Perception
1. Perception is a complex process: After a stimulus is detected by the sense
organs, the perception process comes into play and involves the interplay
of three processes, viz., selection, organization and interpretation, It is a
dynamic process.
2. It is also an intellectual process: it involves a lot of cognitive effort.
3. Perception is broad in nature; it includes a physiological component
(through sensation), as well as sociological and psychological components.
4. Perception is a subjective process as two people may perceive the same
stimuli differently.
 This is because the two are impacted by their background, learning and
experiences, motivation, personality, cultures, values and lifestyles, social
class effects etc which may be different from each other.
 The Perceptual Process and the Mechanism
i. Input: stimulus
ii. Perceptual mechanism: The perceptual mechanism consists of
three sub-processes, these are: exposure, attention and interpretation.
iii. Output: Once the input has been interpreted, it results in an
output.
iv. Behavior: The resultant behavior is an outcome of the output.
Based on his emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as
attitudes and beliefs, a person would enact out a behavior.
The Perceptual Process and the Mechanism
 The Perceptual Process and the Mechanism

The classic, contoured Coca-

Cola bottle also attests to
the power of touch. The
bottle was designed
approximately 90 years ago
to satisfy the request of a
U.S. bottler for a soft-drink
container that people could
identify even in the dark.
 Elements of Perception

– Sensation
– Absolute threshold
– Differential threshold
– Subliminal perception
 Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to
stimuli (A stimulus is any unit of input to any of the senses)
 Absolute threshold is the lowest level at which an individual can experience
a sensation.
Most marketers want to create messages above consumers’
thresholds so people will notice them
 Differential Threshold (Just Noticeable Difference – j.n.d.) is the minimal
difference that can be detected between two similar stimuli
Subliminal perception refers to a stimulus below the level of the consumer’s
awareness.
 Factors Distorting Individuals Perceptions
A number of factors influence individuals that may distort their perceptions,
such as physical appearances, stereotyping stimuli, irrelevant stimuli, first
impressions, jumping to conclusions and halo effect etc.
Physical Appearance: People may or may not consciously recognize that
they tend to attribute the qualities, which in their opinion are associated
with certain individuals, to others who may resemble those persons.
According to Kathleen Debevec and Jerome B Kernan, research indicates
that attractive looking men are perceived as more successful in business
than average looking men.
Stereotyping Stimuli: People tend to form “pictures” in their minds of the
meanings of different types of stimuli.
This stereotyping the stimuli helps them develop expectations about how
specific events, people, or situations will turn out to be Example: Many
people carry the “picture” of politicians or police behaviour in their minds.
 Factors Influencing Individuals Perceptions
Irrelevant Stimuli: In certain situations consumers are faced with difficult
perceptual judgements. In such circumstances they often respond to
somewhat irrelevant stimuli. For instance, they may consider the colour
of washing machine in making the final purchase decision.
First Impression: First impressions are often lasting even when the
perceiver is not exposed to sufficient relevant or predictive information.
Example: Just a few years ago, the word “imported” was enough for a
large number of consumers to form favourable impressions.
Jumping to Conclusions: Some people seem to have a strong tendency to
draw conclusions based on insufficient information. They seem to be
impatient about examining all the relevant evidence, which may be
necessary to draw a balanced conclusion.
Halo Effect: This refers to a tendency to evaluate one attribute or aspect
of stimulus to distort reactions to its other attributes or properties. This is
frequently seen in case of brand or line extensions where the marketer
takes advantage of a brand’s reputation .
 2.3 Consumer Learning

Learning : The process by which individuals acquire

the purchase and consumption knowledge and
experience that they apply to future related behavior.
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior
caused by experience.
We learn even when we don’t try: We recognize many
brand names and hum many product jingles, for
example, even for products we don’t personally use.
Learning is an ongoing process. Our knowledge about
the world constantly updates as we are exposed to new
stimuli and as we receive ongoing feedback that allows
us to modify our behavior when we find ourselves in
34
 Elements of Learning
Motivation: Motivation is the driving force that impels individuals to
action and is the result of unfulfilled need (s). If an individual has strong
motivation to learn something, there is increased likelihood that learning will
take place. For example, students who want to pursue a course in computer
application would be motivated to seek information concerning the courses
offered by different institutes and possibly the quality of faculty and lab
facilities.

Cues: Cues are relatively weak stimuli, not strong enough to arouse
consumers but have the potential of providing direction to motivated activity.
For example, an ad about a computer course is a cue that suggests a way to
satisfy the motive of learning computer application.
 Elements of Learning
Response: The way an individual reacts to a cue or stimulus is the
response and could be physical or mental in nature, leading to learning. For
example, a computer marketer keeps on providing cues to a student through
promotional activities and may not be successful in eliciting the final purchase
behaviour for a variety of reasons, though the student is motivated to buy.

Reinforcement: Most scholars agree that reinforcement of a specific

response increases the likelihood for the response to reoccur. Reinforcement
can be anything that both increases the strength of response and tends to
induce repetitions of the behaviour that preceded the reinforcement.
 Elements of Learning

Motivation • Unfilled needs lead to motivation

Cues • Stimuli that direct motives

Response • Consumer reaction to a drive or cue

• Increases the likelihood that a response

Reinforcement will occur in the future as a result of a cue
 Behavioural Learning Theories

Behavioural learning theories are sometimes also referred to as

connectionist or stimulus – response theories. Behaviourist psychologists
believe in observing changes in an individual’s responses that result due to
exposure to specific external, environmental stimuli. Behavioural theories
are based on stimulus-response orientation (S-R) and the belief is that
learning occurs through the connection between the stimulus and a
response.
Two important behavioural theories, classical conditioning (sometimes
called respondent conditioning) and instrumental conditioning (also called
operant conditioning) are of great relevance to marketing.
 Behavioural Learning Theories

Classical Conditioning
In everyday life, we think of conditioning as a kind of automatic response to
something as a result of repeated exposure to it.
The Russian psychologist, Ivan Pavlov, was the first who pioneered the study of
classical conditioning. Pavlov induced classically conditioned learning when he
paired a neutral stimulus (a bell) with a stimulus known to cause a salivation
response in dogs (he squirted dried meat powder into their mouths).
Pavlov reasoned that a neutral stimulus such as the sound of a ringing bell could
also cause the dogs to salivate if it was closely associated with the unconditioned
stimulus (food).
Classical conditioning can have similar effects for more complex reactions, too.
Even a credit card becomes a conditioned cue that triggers greater spending,
especially because as a stimulus it’s present only in situations where we spend
money. Small wonder that American Express reminds us, “Don’t leave home
without it.”
Behavioural Learning Theories

Fig-Classical Conditioning
 Behavioural Learning Theories

Classical Conditioning (Contd.)

Conditioning effects are more likely to occur after the conditioned (CS) and
unconditioned (UCS) stimuli have been paired a number of times. Repeated
exposures—repetition—increase the strength of stimulus–response
associations and prevent the decay of these associations in memory.
Some research indicates that the intervals between exposures may
influence the effectiveness of this strategy as well as the type of medium
the marketer uses; the most effective repetition strategy is a combination of
spaced exposures that alternate in terms of media that are more and less
involving, such as television advertising complemented by print media.
 Behavioural Learning Theories

Instrumental Conditioning (Operant Conditioning)

Instrumental conditioning also involves developing association between
stimulus and response but requires the subject to discover a correct
response that will be reinforced. Any response elicited is within the
conscious control of the subject.
For instance, let us assume that in a Pavlovlike experiment, dogs are
provided with two levers instead of just one. Pushing one lever will produce
food (reward) and the other an electrical shock (punishment).
When hungry, the animals would quickly learn to press the lever that
produced food and avoid the lever that produced an electrical shock.
Learning occurs because the consequence of a repeated behaviour is
rewarding.
 Behavioural Learning Theories

Instrumental Conditioning (Operant Conditioning)

Instrumental conditioning suggests that most learning takes place by means
of a trial-and-error process and consumers experience more satisfying results
(outcomes or rewards) in case of some purchases than others.
Favourable consequences reinforce the behaviour and increase the likelihood
of its repetition, that is, the consumer will purchase the product again;
unfavourable outcome will decrease that likelihood.
 Behavioural Learning Theories

Instrumental Conditioning (Operant Conditioning) Example

Almost everyday we see commercials of one or the other detergent
depicting the agony of a mother or housewife washing clothes,
dissatisfied or embarrassed and ultimately finding the rewarding
experience with a particular (advertised) brand of detergent .
The message for the target audience is loud and clear that to avoid
unfavourable outcomes with other detergents, they should use the
advertised brand. There are other similar commercials such as those
of common cold remedies, balms for waist and joint pains, pimple and
acne remedies, anti-itch creams, antidandruff shampoos and
deodorants etc.
 2.4 Attitude
Definition and Meaning of Consumer Attitude
An attitude may be defined as a feeling of favorableness or unfavorableness
that an individual has towards an object (be it a person, thing or situation).
It is a learned predisposition to exhibit and act based on evaluation
resulting in a feeling of like or dislike towards and object.
In terms of consumer behavior, consumer attitudes may be defined as an
inner feeling of favorableness or unfavorableness towards a product or
service offering and the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion).
As Schiffman has defined, “Attitudes are an expression of inner feelings
that reflect whether a person is favorably or unfavorably predisposed to
some "object" (e.g., a brand, a service, or a retail establishment),”
 2.4 Attitude
Attitudes are an expression of inner feelings reflecting his likes and dislikes
and, from a retailing perspective, as applicable to retail brands and store
formats.
Attitudes play an important part in determining a store's standing among
consumers. In deciding at which store to shop, consumers will typically select
the store that is evaluated most favourably and to which they are
predisposed.
As opined by James H Myers and William H. Reynolds, "Attitudes directly
affect purchase decisions and these in turn directly affect attitudes through
experience in using the product or service. In a broad sense, purchase
decisions are based solely upon attitudes existing at the time of purchase,
however these attitudes might have been formed."
 2.4 Attitude

Characteristics of Attitude
Difficult to measure: Attitudes are reflected in behavior of individuals. Is can be
vaguely termed as how an individual responds to a particular situation. An individual
varies in his behavior and reacts differently in different situations.

May create inflexibility and stereotypes: As discussed above, individuals who behave
particular manner under a specific situation can be stereotyped to that particular
behavior. People might expect the same attitude every time in all the situations. Since,
individuals are judged by their first impression, attitude during the first meeting might
be taken as permanent.
Formed largely from continuous process of socialization: Attitudes are not formed in
one day or so. It is formed gradually, as we interact with more and people or may
times with people in our society. Society consists of different kinds of individuals so we
tend to form varied attitudes. As we meet the same person again an again we tend to
form an attitude which might be specific to him only.
 2.4 Attitude
Characteristics of Attitude
It is positive attitude: People have varied attitudes. Some people have a
optimistic view towards a particular situation and others might have a
pessimist view. It varies from person to person. Attitudes, positive or
negative are developed by post purchase evaluations.

Once formed not easy to change: When a person develops a certain attitude
towards a brand or a person, it is very hard to change. If an individual is not
satisfied by product of a particular brand, he will develop a negative attitude
towards that brand and he might not use that brand forever. Attitudes may
be affected by age, position or education of an individual. As a person
matures, his attitude towards a particular brand or person can change.
 2.4 Attitude
Functions of attitudes
Understanding functions of attitudes helps in learning how they
can be used to serve consumers. According to Daniel Katz,
attitudes perform four important functions for individuals:
1. Utilitarian function
2. Value-expressive function
3. Ego-defensive function
4. Knowledge function
 2.4 Attitude
Functions of attitudes
Utilitarian Function
• This attitude function serves consumers in achieving desired benefits. We
hold certain brand attitudes partly because of a brand’s utility. If a product has
been useful in the past, our attitude towards it is likely to be favourable. For
example, a consumer who considers quick relief as the most important criteria
in selecting an anti-cold remedy will be directed to the brand that offers this
benefit.
Value-expressive Function
• Attitudes reflect the consumer’s self-image, values and outlook, particularly in
a high-involvement product. If a consumer segment holds positive attitudes
toward being “in fashion,” then their attitudes are likely to be reflected in this
viewpoint. For example, the self-image of a young man buying a motorcycle
may be of a macho, domineering person who likes to gain an upper hand .
 2.4 Attitude
Functions of attitudes
Ego-defensive Function
• Attitudes formed to protect the ego, or self-image, from anxieties and threats help
fulfil this function. Ads for many personal care products such as mouthwashes,
toothpastes, deodorants, anti-pimple creams and cosmetics, etc. serve as a good
example. Advertising capitalises on the fear of social embarrassment and rejection
and greater social acceptance through use of certain products.
Knowledge Function
• Individuals generally have a strong need for knowledge and seek consistency,
stability and understanding. To fulfil this need attitudes help organise the
considerable amount of information to which they are exposed every day. They
ignore irrelevant information and store what is meaningful to them. The
knowledge function also reduces uncertainty and confusion.
 Structural Models of Attitudes

Researchers have proposed a number of models that identify the underlying

dimensions of an attitude and explain or predict behavior. Among the
various models, the more researched upon and commonly used ones are:
1. The tricomponent attitude model,
2. The multiattribute attitude model,
3. The trying-to-consume model, and
4. The the attitude-toward-the-ad model.
 Structural Models of Attitudes
i) The Tricomponent Attitude Model

The tri-component attitude model states that attitudes are composed of

three components, these are: a knowledge (cognitive) component, feeling
and emotional (affect) component and the action (conative) component.
Simple Representation of the Tricomponent Attitude Model
Cognitive: The knowledge and perceptions that are acquired by a
combination of direct experience with the attitude object and
related information from various sources
Affective: A consumer’s emotions or feelings about a particular
product or brand
Conative: The likelihood or tendency that an individual will undertake
a specific action or behave in a particular way with regard to the
attitude object
 The Multi-attribute Attitude Models

Attitude models that examine the composition of consumer attitudes in

terms of selected product attributes or beliefs.
It state that a consumer’s attitude towards an attitude object
(product/service offering, brand, elements of the marketing mix) is a
function of a consumer’s perception and belief of the key attributes as
well as his/her assessment of the key attributes.
The multi-attribute models have been variedly studied and numerous
variations have been proposed by various researchers.
 Of these, the most famous of the models are those that have been
proposed by Fishbein.
 Martin Fishbein and his associates have proposed a series of models like
a) the attitude-toward-object model, b) the attitude-toward-behavior
model, and c) the theory-of-reasoned-action model.
 The Attitude-towards-Object Model

It states that a consumer’s attitudes towards a product/service offering or

a brand, is a function of the presence or absence of certain attributes, and
the corresponding evaluation.
Attitude is function of evaluation of product -specific beliefs and
evaluations.
 In other words, while evaluating an offering, the consumer’s attitude
would be based on:
• The presence of attributes, and the aggregation of a consumer’s belief
about each of these
• The overall evaluation of the relevance of each of these attributes in
providing the necessary gains and benefits.
 The Attitude-towards-Behavior Model
It is the attitude toward behaving or acting with respect to an object,
rather than the attitude toward the object itself.
Corresponds closely to actual behavior
The attitude-toward-behavior model focuses on the individual’s acts of
behavior towards the attitude object rather than mere affect or feeling
towards the object.
The premise is that a consumer may have positive feelings towards an
attitude object, but he may have a negative attitude regarding his intention
for buying such a product/service offering.
 Thus, a positive attitude towards the offering may not necessarily end up
as an act of purchase.
Consumer Characteristics, Attitude, and Online Shopping
 The Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Model

The theory of reasoned action model attempts to study the impact of

i) instances of behavior, and
ii) subjective norms, on the tri-components that make up attitudes.
The model incorporates these two factors that act as moderators
and finally have an effect on human attitudes.
The behavior of a consumer is based on his intention to act, i.e.
overall favorability toward the purchase.
There are certain factors that lead to an intention to act.
These are the consumer's attitude toward behavior and the
subjective norm.
 Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Model
• The consumers’ attitude towards behavior includes the beliefs and
attitudes about specific acts of behavior.
• Factors underlying attitude are i) beliefs that the behavior leads to certain
outcomes; and ii) evaluation of the outcome.
 The Theory of Trying to Consume

 Includes cognitive, affective, and conative components Includes

subjective norms in addition to attitude
The theory of trying to consume focuses on a purchase situation where the
action or act of behavior (in terms of actual purchase), is not certain and
may even be sometime in future.
As per this theory, the action or act of behavior is directed towards a goal
(something that the consumer is planning to and/or attempting do in
future).
In such processes of trying the resultant outcome (in terms of purchase,
possession and use) cannot be predicted for certainty.
The theory reflects the consumer’s attempts at consumption, which get
impeded by personal and environmental impediments, thus preventing the
action (act of purchase) from occurring.
 The Theory of Trying to Consume

Personal impediments would occur when the person faces an approach

avoidance conflict, i.e. he/she desires a goal that also has a negative
element associated along with it;
for example, a lady likes to eat chocolate cake, but that also has a lot of
calories that would lead to weight gain.
Environmental impediments are said to occur when forces in the
environment prevent an action from occurring;
for example, a person desires to eat at a particular restaurant, but as he
goes there, he finds no place to sit and eat; it is too crowded.
The theory of trying to consume replaces behavior (as proposed by
Fishbein in the theory of reasoned action model) by trying to behave.
 The Attitude-towards-the-Ad Model

A model that proposes that a consumer forms various feelings (affects) and
judgments (cognitions) as the result of exposure to an advertisement, which,
in turn, affect the consumer’s attitude toward the ad and attitude toward the
brand.
This model lays emphasis on the impact of an advertisement, either in print or
in audio-visual on the formation of consumer attitudes towards product and
service offerings and or brands.
 Once exposed to an advertisement, a consumer forms the cognition
(knowledge) and the affect (feeling) components of the attitude; it leads to
judgments about the Ad (cognition) and feelings from the Ad (affect).
The cognitive component leads to belief about the brand as well as attitude
towards the ad.
The affect component also leads to belief about the brand as well as attitude
towards the ad.
 The Attitude-towards-the-Ad Model

Thus, both the cognition and the affect component affect the
consumer's attitude toward the ad and beliefs about the brand.
A mere exposure to the ad can also lead to belief about the brand.
Finally, the belief about the brand as well as attitude towards the ad
leads to the development of an attitude towards the brand.
The theory behind the model states that consumers form judgments
and feelings as a result of exposure to an advertisement.
 Not only does a consumer form attitudes towards the advertisement,
he or she also forms an opinion towards the brand.
Figure: Attitude-towards-the-Ad Model
 2.5 Personality
Definition and Meaning of Consumer Personality
Personality is defined as a sum total of outer physiological as well as the inner
psychological characteristics that determine and reflect how a person reacts
to his environment.
However, the emphasis is on the inner characteristics, i.e., the qualities,
attributes, traits, and mannerisms that differentiate one individual from
another individual, and make him unique in his own way.
As Schiffman has put it consumer personality refers to the “unique dynamic
organization of characteristics of a particular person, physical and
psychological, which influence behavior and responses to the social and
physical environment.”
It is a consistent repeated pattern of behavior.
It is the inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect
how a person responds to his or her environment
Importance of Personality in the context of Marketing
In the context of application to marketing, three distinct properties of
personality are of central importance:
1. Personality is used to account for differences between individuals rather
than the similarity.
2. Personality is generally believed to be consistent and enduring over time
and tends to carry to a variety of situations.
3. Despite the fact that personality tends to be consistent and enduring, it may
change due to major life events such as marriage, birth, death in family,
changes in economic circumstances and the process of ageing.
 Major Personality Theories

1. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

2. Social/Cultural (Neo-freudian) Theory
3. Trait Theory
 Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud explained much of how the psyche or the mind operates, and proposed
that the human psyche is composed of parts within our awareness and beyond
our awareness.
Much of our personality exists below our level of awareness, as the
unconscious and just as a part of it lies above, as the conscious.
Even though an individual is not aware of the contents and processes of the
unconscious, much of our behavior is attributed to it.
Based on the level of awareness, the human mind comprises three parts, these
are: conscious, preconscious and the unconscious or the sub-conscious;
According to Freud, much of human behavior is driven directly from the
unconscious mind; and so it is important that the unconscious material needs
to be brought into the conscious state so that it can be examined in a rational
manner.
 Freudians Types of personality
• According to Freudian every individual’s personality is the result of
conflicts. These conflicts are derived from three fundamental components of
personality: Id, Ego and Superego
1. Id (pleasure principle)
Warehouse of primitive or instinctual needs for which individual seeks
immediate satisfaction
2. Superego (conscience)
Individual’s internal expression of society’s moral and ethical codes of
conduct
3. Ego (reality principle)
Individual’s conscious control that balances the demands of the Id and
superego
 Implications for Marketers
1. Consumers tend to relate "personality-like" traits to different products
and brands.
 Consumers match their personality styles with the product/brands they
buy.
 Thus, marketers should segment markets and position their brands
accordingly.
 Based on the dominant personality system, the three elements, Id, Ego,
and Super Ego can also be used to segment markets.
2. The study of personality also holds good when we speak of colors, as
personality factors are associated with and reflective of specific colors.
 Like, green denotes freshness, nature;
 Red denotes passion, anger;
 Black denotes power, sophistication;
 White denotes purity, chastity and cleanliness;
 Gold and silver denote regality and wealth.
3. With a majority of human drives being unconscious, consumers themselves
are often unaware of the true reasons for buying a particular product or brand.
Many a times, a consumer fails to provide an answer as to why he bought a
red shirt and not a yellow one.
4. Much of the processes that come into play while purchase decisions and
consumption patterns is unexplainable; behavior is many a times instant and
spontaneous much against market forecast.
 Social/Cultural (Neo-freudian) Theory
• A number of Freud’s foremost disciples, particularly Carl Jung
and Alfred Adler, disagreed from his view of personality.
• They believed that social and cultural variables, rather than
biological drives, are more important in the development of
an individual’s personality.
• They also believed that insights into personality development
should also be based on normal persons’ functioning in their
environment and not by focusing on observation of
emotionally charged people alone.
• These social theorists, also referred as neo-freudian school,
viewed individuals as striving to win over the feelings of
inferiority and searching for ways to gain love, security and
relationships.
 Jungian Theory (Neo-freudian) Theory
Jungian elaborated on personality types, and his contribution has great relevance
to the study of consumer behavior.
Jung identified a number of personality types, such as sensing-
thinking, sensing-feeling, intuiting thinking, and intuitive-feeling
1. Sensing-thinking Personality: Individuals with this personality
type make rational, objective decisions. They are logical and empirical
in their approach, are inclined to be highly involved, extensive
problem solving orientation, weigh economic considerations, are
price sensitive and avoid any risks.
2. Sensing-feeling Personality: They are moved by personal
values rather than logic and believe in personal experience. They
follow a “subjective” orientation in making decisions, are inclined to
consider others when making a decision and share risks . They are
status conscious and have short-term perspective in decision-making.
 Jungian Theory (Neo-freudian) Theory
3. Intuiting-thinking Personality: Such individuals take a
broad view of their own situation and the world. Though they
heavily rely on imagination and consider a wider range of
options, yet use logic in making decisions. Such individuals are
not averse to taking risks while making decisions and their
perspective is long-term.
4. Intuiting-feeling Personality: Their view of personal
situations or world is broad. They use imagination in considering
a wide range of options in making a decision, are quite likely to
consider others’ views and show least sensitivity toward prices.
They are also inclined to seek novelty, take risks and time
horizon is indefinite in making decisions .
 Alfred Adler (Neo-freudian) Theory
Alfred Adler took a separate direction.
He was the foremost proponent of social orientation in the
development of personality.
Instead of emphasising the importance of sexual conflicts like
Freud or culturally shared meaning of Jung, he focused on the
importance of an individual’s striving for obtaining superiority
in a social context.
Alfred Adler viewed human beings as striving to attain various
rational goals, which he referred as style of life.
He also stressed that children develop the feelings of
inferiority and as adults their foremost goal is to win over
these feelings; in other words, strive for superiority.
 Karen Horney (Neo-freudian) Theory
Karen Horney identified ten major needs which individuals
acquire as a result of striving to find solutions to their problems
in developing personality and dealing with others in society. She
classified three major approaches individuals adopt for coping
with anxiety.
Compliant individuals are those who move toward people
and stress the need for love, affection, approval and modesty.
Such individuals exhibit empathy, humility and are unselfish.
Aggressive individuals are those who move against people
and emphasise the need for power, admiration, strength and
the ability to manipulate others.
Detached individuals are those who move away from others
and desire independence, freedom from obligations and self-
reliance. They do not develop strong emotional ties with others.
 Trait Theory

Trait theory states that human personality is composed of a set of traits

that describe general response patterns. These theories are relatively
recent in origin and use very popular personality concepts to explain
consumer behaviour. The orientation, unlike previously discussed
theories, is quantitative or empirical. J P Guilford describes a trait as any
distinguishing and relatively enduring way in which one individual differs
from another. The concept is that traits are general and relatively stable
characteristics of personality that influence behavioural tendencies. The
concept can be summed up in three assumptions:
1. Behavioural tendencies in individuals are relatively stable.
2. A limited number of traits are common to most individuals.
They differ only in the degree to which they have these
tendencies.
3. These traits and their relative degree when identified and
measured, are useful in characterising individual
personalities.
 Trait Theory

• Trait theorists construct personality inventories (personality tests) and ask

respondents to record their responses to many items. Respondents are asked to
agree or disagree with certain statements as they please or express their likes or
dislikes for certain situations or kinds of people. The responses are then
statistically analysed and reduced to a few personality dimensions .
• R B Cattell isolated 171 traits but concluded that they were superficial and
lacking in descriptive power. He sought a reduced set of traits that would identify
underlying patterns and identified 16 personality factors, which he called as
source or primary traits . Personality tests that measure just one trait (such as
self-confidence, or innovativeness) are called single-trait personality tests.
• There are a number of standardised personality tests and evaluative techniques
available.
• This offers the advantage and convenience of using trait theory to studying the
relationship between personality and behaviour.
• A large number of researchers have used these techniques and have met with
various degrees of success in finding a relationship between consumers’
personality and their behaviour.
 Personality Traits and Consumer Innovators

Certain types of personality traits may be more related to

consumer behaviour than others, such as Optimal
Stimulation Level (OSL), Need for Cognition (NFC),
dogmatism, susceptibility to influence and self-
monitoring behaviour.
Optimal Stimulation Level
 Some activities have more potential to provide individuals with
some sort of physiological arousal.
 There are others who prefer a calm, simple and uncluttered
life, while some others prefer novel, complex, exciting
existence.
 Research in this area indicates that high optimum stimulation
levels are associated with more willingness to take risks; to be
innovative, try new products and actively seek purchase
 Personality Traits and Consumer Innovators

Need for Cognition

 Some researchers (John T Cacioppo and Richard E Pettey) have
focused on ‘need for cognition’ personality trait.
 Need for cognition refers to the degree of an individual’s desire to
think and enjoy getting engaged in information processing.
 Such individuals tend to seek information that requires thinking.
 Opposite to this would be those who shy away from such
information and focus on peripheral information (ELM model).
 For instance, a consumer high in need for cognition (NC) and
looking at an ad for Apple computer is more likely to study and
concentrate on the information contained in the ad.
 On the other hand, a consumer low in need for cognition would be
more inclined to look at the beautiful picture of iMac, ignoring the
detailed information about the computer model.
 Personality Traits and Consumer Innovators

Dogmatism
Consumers are also likely to vary in terms of how open-minded or
closed-minded they are Dogmatism is a personality trait that
indicates the degree of an individual’s rigidity toward anything that
is contrary to her/his own established beliefs. Apparently, the
person is resistant to change and new ideas. One would expect
highly dogmatic consumers to be relatively resistant to new
products, promotions or advertising.
Susceptibility to Influence
Consumers differ in terms of their proneness to persuasion
attempts by others, especially when these attempts happen to be
interpersonal or face-to-face. Researchers have reported that some
consumers possess a greater desire to enhance their image among
others and show a willingness to be influenced or guided by them.
Consumers with lower social and information processing confidence
 Personality Traits and Consumer Innovators

Self-monitoring Behaviour
 Individual consumers differ in the degree to which they look
to others for indications on how to behave.
 Those persons who are high-self monitors tend to look to
others for direction and accordingly guide their own
behaviour.
 They are more sensitive and responsive to image-oriented
ads and willing to try such products.
 They are less likely to be consumer innovators.
 On the other hand, individuals who are low self-monitors are
guided by their own preferences or standards and are less
likely to be influenced by others expectations .
Thank You