Consumer Attitude: Some Reflections on Its Concept, Trilogy, Relationship with Consumer Behavior, and Marketing Implications

Abstract

This paper is an attempt at providing some reflections on consumer attitude. It examines the concept of consumer attitudes toward marketing efforts of businesses. Furthermore, the paper identifies the trilogy of consumer attitude, including samples of their measurement scales; and how attitudes connect to the behaviors of consumers, but notes that the companies would have difficulty influencing the purchasing behaviors of their consumers directly. To indirectly influence the behaviors of prospects, the paper therefore, suggests that firms should provide credible evidence of their product benefits, correct their customer misconceptions, offer free samples, engage new technologies, and bring in new innovations in value defining, developing, and delivering processes. Specifically, this paper recommends that the behaviors of consumers can be effectively changed to firm desired behavior by altering the tri-components of their target consumer attitudes. Knowledge and application of these can enable a firm effectively design rent-yielding strategies

Keywords: Attitude, attitude change, attitude components, attitude function, consumer attitude.