Executive Summary

In this technological era, business environment is increasingly becoming extremely complex and dynamic, thus heightening competition worldwide. Therefore, it has become very important for marketing researchers to explore ideal ways that company marketers can use to understand their target customers. From this review of different scholars' viewpoint, it is clear that consumer attitude towards marketing objects continue to receive high attention by marketing researchers.  Based on the attitude theory in marketing research, consumer attitudes towards products, brand, services or prices can either be functional attitudes or constructive attitudes.

Functional attitudes which are supported by the functional theory of attitude are stable and therefore exist for a long period of time, while constructive attitudes which are supported by constructive theory are attitudes which are short-lived and are often formed at the point of sale. These two theories were explored exhaustively in the review of the reading material in this paper. After reviewing the reading material, this study selected the functional theory of attitude as being an ideal school of thought that can help answer the research questions in the reading material.

The studies selected different other reading materials on this area of study from different researchers that focused on functional theory of attitude to help understand the formation of customer attitude as well as how these attitudes can be altered by marketers.  The review of different school of thoughts regarding to consumer attitudes showed that consumer attitudes are greatly influenced by the function of attitude.

Introduction

Consumers' attitude is of paramount importance to all the marketing researchers. Attitudes play an instrumental role in influencing purchasing behavior among consumers, making it a vital aspect to marketers as they seek to understand it with the view to influencing the attitudes of their target customers (Vainikka, 2015). Marketers often seek to gauge the responses of consumers towards their marketing objects like advertisements, brands and products. Attitudes reflect either unfavorable or favorable assessment of a certain marketing object.  The object in this case can be in the form of brand, product, service, package, price or advertisement and therefore attitudes influences customers on whether they should purchase a particular product or not. The understanding of consumer attitudes should start with comprehending the consumer theory behavior theories that trigger formation and change of consumer attitude (Ioana-Daniela et al., 2018). However, it is important to note that even though attitudes are normally consistent with consumer behaviors, they are often situational in the sense that consumer attitude may sometime be influenced by the prevailing situation. It is therefore paramount for marketers to try and comprehend consumer attitudes to be able to effectively persuade their target customers toward purchasing their goods and services.

Brief review of the reading material: Consumer Attitudes Revisited: A Review of Attitude Theory in Marketing Research.

Research Question

This brief review of the reading material seeks two research questions. First, the review will seek to answer the question regarding whether it is true that attitude is correlated to the object relationship which is stored and remembered from  consumers' memory whenever need arises or not. The next question that the brief review will also seek to answer is whether attitude is cognitive in the sense that it's about thoughts and beliefs that are related to a particular or it is affective in that it depends on emotions and feelings.

Brief Review of the Reading Article

According to this reading material, it is important for marketing researchers to seek to understand the attitude formation process as well as the general concept of attitude with the view to influencing consumers to act in a certain way. In a bid to comprehend the concept of attitude, marketers often encounter two fundamental issues; attitude being related to the object association that is stored and remembered from consumers' memory or impulsive assessment of the object whenever the need arises. The second issue which marketers encounter when seeking to understand attitude concept is the attitude cognitive which entails the thoughts and beliefs that are related to a particular object or affective which is based on the emotions and feelings of the consumer.  These issues according to the reading article have resulted into two distinctive views of attitudes that include constructive and functional.

Based on the reading article, functional theory, attitudes entail memory-based object­ related relationships that can be remembered. On the other hand, constructive theory holds the view that attitudes entail on-the-spot decisions as opposed to being memory-based processing. Based on these two theories of the concept of attitude, it is clear that consumer attitude is not only based on the attributes of the products, but can also be influenced by other factors such as the transient emotional states of consumers as well as their goals (Argyriou & Melewar, 2011).

Moreover, attitude is directly associated to the evaluative classification because it plays a vital role in activating distinct brain processes. When consumers are exposed to a particular object, the information stored in their memory regarding the object can either provoke unfavorable or favorable attitude information which then influences their purchasing decisions. Therefore, marketers' scholars have come to a general consensus regarding the significance of understanding consumer attitude because of its influence on the intention to buy the products.

According to this reading material, functional theory of the attitude concept supports the fact that consumers normally have particular responses towards marketing objects which they evoke from their memory. Based on this theory, consumers frame attitudes with the view to summarizing large amount of information which they have regarding the marketing object.

Consumers normally store their initial response to the external stimuli in memory, then form an attitude and would often recall it whenever they are encouraged by advertisers, marketers and researchers. Therefore, attitude can be formed via two processing modes that include associative model and deliberative models. Associative or spontaneous models hold that attitudes depend on affective factors while rule-based or deliberative models is of the view that attitudes depend on the kind of cognitive thoughts that are stored in consumers' memory (Argyriou & Melewar, 2011). Contemporary functional theory appears to support associative modeling for retrieving attitude, particularly, in regard to attitude being an association which is stored in the memory between a certain object and consumer's assessment of this particular object.  In this regard, attitudes that are formed from close experiences often tend to be more strongly related with the behavior as opposed to attitudes that are formed from indirect experiences.

Based on the review of different scholar's deliberations and conceptualization of their viewpoints concerning consumer attitude in marketing, scholars of this reading material found that attitudes entail the aspect of evaluative decisions measured through classification on a range involving many feature dimensions, but their formation often emanate from qualitatively diverse processes.It is therefore paramount for marketers to try and understand the concept of attitude which involves the lasting state of mine to be able to differentiate contextual assessments from stronger earlier established object-related relationships that have been stored in consumers' memory. In this review, the scholars also established that objected-related relationships often entail rational and affective components (Argyriou & Melewar, 2011). Moreover, the difference between emotion and attitude was also made clear in the sense that the former is likely to occur automatically in the absentia of cognitive processes while the latter requires a little bit involvement of cognitive processes such as appraisal to occur because appraisal can be heuristic or automatic. In this respect, this review found that different point of view regarding the formation of attitude as held by different researchers hardly implies contrasting viewpoints, instead they are supplementary in the sense that they lead to further integrated theories of attitude.

Moreover, based on this reading material, it is important for marketing researchers to recognize the prevailing processes that are fundamental to the attitude formation process in diverse situations.  Whether constructive or functional, attitudes will continue to reflect consumers' evaluative position regarding marketing object, which is based on both the affective and thought processes. In this respect, the reading material concludes that the contemporary constructive and functional as well as the dual-cognition theories are set to continue dominating the area of attitude studies and as the technology continues to advance, it will aid scholars to shed more light on areas of human cognition that are yet to be explored. Moreover, the reading material recommends future researchers in this area to concentrate on specifying conditions under which the measurement of attitudes occurs as well as the involved variables with the view to enhancing the inference of factual attitude formation process.

Selected School Of Thought That Answers the Research Question

The research questions that this review seeks to answer are whether it is true that attitude is correlated to the object relationship which is stored and remembered from consumers' memory whenever need arises or not and also whether attitude is cognitive in the sense that it's about thoughts and beliefs that are related to a particular or it is affective in that it depends on emotions and feelings. In this respect, functional theory of attitude is the best school of thought in this regard, which can help to address these research questions effectively.  Functional theory of attitude which was developed by Daniel Katz provides a good explanation regarding the functional motives of attitudes such as the utilitarian function, the value-expressive function, the knowledge function and the ego-defensive function to consumers (Soomro, Hameed & Hameed, 2012). According to Katz, each one of the aforementioned functions of attitude tries to provide an explanation regarding the purpose and source that a certain attitude can have to the consumer. Therefore, one of the fundamental steps toward altering consumers' attitude is by trying to comprehend the purpose of consumers' attitude and that is why functional theory of attitude has been selected as the ideal school of thought which can aid address the aforementioned research questions.

Functions of Attitudes According To Functional Theory of Attitude

Based on the functional theory of attitude, there are four probable functions of attitudes that aid marketing researchers to explain the purpose and source of a certain attitude to the consumer (Soomro, Hameed & Hameed, 2012). These functions include: the utilitarian, the value-expressive, the ego-defensive and the knowledge function.

Utilitarian Function

According to the functional theory of attitude, this function of attitude is based on the utilitarianism ethical theory where by consumers make decisions on the basis of producing the greatest amount of happiness (Soomro, Hameed & Hameed, 2012). Therefore, the attitude of consumers often depends on the usefulness their decision especially when it revolves around the degree of pleasure or pain.

The Value-Expressive Functions

Based on the functional theory of attitude, this function is used whenever customers are basing their attitudes about a certain object on central values or self-concept. According to Soomro, Hameed & Hameed (2012), the reflection or association that an object has on the customer prompts him/her to embrace the value expressive function. In this regard, this function is often employed whenever consumers accept an object which can be a product, brand, service or price with the view to influencing their social identity.

The Ego-Defensive Function

When individuals feel that using a particular product or service is likely to compromise their personality, this function becomes noticeable (Soomro, Hameed & Hameed, 2012).

Similarly, the ego-defensive attitude is very hard to alter once it has been formed as such is a way that people deny their own upsetting objects. In this regard, company marketers need to be very carefully when structuring marketing messages to consumers who exhibit such attitudes that are based on this function.

The Knowledge Function

According to the functional theory of attitude, the knowledge function is obvious in people who are extremely carefully regarding the aspect of providing and organizing structure concerning their opinion or attitude of a certain object (Ioana-Daniela et al., 2018). In this regard, attitude formed on the basis of knowledge can be altered by marketers by employing real-world statistics or fact-based comparison in their marketing messages. In this respect, irrelevant and vague marketing campaigns can hardly change consumers' attitude formed on the basis of the knowledge function of attitude. According to Ioana-Daniela et al. (2018), the most common marketing campaigns are those that appear to appeal to the behavior of consumers based on the utilitarian and value-expressive functions. In this case, the utilitarian marketing campaigns seek pass across a message concerning the kind of benefits consumers stand to benefit for using certain product or services. According to Soomro, Hameed & Hameed (2012), marketing campaigns targeting customers with value-expressive attitudes will characteristically comprise of an image strategy and product symbolism.

According to the study conducted by Ioana-Daniela et al. (2018) regarding consumers' attitude toward luxury cruise, fantasy, and willingness to pay a price premium, the scholars employed functional theory of attitudes to examine the structural associations among the value­ expressive, social-adjustive, utilitarian and hedonic functions of attitudes, delusion and readiness of customers to pay a premium.  The scholars used an online survey to collect data from the Americans and the results of the research proved the fact that the all the four functions of attitude according to the functional theory of attitudes depicted a significant positive influence on fantasy. According to Ioana-Daniela et al. (2018), fantasy depicted a significant positive influence on the customers' readiness to pay premium and the association between fantasy and value-expressive function was moderated by the sensory innovativeness while the association between willingness and fantasy was moderated by maximization of the benefit. Fantasy emanates from the perceptional features of an individual's intrinsic desires, wishes and needs, as such as it is kind of defense mechanism for conflict resolution and fulfillment of an individual wishes.

Moreover, Ioana-Daniela et al. (2018) study utilized the fantasy concept as being pivotal mediator of the association between the aforementioned functions of attitudes and consumers' willness to pay a premium. On the other hand, concepts of maximization and sensory innovativeness were also key moderators in the associations between willingness to pay premium and fantasy albeit in the context of luxury cruise (Ioana-Daniela et al., 2018). According to Ioana-Daniela et al. (2018), fantasy can be used by marketers as source of authentic product experience to alter consumer attitude towards that particular product. The study by Vainikka (2015) regarding the psychological factors that influence the behavior of consumer also uses makes use of the functional theory of attitude to understand different aspects that significantly influence the behavior of consumers. Vainikka's study focuses on the "how "and "why" questions in regard to customers' purchasing decision making behavior. To comprehend the rationale behind the fundamental purchasing decision making processes and how company marketers can understand well the way individuals behave and think, Vainikka (2015) applies different models and theories, and key among them is the functional theory of attitude.

According to Vainikka (2015), functional theory of attitude plays an instrumental role in describing the way consumer attitudes facilitate their social behavior. Based on this theory, the existence of attitude is meant to serve a particular function for every individual as such, individuals' attitudes is often influenced by their motives.

The study by Vainikka (2015) also underscores the significance of the four functions of attitude as provided by psychologist Katz Daniel in the theory of functional theory of attitude, in the sense that they provide an important description of the different ways that consumer attitudes serve several functions in the society that is driven by consumers. According to Vainikka (2015), it is the responsibility of markers to develop strategies that can alter consumers' attitude in a manner that hardly results in ethical or social damage. ABC model in this case is very instrumental in altering consumer attitudes because it entails affective, behavioral and cognitive elements that are very instrumental in the formation of consumer attitude (Vainikka, 2015). The study provides four vital strategies that marketers can use to change the cognitive structure of consumers' attitudes and they include changing beliefs, shifting importance, adding beliefs and changing ideal to naturally alter consumer attitudes towards a particular product or service.

According to Soomro, Hameed & Hameed (2012), the main objective of any business is to influence consumers to purchase their products or services without directly altering their behavior and beliefs, an aspect that can be effectively achieved by making alterations to the emotional element of consumers' attitude.

A study conducted by Soomro, Hameed & Hameed (2012) also provides a good insight regarding the significance of functional approach in a bid to comprehend consumer behavior. The study seeks to explore the existing association between ego defensive, utilitarian, value expressive and knowledge functions regarding consumer attitude and as a result on the aspect of selecting coffee parlor by customers. The researchers in this study employed a structured questionnaire which was designed on the Fishbein model to collect data and utilized regression model to determine the effect of the function of attitude on their choice of coffee parlor.

According to Stankovic, Djukic & Popovic (2012), the existence of attitude is meant to serve some vital function for the consumer in the sense that they are based on an individual's motive.

Moreover, the findings of the study by Soomro, Hameed & Hameed (2012) are in line with the viewpoint of Daniel Katz in his functional theory of attitude in the sense that consumers often form attitudes when they anticipate dealing with same information at near future. The application of the functional theory of attitude in this study depicted a positive correlation between all the functions of attitude and the consumers' decision to select a coffee parlor (Soomro, Hameed & Hameed, 2012). In the case of utilitarian function, this study established that the functional attributes of the coffee parlor coupled with its tangible benefits that consumers stand draw from a coffee parlor significantly influence consumer's decision making process regarding the choice of a parlor shop.

Strategies of Changing Consumer Attitude

According to Vainikka (2015), alteration approaches can include classical conditioning, mere exposure or affect towards a website/ad, where classical conditioning entails an aspect of stimulus evoking the response which was previously evoked by a different stimulus. In this respect, brands can create marketing campaigns that contain catchy songs in the sense that whenever consumers get to hear those songs playing, they would automatically associate them with particular products or brands (Makanyeza, Macheyo & du Tait, 2015). Aff ective element of the consumer attitude can be modified by website ads and other advertisements by enhancing positive responses, an aspect referred to as affect toward a website or Ad, considering the fact that websites play a vital role in drawing in consumers by using methods as celebrity appeal, humor, sensory content or invigorating design.

Mere exposure on the hand entails the aspect of bombarding customers with marketing contents with the view to altering their attitudes towards a particular product or brand. According to Stankovic, Djukic & Popovic (2012), altering consumers' behavioral element of consumer attitude is stated in the ABC model and it involves the tendency of an individual to respond in a particular manner to a product or an activity. Based on the findings of Vainikka' study, buying behavior forms first before affective and cognitive components are developed and therefore altering consumer behavior before changing the cognitive and affective elements is based on the operant conditioning.

Reference

• Argyriou, E., & Melewar, T. (2011). Consumer Attitudes Revisited: A Review of Attitude Theory in Marketing Research. International Journal Of Management Reviews, 13( 4), 431-451. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00299.x
• Ioana-Daniela, S., Lee, K.-H., Kirn, I., Kang, S., & Hyun, S. S. (2018). Attitude toward luxury cruise, fantasy, and willingness to pay a price premium. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 23(4), 325-343. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2018.1433699
• Makanyeza, C., Macheyo, R., & du Tait, F. (2015). Perceived product necessity, perceived value, customer satisfaction and affective attitude: an integrative model. Journal Of African Business, 17(1), 69-86.  doi:  10.1080/15228916.2016.1112709
• Soornro, Y. A., Harneed, I., & Harneed, I. (2012). A Functional Approach To Understand Consumer Behavior While Selecting Coffee Parlor, American Journal of Scientific Research, 80, 138-148.
• Stankovic, L., Djukic, S., & Popovic, A. (2012). Research of consumer motives and attitudes about tourist destinations. Marketing, 43(2), 104-112. doi: 10.5937/rnarkt1202104s
• Vainikka, B. (2015). Psychological Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour. Bachelor’s Thesis, Centria University of Applied Sciences, Kokkola.