THEORY OF BALANCE IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR PDF

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Marketing applications of equilibrium theory, attitude models, multi-attribute attitude models, the fishbein model, applications of the multi-attribute model in marketing, use of attitudes to predict behavior, the extended fishbein model, intention against behavior, social pressure, attitude towards...

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THEORY OF BALANCE IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Balance theory considers the relationships between elements that a person believes belong to the same set. This perspective includes relationships (always from the subjective point of view of the one who perceives them) between three elements, so that the resulting attitude structures are called triads. Each triad contains: 1. an individual and their perceptions of 2. an object of attitude, and 3. someone else or object. These perceptions are positive or negative. Most importantly, however, people alter such perceptions so that the relationships between them are consistent. The theory specifies that people want the relationships between the elements of a triad to be harmonious or balanced. If they are not, a state of tension will occur until the person somehow changes their perceptions and restores balance. We perceive the relationship between the elements in two ways: they can have a unitary relationship, where one element is perceived as something that belongs to or is part of the other (something like a belief); or a romantic relationship, where the two elements relate because one expressed a preference (or displeasure) for the other. Think of a couple of boyfriends who have a positive romantic relationship. When they get married, they'll have a positive unit relationship. The divorce process is an attempt to dissolve a unitary relationship. To see how balance theory works, consider the following scenario: 

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Alex would like to go out with Larry, who is in his consumer behavior class. In terms of balance theory, Alex has a positive romantic relationship with Larry. One day, Larry shows up in class using an earring. Larry has a positive unitary relationship with the earring, which belongs to him and is literally part of it. Alex doesn't like men who wear earrings. She has a negative romantic relationship with men who wear earrings.

According to the theory of balance, Alex faces an unbalanced triad, and will feel pressure to restore balance by modifying some aspect of thetriad. For example, she might decide that after all she doesn't like Larry. Or, perhaps his liking for Larry, causes a change in his attitude towards earrings. She may even try to deny the unitary relationship between Larry and the earring, indicating that she may be using it as part of a fraternity initiation ritual (thus reducing the element of free choice). Finally, she might decide to "leave the ground" and not think about Larry or his controversial earring anymore. Note that while the theory does not specify which of these routes Alex will choose, it does predict that perhaps one or more of his perceptions will change to achieve a balance. Although this example is a very

simplified representation of most attitude processes, it serves to explain various phenomena of consumer behavior. APPLICATIONS IN MARKETING THE THEORY OF BALANCE Balance theory reminds us that when perceptions are balanced, attitudes tend to remain stable. On the other hand, when we observe inconsistencies, we are also more likely to see changes in attitudes. Balance theory also serves to explain why consumers like to relate to positively valued objects. Forming a unitary relationship with a popular product (e.g. buying and wearing fashionable clothing, driving an ostentatious car) can increase the chances of being included in other people's triads, such as a positive sentimental relationship. Finally, the balance theory serves to explain the wide use of celebrities for product support. When a consumer does not yet have a well-defined attitude (and therefore the triad is not yet complete), the marketer can create a positive sentimental relationship between the consumer and the product by showing a positive unitary relationship between the product and a recognized personality. In other cases, behaviors decrease when admired people argue against them, as is the case when athletes appear in drug propaganda. This "balancing act" is the basis of celebrity support, where marketers expect the popularity of stars to be transferred to the product. For now, it's worth remembering that creating a unitary relationship between a product and a star fails if the celebrity audience's opinion goes from positive to negative, as happened when Pepsi released an ad with Madonna after the singer made a controversial music video about religion and sex. The strategy can also cause problems if people question the unitary relationship between the star and the product, as happened when singer Michael Jackson, who also promoted for Pepsi, later acknowledged that he does not consume fissure drinks. Attitude models Sometimes a consumer's overall assessment of a product explains most of their attitude. When market researchers want to assess attitudes, it may be enough to ask a group of men, "What do you think of Budweiser?" However, as we saw earlier, attitudes are often much more complex than that. One problem is that a product or service can be composed of many attributes or qualities—and some of them may even be more important than others to certain people. Another problem is that an individual's decision to act on their attitude is influenced by other factors, such as whether the person feels that the purchase of a product will be approved by their friends or family. As a result, attitude models seek to specify the different elements that are combined to affect the evaluations of attitude objects. MULTI-ATTRIBUTE ATTITUDE MODELS A simple answer doesn't always reveal everything we need to know about why the consumer has certain feelings for a product or what marketers can do to change the consumer's attitude. Beliefs about the attributes of a specific brand can be

critical to a product. WarnerLambert discovered this in an investigation he conducted for his Listerine Fresh Burst mouthwash. A research company paid 37 families to allow him to place cameras in his bathrooms to observe his daily routine. Both Fresh Burst and his rival Scope users commented that they use mouthwash to prevent bad breath. However, Scope users stirred the liquid in their mouths and then spat it out; while Listerine users kept the product in their mouth for a long time (a user kept it until it got in their car and spat it in a drain two blocks later!). These findings revealed that Listerine had not changed her drug image much. Since attitudes can be complex, multi-attribute attitude models have been extremely popular with market researchers. This type of model considers that a consumer's attitude (assessment) toward an object of their attitude (OA) depends on their beliefs about several or many attributes of the object. Using a multiattribute model implies that identifying these specific beliefs, and combining them to get a measure of the overall attitude of the consumer, can predict an attitude toward a product or brand. We will describe how this works using the example of a consumer who evaluates a complex object of her attitude that you should know very well: a university. Basic multi-attribute models specify three elements. 

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Attributes are characteristics of the OA. Most models assume that we are able to identify the relevant characteristics. That is, researchers can include those attributes that consumers take into account when evaluating OA. For example, academic reputation is an attribute of a university. Beliefs are cognitions about the specific OA (usually in relation to others like it). The measure of a belief assesses the degree to which the consumer perceives that a mark has a specific attribute. For example, a student is believed that the University of North Carolina is academically outstanding. Importance weighting reflects the relative priority of an attribute for the consumer. Although people might consider an OA based on several attributes, some are often more important than others (i.e., given greater weight). Moreover, these weights are likely to differ among consumers. In the case of universities, for example, a student could place greater importance on research opportunities; as long as another may give greater weight to sports programs.

The Fishbein model The most influenced multi-attribute model is the Fishbein model, named after the person who created it. This model measures three components of attitude: 1. People's outstanding beliefs about an OA (i.e., beliefs about the object that are taken into account during the evaluation). 2. The bindings between object and attribute, or the probability that a particular object has an important attribute. 3. The evaluation of each of the important attributes.

Note, however, that the model is based on some assumptions that cannot always be guaranteed. It assumes that we have been able to adequately specify all relevant attributes that, for example, a student would use to evaluate the universities they plan to attend. The model also considers that the student will perform the entire process (formally or informally) of identifying a set of relevant attributes, which will weight and quantify them. Although this particular decision is likely to be of high involvement, it is still possible that an attitude may be formed instead from a general affective response (a process known as a reference to affection). The overall attitude score (A) is obtained by multiplying the score that the consumer assigned to each attribute for all brands that he took into account, by scoring the importance of that attribute. To learn how this basic multi-attribute model works, suppose we want to predict which college a senior in high school is likely to attend. After months of waiting, Saundra was accepted into four schools. Because she must now decide which one she will turn to, we would first need to know which attributes she will take into account to form an attitude toward each school. We would then ask Saundra to rate each school for its performance in each attribute and also determine the relative importance of attributes to her. If we add the scores of each attribute (after weighing each by their relative importance), we can calculate an overall score of the attitude towards each school. Clearly, she would like to attend a femenile university with a strong academic reputation, and not a school that offers a good sports program or a festive atmosphere. Multi-attribute model applications in marketing Suppose you're the chief marketing officer of Northland College, another of the schools Saundra was evaluating. How would you use the data in this analysis to improve your image? Take advantage of a relative advantage. If potential students perceive that a brand is superior in a specific attribute, it is necessary to convince consumers like Saundra that such an attribute is important. For example, even though Saundra assigns a high score to The Northland social environment, he believes that attribute is not a valuable aspect of a university. As Northland's marketing director, you could highlight the importance of an active social life, varied experiences, or even the development of future business contacts, created from close friendships. Strengthen the perceived relationship between product and attributes. A marketer might find that consumers don't consider their brand to have a certain attribute. This problem is usually handled through campaigns that highlight product qualities to consumers (for example, "new and improved"). Saundra doesn't seem to believe that the academic quality, sports programs, or facilities at the Northland library are very good. You could design an information campaign to improve those perceptions (for example, "little-known facts about Northland").

Add a new attribute. Product marketers often try to distinguish themselves from their competitors by adding a feature to the product. Northland College might try to emphasize some unique aspect, such as a hands-on internship program that leverages its ties to the local community for business administration students. Influence competitors' assessments. Finally, you could try to decrease the positive image of competitors. Such actions are the basis of a comparative advertising strategy. One tactic would be to run an ad that includes the tuition fees of various schools in the area, as well as the attributes northland could compare against favorably, as a basis for highlighting the value you get from spending your money on Northland. USING ATTITUDES TO PREDICT BEHAVIOR Consumer researchers have used multi-attribute models for many years; however, they have faced a major problem: In many cases, knowledge about a person's attitudes is not useful in predicting their behavior. In a classic demonstration of "do what I say, not what I do," many studies have had a very low correlation between the person's reported attitude toward something and their actual behavior toward it. Some researchers have been discouraged so much that they wonder if attitudes are of any use in understanding behavior. This dubious relationship between attitudes and behavior can become a big headache for advertisers: Consumers may like a commercial a lot, and still don't buy the product. For example, one of the most popular television commercials in recent years featured basketball player Shaquille O'Neil announcing Pepsi. Although the company spent $67 million on this commercial and similar in a single year, Pepsi-Cola sales fell nearly two percent; while sales of its archrival CocaCola increased eight percent over the same period. THE EXTENDED FISHBEIN MODEL Researchers extended the original Fishbein model, which focused on measuring a consumer's attitudes toward a product, to improve their predictive ability. The latest version is known as reasoned action theory. This model includes several important additions to the original, and while the model is not yet perfect, its ability to predict relevant behaviors has improved. Let's look at some of the modifications that have been made to this model. Intent against behavior Attitudeshave both direction and strength. A person may like or dislike an object of attitude with varying degrees of trust or conviction. It is useful to distinguish between firm and superficial attitudes, especially since the individual who has an attitude with greater conviction is more likely to act from it. For example, a study on environmental issues and marketing activities revealed that people who express greater conviction in their feelings about responsible environmental behaviors,

such as recycling, show greater consistency between attitudes and their behavioral intentions. However, as the old adage says, "the road to hell is made of good intentions." There are many factors that interfere with behavior, even if the consumer has good intentions. Someone could save with the intention of buying a stereo system; However, in the meantime several things may happen: lose the job, be assaulted on the way to the store, or arrive at the establishment and discover that there is no desired model. So we're not surprised that in some cases researchers find that pre-purchase behavior better predicts future behavior than consumer behavioral intent. Reasoned action theory seeks to measure behavioral intentions, recognizing that certain uncontrollable factors prevent the prediction of real behavior. Social pressure Theory recognizes the power of other people's influence on behavior. Many of our behaviors are not determined in a vacuum. To a large extent, even if we hate to admit it, it may be more important what we believe others want us to do than our own individual preferences. Some research methods seek to assess the extent to which people's "public" purchasing attitudes and decisions differ from what they would do in private. For example, a company uses the technique it calls "prepared theater". Researchers go to the real site where a product is consumed, such as a bar; they fix things so that the wrong product is served "by mistake", and then observe the "naked response" to the brand and the reaction when consuming the brand in a social context. In the case of Saundra's decision, it is important to note that she wishes to attend a predominantly women's university. However, if she believes her choice might be unpopular (perhaps her friends would think she's crazy), she would ignore or reduce such a preference at the time of making the decision. Researchers added a new element, the subjective standard (NS), to include the effects of what we think others think we should do. The value of the NS is obtained by including two factors: 1. the intensity of a normative belief (CN) about actions that others consider to be taken or not, and 2. motivation to please (MC) based on such a belief (i.e., the degree to which the consumer considers other people's anticipated reactions when evaluating a course of action or a purchase). Attitude towards shopping The model now measures the attitude towards buying action (Aacc), rather than just measuring the attitude towards the product. In other words, it focuses on the consequences we perceive when making a purchase. It is more valid to know how someone feels about the purchase or use of an object than mere knowledge of the consumer's assessment of the object. To understand this difference, consider a problem that might arise when measuring attitudes toward condoms. While a group of college students might have a positive attitude toward condoms, does this necessarily tell us that they will buy and use them? We could get a more accurate

prediction by asking students how likely they are to buy condoms. Even if a person has a positive OA towards condoms, Aacc could be negative because of the embarrassment or conflict involved in buying. Obstacles to predicting behavior in reasoned action theory Despite improvements to the Fishbein model, problems arise when applied incorrectly. In many cases, researchers use the model in ways for which it was not designed, or where certain assumptions about human behavior cannot be guaranteed. Other obstacles to predicting behavior include: The model was developed to handle real behavior (e.g. taking a diet pill), and not behavior results that are instead evaluated in some studies (for example, losing weight). Some results are beyond consumer control, as is the case when purchasing requires the cooperation of others. For example, a woman might want to get a mortgage, but this intention will be worthless if she is unable to find a bank that grants her credit. 

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The basic assumption that the behavior is intentional may not be valid in some cases, including those involving impulsive acts or sudden changes in the personal situation, as well as the search for news or even a simple repeated purchase. One study found that unexpected events such as visiting, changing weather, or reading articles about how healthy certain foods are, significantly influenced actual behaviors. Attitude measures often do not correspond to the behavior they are supposed to predict, either in terms of the OA or when the act will occur. A common problem is the difference in the level of abstraction used by researchers. For example, knowing a person's attitude towards sports cars may not predict whether they will buy a BMW Z4. It is very important to adapt the level of specificity between attitude and behavioral intent. A similar problem relates to the time structure of the attitude being measured. In general, the longer the time between the measurement of attitude and behavior being evaluated, the weaker the relationship. For example, the ability to predict improve significantly if we ask a consumer the likelihood that they will buy a home next week, as a difference in whether they plan to do so within the next five years. Attitudes that are formed by direct and personal experience with an OA are stronger and predict behavior better than those that form indirectly, as is the case with advertising. According to the perspective of the accessibility of attitudes, behavior is a function of the individual's immediate perceptions of the OA, in the context of the situation in which he or she finds he or she. An attitude will guide the evaluation of the object, but only if it is activated fr...