Summary Consumer Behavior - Hoyer, MacInnis, Pieters - Chapter 1-10 17 | 7th edition[211581]2023

It is important for consumer researchers to understand the nature and power of attitudes. - -An attitude is a predisposition to evaluate an object or product positively or negatively. We form attitudes toward products and services, and these attitudes often determine whether we will purchase or not. Three components make up an attitude: beliefs, affect, and behavioral intentions. Attitude researchers traditionally assumed that we learn attitudes in a fixed sequence: First we form beliefs (cognitions) about an attitude object, then we evaluate that object (affect), and then we take some action (behavior). Depending on the consumer's level of involvement and the circumstances, though, his attitudes can result from other hierarchies of effects as well. A key to attitude formation is the function the attitude holds for the consumer (e.g., is it utilitarian or ego defensive?).