Page 107 - DMGT506_CONSUMER_BEHAVIOUR

Consumer Behaviour

Notes where,
I = Consumer’s ideal level of performance on attribute I
i

Example: An example will help illustrate the application.
Let us assume that the perceptions of a consumer segment about Diet Pepsi have the following
levels of performance (Ps) and desired performance levels (the Is) on four attributes:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Sweet taste __ I __ __ __ P __ Bitter taste
Low calories IP __ __ __ __ __ __ High calories
High status __ __ I __ P __ __ Low status

Low price __ __ I P __ __ __ High price
This consumer segment believes (the Ps) that Diet Pepsi is very bitter, very low in calories,
moderate in status and average priced. Their ideal soft drink (the Is) would be very sweet, very
low in calories, somewhat high in status and average priced. All attributes are not equally
important to consumers and hence they are assigned weights based on relative importance that
a segment of consumers attaches to each attribute.
A frequently used approach of measuring weights is with a 100-point constant-sum scale. The
importance weight shown below expresses the relative importance of four soft drink attributes
and adds up to a total of 100.
Attribute Importance
Taste 30

Calories 40
Status 20
Price 10
In this example, calories are considered as most important and the price as the least important.

Attitude = 30 × 4 = 120 (Taste (I – P) = 2 – 6 = 4)
Diet Pepsi
0 × 0 = 0 (Calories (I – P) = 1 – 1 = 0)
20 × 2 = 40 (Status (I – P) = 3 – 5 = 2)
10 × 1 = 10 (Price (I – P) = 3 – 4 = 1)

Total = 170
This involves determining the absolute difference between consumers’ desired soft drink
attributes and the consumers’ beliefs about Diet Pepsi’s attributes and multiplying the differences
times the importance given to each attribute. In this example, the attitude index is 170. The
attitude index is a relative measure and must be compared with segment’s attitude towards
competing brands. If diet Pepsi, with its present attributes, is believed as their ideal soft drink,
then all their beliefs and ideals will be equal and the attitude index would be zero. The closer an
attitude index is to zero, better it is.

Fishbein’s Behavioural Intentions Model

The revised Fishbein and Ajzen model focuses on an individual’s attitude towards her/his
behaving or acting with respect to an object and not the attitude towards the object itself. For

102 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY