 Welcome learners, I am Dr. Smitish Ghasothri from Krishna Kanto Handic State Open University. Today we are going to discuss Unit 6 of the course Consumer Behavior, which is a marketing specialization course and the title of this unit is Consumer Attitudes. So after going through this unit, you will be able to define consumer attitude. Then I will discuss about the functions of attitude. And then we will outline the structural models of consumer attitude and describe how attitude changes. The later two points that is structural model and the attitude change that I will be discussing in my second video lecture. So in this video lecture, I will be discussing what is consumer attitude and different functions of consumer attitude. So first we should know what is consumer attitude? Those are an expression of inner feelings that reflect whether a person is favorably or unfavorably predisposed to some object. So there are an outcome of psychological process and hence are not observable, but must be inferred from what people say or what they do. Consumer attitude as an element of learning plays a pivotal role in understanding consumer behavior. So different authors have defined consumer attitude in different ways. Attitudes reflect how one feels about something. Consumer attitude may be defined as a feeling of favorableness or unfavorableness that an individual has towards an object. As we all know that an individual with a positive attitude is more likely to buy a product and these results in the possibility of liking or disliking of the product. So when we like a product, definitely we have positive attitude towards the product and we go and purchase the product. But if we have negative attitude towards a product, then it is very difficult for the marketer to change our attitude. Cuts D defines attitude is the predisposition of the individual to evaluate some symbols or aspects of his work in a favorable or unfavorable manner. According to Moon, attitudes are learned sensitivity towards aspects of our environment. They may be positively or negatively directed towards certain people, service or institutions. So attitude can be defined as a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some objects, persons or events. Now we will discuss different elements of consumer attitude. Basically there are three elements of consumer attitude. Those are your belief, feelings and behavioral intentions towards some object. In the context of marketing, usually a brand or retail store we consider as behavioral intentions. So these components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together represent forces that influence how the consumer will react to the object. So now we will discuss this component in details. First we will discuss about the belief. So belief plays a vital role in consumer because it can be either positively or negatively we have beliefs towards an object. For example some may say like tea is good and again some may say like having tea for many times it is harmful for our health. So it is our belief whether to believe like tea is good or whether not to believe like tea is good. So human beliefs are not accurate and can change according to situations. And second component is feelings. So consumer have certain specific feelings towards some products or brands. Sometimes these feelings are based on certain beliefs and sometimes they are not. Then the third component is our behavioral intention. So behavioral intention shows that plants of consumers with respect to the products. This is sometimes a logical result of belief or feelings but not always. Suppose for example an individual might not like a particular restaurant but he or she may visit it because their friends like to visit that restaurant. So it is our behavioral intentions generally it is influenced by our beliefs and feelings. Now we will go to formation of attitude. So attitudes are not inherited. These are acquired or learned by the people from the environment in which they interact. The formation of attitude is broadly classified into two sources. One is your direct experience and another one is your social learning. From direct experience once direct experience with an object or person serves as a powerful source for once attitude formation. In other words we can say like attitudes are formed on the basis of one's past experience in concerned object or person. So and research shows that this kind of attitude derived from the direct experience are more powerful, stronger and durable and difficult to change. Because when we are directly exposed to something we have got the experience whether this product is good or bad. From that experience if the attitude forms it is basically logical attitude and these attitudes are difficult to change. Then another ways of forming attitude is your social learning. The process of deriving attitudes from family, peer group, religious organization and culture the all these components combining we called as social learning. In social learning an individual acquires attitude from his or her environment in an indirect manner like whatever our family member is doing or whatever our peer group is doing from that also we form some kind of attitude. Then there are some other factors also which influences in formation of attitude. Suppose for example culture. Individuals also acquire much of their attitudes by merely observing their role models whom they admire and respect. Added to this is the culture that also influences in our formation of attitude. Suppose for example Indian culture is different from Western culture. So the attitude formation of Indian people are different from the type of attitude formation towards certain objects for the Western people. Then social class like upper class, middle class, lower class all these are different types of social class. So the social groups or membership of groups to which an individual belongs are the social classes that influences him or her. In the social class we usually find people with similar values, lifestyle and behavior. Now a marketer or a researcher needs to pay attention to this particular social class because the buying behavior of people in a particular social class to some extent is similar though the level of influence may be low or high. But he can tailor his marketing activities according to different social classes. In general if we observe like advertisements where sometimes focus to a particular social class of people. So this kind of social class also influences in formation of our attitude. Then another factor is our family. Like the family is responsible for shaping up the personality of an individual. Our attitude, perception and values are inculcated through our family. An individual tends to have similar buying behaviors and similar taste and preferences and consumption patterns and he gets to see within the family. Then social status as I have already said a social status of an individual usually comprises of individual's attitude, class and prestige. So it depends on the way he carries himself socially or the position at which he is at work or his family or even in his group of friends. So all these factors influences in the formation of attitude. Now we will discuss the consumer buying process. Like how the buying process starts and how the actual purchase takes place. So there are different stages of consumer buying process. The first one is your initiator. Initiator is usually the person who comes up with an idea and suggests the purchase. Suppose for example in a house, suppose maybe the daughter or son of that family they suggest like we need a car. So that is the initiator. Then influencer, influencer is the person who pushes for the purchase. He highlights the benefits of the product. This individual can be from the family or friend or outside of the group also. Suppose if the person's friend or peer group in office, somebody influences like buy this brand of car or maybe neighbor influences like buy that brand of car. That person will be the influencer, then decision maker. Ultimately whoever will buy, whoever has the purchasing power that means money whoever has that one will take major decision in buying the product. So before buying he or she will analyze the product, its pros, cons. Then he may not necessarily feel like okay we will buy or maybe he or she will feel like okay we will buy the product. And the buyer, ultimately the buyer is the person who finally goes and purchases the product. So this is our consumer buying process. Then we will go to the functions of attitude. So attitudes are like there are different functions. First we will go to the adjustment function. Attitude helps people to adjust to different situations and circumstances. Then second one is ego-defensive function. Attitudes are formed to protect the ego. We all are bothered about our self-esteem and image. So the product boosting our ego is the target of such kind of attitude. Then value expression function. Attitudes usually represent the values of the individual possesses. We gain values through our upbringing and training. So our value system encourages or discourages us to buy certain products. For example our value system may be allow or disallow us to purchase a cigarette, alcohol, drugs, etc. So based on our value expression functions our attitude, it influenced by our attitudes. Then knowledge function. Individuals continuously seek knowledge and information. When an individual gets information about the product he creates and modifies his attitudes towards that particular product. So we have come to the end of this first video lecture. In this video lecture we have discussed about attitudes. Like attitudes can be defined as a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some objects, persons or events. It can be positive or negative. Then consumer attitudes are composites of consumers' belief, feelings and behavioural intentions towards some object. The formation of attitudes is broadly classified into two sources. One is your direct experience and another one is your true social learning. Thank you.