APTITUDE MEASUREMENT AND SCALING

Attitudes are learned predispositions to act in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner towards a given object (for instance, brand, company, technology, retailers, product or celebrity).  An attitude is a person’s liking or disliking towards a given object, and the reasons thereof. 

Attitudes towards objects are dynamic and are learned over a period of time and each encounter of the consumer with the object either reinforces the existing attitude or forces him to re-evaluate it. 

Consumers form attitudes about objects related to consumption for several reasons:
 

1. They simplify complex subjects. 
2. They protect self-esteem. 
3. They help us adjust to the world. 
4. They allow us to express fundamental values.

Three main sources of attitudes are: 

A)Direct experience with the objects and situations. 
 B)Learning from others through explicit and implicit means , 
C) Personality development. 

ATTITUDES AS EVALUATIONS :

 Attitudes, therefore, are the evaluations of objects – people, places, brands, products, organizations and so on.  Consumers evaluate in terms of their goodness, likeability or desirability.  It is easy to measure attitudes by getting consumers to rte statements such as: 

• Please check how you feel about ABC Bank:
• I dislike ABC bank very much * * * * I like it very much.
• Towards, ABC Bank, I feel unfavorably * * * * I feel favorably.
• My opinion about ABC Bank is: Negative * * * * Positive. 

Attitudes are held by consumers both in household and business markets.  In household markets, many customers hold an attitude towards salesperson in general, and about specific companies.  In business markets, business customers hold attitudes about their suppliers – both towards a class of vendors and toward specific vendors.  For instance, a business customer might hold an unfavorable attitude towards off-shore companies or towards vendors as a group. 

ATTITUDES SCALING :

 Attitudes are widely believed to be a key determinant of behavior, although some authors suggest that behavior can also lead to changed attitudes.  For instance, when a person with a mildly positive attitude towards Apple computers buys an Apple computer, his or her attitude may become much more positive following the purchase, perhaps to justify the purchase.  In any event, firms and institutions are constantly interested in the attitudes of various constituencies. For example, General Motors may be interested in the attitudes of consumers toward its automobile, the attitudes of employees toward its working environment and the attitudes of shareholders toward its business performance.  United Way may want to assess the public’s attitude toward charitable organization in general and toward United Way in particular.  How can General Motor, United Way and other organizations measure the attitudes of relevant constituencies?  A variety of methods are available for this purpose.  Before we discuss the methods, however we should point out that attitude measurement as a whole in indirect.  In other words, attitudes can only be inferred and cannot be directly ascertained.

•  Measures in which inferences are draw from self-reports of beliefs, feelings, behavior, and so forth towards an object or class of objects. 
•  Measures in which inferences are drawn from observed overt behavior toward the object.  
• Measures, in which inferences are drawn from the individual’s reaction to, or interpretations of, partially structured material relevant to the object. 
• Measures I which inferences are drawn from performance on objective tasks where functioning may be influenced by disposition towards the object. 
• Measures in which inferences are drawn from physiological reactions to the object.