Your attitude changes everything!

Welcome again!

I hope you, my readers, had a great holiday and are set to start a new beginning as you plan to accomplish your new goals this 2015.

I’m sure many of us were enticed by the media advertising that influenced our shopping behaviour through Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year sales. Prices you just can’t say no to! 

Imagine the time taken to plan marketing strategies for the holiday in pursuit of beating competition through floor prices and not with the intent of increasing market share. 

In the long run, yes, the prices do affect loyalty, which will impact the market share but because people are in a holiday mood, businesses would leverage consumers’ ability to spend. I mean, why not make money during the season where everyone is out looking for something to gift his or her beloved one? Why not let shopaholics enjoy their demand for various products? Holidays are when consumers are most vulnerable and impulse purchase as well.  Sounds ridiculous that businesses are trying to take advantage of consumers but its true! I mean, look at this and tell me if you don't think people go crazy during Boxing Day!

Think about it. How many purchases did you make this Christmas? The answer is obviously going to be different for each and every one of you because of one major factor: attitude.

We all form different attitudes about various products and we have our reasons for it but at the same time, people can form the same attitude about a certain product and have a different reason for forming that attitude. Every consumer is unique and diverse in their own way and therefore forms tastes and preferences to specific products over competitive brands. I, for example, have purchased Apple products for years and have upgraded the iPhone every two years because of the features and accessibility it offers me as a customer. That would generally make me a loyal consumer, as I believe no other brand can provide such quality and I feel that the features of the products accommodate my needs from cloud sharing to synchronising and even software design. My roommate on the other hand has formed a stronger attitude where he believes that new versions of the device create a significant impact and because of his passion for the brand, he would literally line up the day before to pick his new gadget. I wondered why someone would be that crazy to literally get out of bed early to go and line up. Like, are you serious? So I asked my roommate and he said that the services the company offers are unique and flexible enough to allow strong users to get their problem resolved in no time.

Yeah, yeah! I know I’m ranting about how awesome Apple is and all you Android users are aggravated. But it’s just how I feel about the brand. Something I found quite interesting is that people I know who have never used an Apple product just don’t like Apple and their users because of the attitude and loyalty they form towards a specific brand. I learnt about how there are hierarchies when making a purchase-decision using attitude as a factor. It consists of Affect (how you feel about an attitude object), Behaviour (the person’s intention of the attitude object) and Cognition (beliefs of an attitude object). Now when I purchased the iPhone 6, I had already developed the belief that the phone was reliable and suited my needs and therefore made a purchase decision. But when I already bought the phone and began using it, I realised that the iPhone 6Plus was more ideal than the iPhone 6 itself and this affected that way I felt towards the specific phone. Some can agree with me and others have a different opinion. New users however, could buy the product (behaviour) and then when they use the phone, they will form an opinion about how they feel about the product (affect) and then form an attitude towards the product by expressing their beliefs about their experience (cognition). There are several ways in which people could form an attitude towards something and they will have their reason for it.

Advertising also helps us form an attitude towards a product; good or bad. We often judge the aesthetics of a product then form an attitude. Its funny how the mind plays with us. Say if I hadn’t formed a bad attitude towards the iPhone 6Plus and if I hadn’t been excited to purchase the iPhone 6, I wouldn’t have experienced what businesses call post-purchase dissonance. Making a decision after learning about the product rather than focusing on aesthetics, I would’ve made a totally different product choice. The social environment around me that is my friends also had a significant influence in my attitude towards the iPhone 6 Plus. It’s funny how so many other factors can change your attitude towards a product and consumers are influenced everyday through experience, their social circles, the internet and even the television.

What are the attitude commitments?
The highest level is Internalisation: the fact that I choose only to buy an iPhone and no other phone ever shows my commitment to the product and that my attitude is positively responsive to Apple products only.
The mid level is Identification: The first time the iPhone ever came out in 2007, it was the first fully integrated touch screen phone and I purchased it to conform to my group of friends. That is the attitude I had earlier.
The lowest level is Compliance: Attitude here is based on punishment or rewards. I would go to Psychology class even though I hated it because I got bonus marks for attendance.

Every product that you buy, I believe has a different level of attitude based on the level of involvement and interest. 

Have you ever changed your attitude towards something that was important to you?