Factors Influencing the Pre-Purchase Attitude of Consumers: A Study

Consumer attitude refers to the enduring evaluation of an object of consumption, issue, person or an act. Attitudes guide one’s thoughts, influence feelings and affect behaviors. Change in the behavioral pattern of consumers over the years has been due to several factors, and can best be described by consumer acculturation. Consumers use attitudes as a frame of reference to judge new information/objects. Ultimately, consumer attitudes which are learned and stored in memory play a crucial role in purchase decision making. A brief review of the attitude and behavior nexus conditioned by the consumer-related factors, social factors and the intervening situational factors are discussed herein, combining the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), based on a attitude-focused study on Microwave Oven (MWO). Consumer attitude has gained larger importance today in the modern marketing segmentation strategies, targeting and product positioning, which can be appreciated from the consumer-centric approach of all marketers today.