90 CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDINGBUYERBEHAVIOR
experienceandrelymoreonpersonalobservationtosecureinformation;thus,in-storepro-
motionwouldbecomeanimportantcommunicationtool.Knowingthebasicpersonality
traitsoftargetcustomerscanbeusefulinformationforthemanagerindesigningthemar-
ketingmix.Marketershave,however,foundpersonalitytobedifficulttoapplyindevel-
opingmarketingstrategy.Theprimaryreasonforthisisthelackofgoodways tomeasure
personalitytraits.Mostavailablemeasuresweredevelopedtoidentifypeoplewithprob-
lemsthatneededmedicalattention.Thesehavelittlevaluewithconsumerswhoaremen-
tallyhealthy.Asa result,mostmarketershaveturnedtolifestyleanalysis.
Lifestyle Oneofthenewerandincreasin glyimportantsetoffactorsthatisbeing
usedtounderstandconsumerbehavioris lifestyle.Lifestylehasbeengenerallydefinedas
theattitudes,interests,andopinionsofthepotentialcustomer.Suchvariablesasinterestin
hunting,attitudetowardtheroleofwomeninsociety,andopinionontheimportanceof
dressingwellcanbeusedtobetterunderstandthemarketanditsbehavior.
Itisthemultifacetedaspectoflifestyleresearchthatmakesitsousefulinconsumer
analysis.Aprominentlifestyleresearcher,JosephT.Plummer,summarizes theconceptas
follows:
...lifestylepatterns,combinesthevirtuesojdemographicswiththerichnessand
dimensionalityojpsychologicalcharacteristics....Lifestyleis usedtosegmentthe
marketplacebecauseit provides thebroad,everydayviewojco nsumerslifestyleseg-
mentationandcangenerate identifiablewholepersonsratherthanisolatedjragments.^8
Auseful applicationofthelifestyleconceptrela testoconsumer'sshoppingorienta-
tion.Differentcustomersapproachshoppinginverydifferentways.Theyhavedifferent
attitudesandopinionsaboutshoppinganddifferentlevelsofinterestinshopping.Oncepeo-
pleknowtheiralternatives,howdotheyevaluateandchooseamongthem?Inparticular,
howdopeoplechooseamongbrandsofa product?Currentdescriptionofthisprocessempha-
sizestheroleofattitudes.Anattitudeisan opinionofa person,idea,place,orthing.Atti-
tudesrangebasedona continuumfromverynegativetoverypositive.Traditionally,anattitude
is brokendownintothreecomponents: cognitive,affective,andbehavioral.Thatis,anatti-
tudeisfirstwhatweknow/believe,followedbywhatwefeel,andendingwithanaction.
Thus,wehavelearnedthata particularcompanyhasbeenpollutinga localriver;wefeel
verystronglythatbusinessshouldn'tdothisandfeelveryangry;andweboycotttheprod-
uctmade.bythatcompany.
Agreatdealofmarketingstrategyisbasedontheideathatthecognitive,affective,
andbehavioralcomponentsofanattitudetendtobeconsistent.Thus,ifit ispossibleto
changewhatpeoplebelieveaboutYamahaCDplayers,theirfeelingsandtheiractionsmay
eventuallychangeaswell. However,thisrelationshipamongthethreecomponentsofan
attitudeseemstobesituation-orevenproduct-specific.Forexample,attitudestendtopre-
dictbehaviorbetterinhigh-involvementdecisions.Thus,ifsomeonehasa strongattitude
aboutwearingstylishclothes,thenit is possi bletopredictthatthepersonwillrestrictpur-
chasestoa particularsetofbrands.Furthermore,wedonotreacttoproductsinis olation.
Thesituation,orourattitudetowardthesituation,playsanimportantroleinhowwellatti-
tudes predictbehavior.Forexample,assumethataconsumerlikespizzabutdoesn' t like
PizzaInnpizza.Ina social settingwhereeveryonewantstogotoPizzaInnforpizza,this
personmighteatthisbrandratherthannothavepizzaatall.
Despitelimitations onthepredictive powerofattitudes, attitudescan helpus
understandhowchoicesaremade.However,weneedtocarefullyassessthevalidityofthe
attitude-behaviorrelationshipsforeachsituationandproduct.
