You can harvest more sales through understanding consumer attitudes

IN the previous articles we discussed broadly the importance of understanding your consumer perception, motivation, and personality.

In this week’s article, we are delving into a discussion on the importance of comprehending your consumer attitudes.

Simply put, attitude refers to a feeling of favourableness or unfavourableness that your consumer has towards an object.

The object in this instance could be your product, your brand, the atmosphere in your shop, or anything to do with your business that your consumer interacts with.

Generally, attitude is influenced by social factors, which include family and peers, direct experiences, and exposure to mass media. Think for a second about the type of bread you buy. Is it white or brown or is it a seed loaf or any other fancy bread?

How did you get to choose it, the first time you did? Could it be that someone or a group of people told you it’s healthier or tastier? – most likely. Let’s be honest, there are some products you don’t buy or shops you don’t buy from because of the unfavourable views they have from you and your social circle.

A conservative Christian (take note of the keyword-conservative), for example, probably wouldn’t buy an alcoholic beverage or spend time in a club because it’s probably unfavourable to them and their social circle. At the same time, there are some brands we buy because mass media told us they are the best or they are classy.

In essence, attitude plays an extremely significant role in consumer decision making. Direct experience cannot be downplayed in this instance, if the consumer had a negative experience with your product, they’ll probably have unfavourable feelings towards it.

Imagine buying a rotten sandwich from a shop, you’d probably never buy from that shop ever again and inform others of your experience thereafter. That’s the power of attitude.

So, what does this mean for the entrepreneur or manager in pursuit of sales excellence? Well, it goes back to the requirement of knowing your customer intimately. It would help a great deal to know what is favourable to your consumers, and what’s not.

Of course, you would need to avoid the unfavourable and accentuate the favourable, to create an environment where sales can be generated.

To elaborate on the science of consumer attitude; consumer attitude is a result of beliefs and feelings. Attitude, thereafter, affects behavioural intentions and ultimately buying behaviour. In short, consumers’ attitude towards your business determines whether they’ll buy from you or not, how often they’ll buy and how long they’ll keep buying from yo

What consumers believe, as already mentioned, emanates from their social circles, direct experience and influence from mass media. It is crucial to carry out research to ascertain the feelings and beliefs your consumers have on the various aspects of your company.

Findings from the research will enable you to make more profitable decisions. You would probably address the negative experiences the consumers may have had with you, thus making their attitude towards your business more favourable.

You would know what to stock, where to locate your shop, and how to lay out your shop as informed by the beliefs and feelings of your consumers. Understanding consumer attitude is key to business success as it has a bearing on consumer decision making.

Mrs. Michelle N. Ndiweni holds a Master of Science Degree in Marketing and is a Lecturer at a local University in Zimbabwe. She is a Marketing Consultant, Researcher and Trainer and may be contacted on the following profile on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-ndiweni-29015176/-chronicle.c.zw