According to the tricomponent attitude model, attitude consists of three major components, viz., a cognitive component, an affective component, and a conative component.
- The Cognitive component: The cognitive component consists of a person’s cognitions, i.e., knowledge and perceptions (about an object). This knowledge and resulting perceptions commonly take the form of beliefs, images, and long-term memories. A utility function representing the weighted product of attributes and criteria would be used to develop the final ranking and thus choice. This model represents the process used by individuals with a strong Thinking Cognitive Style.
- The Affective component: The affective component of an attitude comprises of the consumers emotions or feelings (toward an object). These emotions or feelings are frequently treated by consumer researchers as primarily evaluative in nature; i.e., they capture an individual’s direct or global assessment of the attitude-object, which might be positive, negative, or mixed reaction consisting of our feelings about an object. Buying of any product or service would be accomplished on the basis of how each product/service makes the decision maker feel. The product that evokes the greatest positive (pleasurable) affective response would thus be ranked first. The affective response may be derived through association (i.e, category attributes) or directly attributed to the interaction between the product or service and the decision maker. It is believed that the manner in which the product/service affirms or disaffirms the self concept of the decision maker has a strong impact to the decision maker’s affect response to the candidate. This model represents the process used by individuals with a strong Feeling Cognitive Style. Ordering of the three job candidates would be accomplished on the basis of how each candidate makes the decision maker feel. The candidate that evokes the greatest positive (pleasurable) affective response would thus be ranked first. The affective response may be derived through association (i.e, category attributes) or directly attributed to the interaction between the candidate and the decision maker. It is believed that the manner in which the candidate affirms or disaffirms the self concept of the decision maker has a strong impact to the decision maker’s affect response to the candidate.
- The Conative component: The conative component is concerned with the likelihood or tendency of certain behavior with regard to the attitude object. It would also mean the predisposition or tendency to act in a certain manner toward an object.
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