Internal Influences: Knowledge and Attitudes


Knowledge is the sum of all information known by a person. It is the facts of the world as she/he knows it and the depth of knowledge is a function of the breadth of worldly experiences and the strength of an individual’s long-term memory. Obviously, what exists as knowledge to an individual depends on how an individual’s perceptual filter makes sense of the information it is exposed to.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers may conduct research that will gauge consumers’ level of knowledge regarding their product. As we will see below, it is likely that other factors influencing consumer behavior are in large part shaped by what is known about a product. Thus, developing methods (e.g., incentives for watching a product video) to encourage consumers to accept more information (or correct information) may affect other influencing factors.


In simple terms, attitude refers to what a person feels or believes about something. Additionally, attitude may be reflected in how an individual acts based on his or her beliefs. Once formed, attitudes can be very difficult to change. Thus, if a consumer has a negative attitude toward a particular issue it will take considerable effort to change what they believe to be true.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers facing consumers who have a negative attitude toward their product must work to identify the key issues shaping a consumer’s attitude then adjust marketing decisions (e.g., advertising) in an effort to change the attitude. For companies competing against strong rivals to whom loyal consumers exhibit a positive attitude, an important strategy is to work to see why consumers feel positive toward the competitor and then try to meet or beat the competitor on these issues. Alternatively, a company can try to locate customers who feel negatively toward the competitor and then target its efforts to this group.