Implicit Attitudes in Consumer Purchase Intent

Abstract

Consumer attitudes toward products may be consciously-accessible (explicit) and unconscious (implicit). It is challenging to evaluate the effects of product design on consumer attitudes, because design may exert unconscious influences on consumer attitudes. This study tested the effectiveness of two prominent measures of implicit attitudes in discriminating products of differing design qualities. The measures used were the Evaluative Movement Assessment (EMA) and priming effects of washer images in the Lexical Decision Task (LDT). Explicit liking was also assessed. Responses were assessed to four washing machines chosen to span a range of quality and style options available on the market. Findings showed that the EMA but not the LDT measure discriminated the products, as well as the responses of buyers and non-buyers. Furthermore, the EMA and explicit ratings appear to tap into different aspects of consumer attitudes. Implications for product design and evaluation are discussed.