Ambivalent and dual attitudes : attitude conflicts and their impact on decision making and behavior

This dissertation builds on two recent developments in attitude research, first the distinction made between two types of attitudes, i.e., explicit (deliberate, controlled) and implicit (unconscious, automatic) attitudes, and second, that made between two types of attitude conflicts, i.e., ambivalence (conflict between strong explicit positive and negative evaluative basis of the same attitude object) and duality (conflict between explicit and implicit attitudes). It uses the context of food for both its theoretical and empirical developments because there were reasons to expect that, in Western cultures, explicit attitudes are often ambivalent (i.e. positive on taste but negative on health dimensions), but might also be dual (e.g. for restrained eaters, resulting from the motivated overriding of positive attitudes toward tempting but forbidden food).A first study (N = 199) focuses on the differences between ambivalent and dual attitudes and the influence of these conflicts on spontaneous and deliberate behavior. Results demonstrate that holding dual and ambivalent attitudes are two different constructs, although both ambivalence and duality lead to a subjective experience of conflict. Also, attitudes are weaker when ambivalent (i.e. less accessible, less stable and held with less certainty), and duality is a moderator at high levels of ambivalence, with explicit attitudes being even less accessible but nonetheless more certain when dual. Finally, the influence of, on one hand, both implicit and explicit attitudes in driving spontaneous choice and, on the other hand, the explicit attitude in determining deliberate choice (behavioral intention as proxy) is corroborated. It also appears that the influence of the implicit attitude on spontaneous behavior is increased in presence of an attitude conflict. In a second study (N = 120), the hypothesis that the existence of dual attitudes stems from inhibitive processes is tested in the context of restrained eating, through a cognitive load manipulation. Results demonstrate that the influence of the implicit attitude on spontaneous choice is stronger for restrained eaters when cognitive capacities are impaired. The second study also highlights that implicit attitudes are stable and resistant to change despite direct experience manipulations (i.e. comparative and repeated tasting). Theoretical, methodological and practical contributions are discussed

Customer Stereotypes: Consequences on salespersons’ interpersonal orientation in Luxury settings

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Shopping orientations as antecedents to channel choice in the French grocery multichannel landscape

This paper investigates the influence of consumer shopping orientations on grocery channel attractiveness and choice. It extends the concept of shopping orientation (utilitarian and hedonic) to account for emerging motivations among French consumers: shopping in line with sustainable and ethical values. In doing so, it helps profile segments of consumers who choose to shop through new online channels (Drive through) and newly deployed store formats (city stores). A sample of 300 French customers, responsible for shopping in the household, was surveyed. Hypotheses were tested through Latent Class Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling with categorical outcomes. Our findings indicate that consumers shopping orientations influence the way consumers will combine the different channels and store formats for grocery purchase. In particular, our results highlight the importance of responsible retail practices and ethical assortments in consumers' choice of online formats whilst local product orientation influences the choice of city stores and market places