Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour - Assignment Example Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Fishbein and Ajzen’s (1980) Theory of Reasoned Action 3 2.1 Overview of Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory 3 2.2 Critical analysis and evaluation of Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory 5 3. Evaluation of Change 4 Life campaign – use of Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory in order to analyse how the Change 4 Life campaign has succeeded in changing the eating behaviours and activity levels of young children in the UK 9 4. Conclusion 11 References 13 Appendix 15 1. Introduction The increase of consumption worldwide, as a consequence of the advances of technology and the following changes in the trends and patterns of social life, has led to a series of social and economic problems; the terms under which consumption is promoted are not always carefully monitored; moreover, no limits or rules have been set regarding the access of children to specific products and services. Additionally, in many cases, the rules of health and safety are ig nored, even with involving in sectors, which are critical for public health, for instance the preparation of food. The implications of the above phenomena can be many. As an example, it has been proved that certain parts of the population, especially children, are more likely to develop unhealthy habits under the influence of advertising. Current paper focuses on the evaluation of the efforts of British Government to help towards the change of eating behaviour and activity levels to children – reference is made specifically to the ‘Change 4 Life’ campaign of the British government, a campaign introduced in 2009. The level at which the targets of the British government, as explained above, have been achieved is critically discussed using the theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein and Ajzen); the elements and the requirements are also presented using the literature published in the specific field. 2. Fishbein and Ajzen’s (1980) Theory of Reasoned Action 2.1 Ove rview of Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory In order to understand the role and the implications of the theory of reasoned action – referring especially to the potential use of this theory in evaluating a marketing project – it is necessary to refer to the conditions under which the particular theory was introduced. In other words, it is important to mention the gaps that the specific theory was asked to cover. Then, the analysis of the elements of the theory can help to understand whether this theory would be effective in modern social and financial environment. The theory of reasoned action of Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) has been introduced as a supplementary theoretical framework to the theory of planned behaviour (Berkowitz 1987). More specifically, the theory of reasoned action – as also the theory of planned behaviour – requires the willingness of a person for a particular action; without this prerequisite, i.e. the willingness of the actor, the theor y of reasoned action cannot be used – neither the theory of planned behaviour; however, this seems to be the only common point between the two theories; after that point, the two theories are differentiated and are applied independently. The theory of reasoned action is based on the claim that ‘most behaviours of interest in the domains of personality and social psychology fall into the volitional