The formation of consumer attitudes is strongly influenced by personal experience, the influence of family and friends, direct marketing and mass media.

Direct and Past Experience: The primary means by which attitudes towards goods and services are formed is through the consumer’s direct experience while trying and, evaluating them.

Recognizing the importance of direct experience, marketers frequently attempt to stimulate trial of new products by offering cents-off coupons or even free samples. If a product satisfies needs of consumers, it’ll build a positive attitude, and will raise sale.

Influence of Family and Friends: As we come into contact with others, especially family, close friends, and admired individuals, we form attitudes that influence our lives. The family is an extremely important source of influence in the formation of attitudes, for it is the family that provides us with many of our basic values and a wide range of  beliefs.

Direct Marketing: Marketers are increasingly using highly focused direct marketing programs to target small consumer’s niches with products and services that fit their interests and lifestyles.

Marketers very carefully target customers on the basis of their demographic, psychographic or geo-demographic profiles with highly personalized product offerings and messages that show they understand their special needs and desires.

Direct marketing efforts have an excellent chance of favorably influencing target consumers attitudes because the products and services offered, and the promotional messages conveyed, are very carefully designed to address the individual segment’s need and concerns, and thus are able to achieve a higher “hit rate” than mass marketing.

Exposure to Mass Media: In countries like United States, where people have easy access to newspaper and almost an infinite variety of general and special interest magazines and television channels, consumers are constantly exposed to new ideas, products, opinions and advertisements. These mass media communications provide an important source of information that influences the formation of consumer attitudes.

Personality Factors: Personality also plays a critical role in attitude formation. For example, individuals with a high need for cognition are likely to form positive attitudes in response to ads that are rich in product-related information.

On the other hand, consumers who are relatively low in need for cognition are more likely to form positive attitudes in response to ads that feature an attractive model or well known celebrity.