Extending the Implicit Association Test (IAT): assessing consumer attitudes based on multi-dimensional implicit...

Area of Science:

• Psychological measurement
• Consumer behavior research
• Attitude assessment

Background:

• The Implicit Association Test (IAT) traditionally measures attitudes on a single evaluative dimension.
• Existing methods may not capture the complex, multi-faceted nature of consumer attitudes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a procedural extension of the IAT for multi-dimensional attitude measurement.
• To assess attitudes across multiple attribute dimensions beyond simple good-bad evaluations.

Main Methods:

• Developed a multi-dimensional extension of the IAT (md-IAT).
• Conducted two within-subjects studies measuring attitudes toward automobile brands on six attribute dimensions.
• Evaluated the methodological appropriateness, reliability, validity, and sensitivity of the md-IAT procedure.

Main Results:

• The md-IAT demonstrated strong evidence of reliability, validity, and sensitivity.
• The procedure effectively measured attitudes on multiple dimensions, such as safe-unsafe and young-old.

Conclusions:

• The md-IAT provides detailed insights into the multifaceted nature of brand associations.
• This tool reliably measures implicit attitudes consumers may be unaware of or unwilling to share.