Attitunes. An exploration into consumer perception of, and attitude towards of digitally compressed music

Abstract

The study explores a new phenomenon to the music market, MP3. Though MP3 has been around for a while, it is only now coming into focus of the mainstream consumer. The study set out to assess consumer attitude towards this new product. It explores relevant theory in regards Consumer Behaviour research and takes a closer look at MP3. The technique of Triangulation was used to firstly gain an understanding of beliefs about MP3, via a focus group. The data obtained from this source was used to develop a questionnaire to obtain subsequent primary data. The questionnaire is designed to measure 'attitude to MP3' using a Multi Attribute Attitude Model, which in turn was based on the Perceived Characteristic of Innovations theory. Seventy-nine respondents, from two separate groups completed the questionnaire. The findings from the questionnaire illustrate the research question to the extent that awareness of MP3 is high, yet knowledge of the differentiating factor of MP3, it being a digitally compressed file format, is low. The findings also illustrate that; overall, the stated attitude towards MP3 is considerably more positive when compared to the outcome of the attitude assessment using the Multi Attribute Attitude Model. The findings support the recommendation to the marketers of MP3 and related products to inform their users about their product, keeping in mind that many respondents expressed concern about the technology involved.