Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive Dissonance is the discomfort or confusion, that consumers experience as a result of conflicting information.

According to this theory of Leon Festinger, discomfort, confusion or dissonance occurs when a consumer holds conflicting thoughts about a belief, or an attitude object. For instance, when consumers have made a commitment – made a down payment or placed an order for a product, particularly an expensive one such as a car or a personal computer – they often begin to feel confused about the rightness of the purchase. This happens whenever they think of the unique, positive qualities of the brands not selected (left behind), or they hear anything negative about the brand they have just purchased.

To restore internal harmony and minimise discomfort, people try to reduce their post-purchase anxieties. They are then likely to avoid information that is likely to increase dissonance. They would also seek out ads for the selected product, for reassurance and reinforcement.

When cognitive dissonance occurs after a purchase, it is called post-purchase dissonance. In the case of post-purchase dissonance, attitude change is frequently an outcome of an action or behaviour. The conflicting thoughts or dissonant information that follow a purchase are prime factors that induce consumers to change their attitudes so that they will be consonant with their actual purchase behaviour.

To illustrate how attitude change occurs in the context of post- purchase dissonance, let us consider Rahul and his newly delivered Honda Civic (coupe). The fear initially raised by his mother that “ You will never be able to get the family into a two-door car” still makes Rahul have second thoughts as to whether he did the right thing by buying a “cute little sports car.” (Uneasiness about the car’s size is now dissonant with the behaviour of purchasing and owning the coupe.) He would now actively search for reassurance from ads or from his friends who have positive thoughts about the sports car.