Why have multiattribute attitude models become so popular among marketing researchers? What three elements are specified in such models?

What will be an ideal response?

A simple response from a consumer does not always give enough information about why the consumer feels a certain way about a product or about what marketers can do to change the consumer's attitude. The models assume that a consumer's attitude or evaluation of an attitude object will depend upon the beliefs he or she has about several attributes of the object. The use of a multiattribute model implies that an attitude toward a product or brand can be predicted by identifying these specific beliefs and combining them in an appropriate manner to derive a better measure of the consumer's overall attitude.
Basic multiattribute attitude models specify three elements:
• Attributes are characteristics of the attitude object.
• Beliefs are cognitions about the specific attitude object. A belief measure assesses the extent to which the consumer perceives that a brand has a particular attribute.
• Importance weights reflect the relative priority of an attribute to the consumer. Some attributes are more important than others to the consumer. These weights are likely to differ across consumers.