4. COMPONENTS
Attitude towards
behavior
Intentions for
Behavior
behavior
Subjective
Norms
Dependent Variables Independent Variables
Behavior Attitude towards the behavior
Intentions for behaviors Subjective Norms or Normative Beliefs
Intentions for behaviors
5. BACKGROUND
Domain: Social Psychology
Base Theory: Dulany’s Theory of Propositional
Control(1968)
Objective: To establish relationship between
attitude and overt behavior
Main Contributors: Icek Ajzen and Martin
Fishbein
Period of Work: 1965-1980s
6. MAIN PAPERS
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1973). Attitudinal
and normative variables as predictors of
specific behavior. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 27(1), 41-57.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief,
attitude, intention, and behavior : An
introduction to theory and research. Reading,
Mass. ; Don Mills, Ontario: Addison-Wesley
Pub. Co
7. THE THEORY
B ≈ BI = (w1)AB + (w2)SN
B -> Behavior | BI -> Behavioral Intention | AB -> Attitude towards behavior
SN -> Subjective Norms | W1 -> Weight for AB | W2 -> Weight for SN
8. STEP BY STEP VERIFICATION WITH EMPIRICAL DATA
Step 1: Behavior (B) and Behavioral Intentions (BI)
• Experiment: Prisoner’s Dilemma based games with two persons
• Motivational Orientations: Competitive, Cooperative or Individualistic
• Correlation of 0.822 (p < 0.001) between B and BI over 20 trails
• Confirmatory findings from other researchers- Hornik (1970) & Darroch
(1971)
Constraints
1. The measurement of intentions needs to be taken in close proximity to the
behavior
2. Mediating variables can cause changes in behaviors independent of measured
intentions
9. STEP BY STEP VERIFICATION WITH EMPIRICAL DATA
Step 2 and Step 3: Attitude & Normative Beliefs with Behavioral Intentions
• Same set of experiments
• AB was measures by rating the behavior in question using semantic
differential scales
• SN or NB was measured by a direct question concerning expectations of
others
• Average correlation was found to be 0.808 -> High predictive value
• Attitudinal component (AB)has more influence than normative beliefs(NB)
Constraints
Prediction of B varies based on 1) Type of Behavior 2) Situation 3) Individual
Difference between the actors
11. OTHER FACTORS
Beliefs play an important role in Attitude
formation
Existence of a circular loop between behavior to
belief
External variables don’t’ directly cause changes
in intentions rather it is through AB and SN
General attitude towards an object is a
summation of the attitudes related to different
behaviors related to the particular object
12. ISSUES WITH THE THEORY
Only works when the individual has volitional
control
Difficulty in differentiating attitudes and social
norms
Doesn’t take factors such as skills,
unconscious habits and restricted
environment into account
13. SUCCESSORS TO THE THEORY
Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB)
Technology Acceptance Model(TAM)
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technolog
14. USAGE OF TRA IN IS
Mainly used in studies related to user intentions
Examples:
Consumer online grocery buying intention (2004)
Study of students’ interest in IS career (2011)
Study of Social Networking Behavior (2012)
Methodology of usage
Check if the TRA model fits the problem space
Factor analysis
Take the measurements and use them for prediction
Structural Equation Modeling
15. DISCUSSION
Where can we use this model?
TRA model finds application if the problem space
involves understanding and changing the
behavior of users
Most studies try to compare TRA, TPB and TAM
and see which model performs fits and performs
better
Conversion of conceptual variables into
measurable variables can be tricky