Implicit Association Test (IAT): Using Computer-Based Methods to Measure Consumer Implicit Attitudes

Abstract

In this chapter is presented a computer-based method of measuring implicit attitudes (IAT—implicit association test) and its potential for experimental economics. For many years attitudes were understood as three-component constructs (cognitive, affective, and behavioral), with an assumption that the person has introspective access to his/her attitude, can verbalize it, and expresses it in a questionnaire. Since the 1980s scientists’ attention has been drawn to the unconsciousness of attitudes and the automatic character of them. Introduced the concept of implicit attitude and the method of measuring them—the IAT, a computer-based method using reaction time (RT) as an indicator of attitude strength. At the beginning the IAT was used to study racial attitudes, self-concept, and self-esteem. Nowadays the IAT is used in many other areas, including consumer attitudes (toward brands or categories), both in academic research and in practical context. In this chapter are presented three empirical studies using IAT for researching consumer implicit attitudes: (a) implicit consumer ethnocentrism—implicit attitudes toward local vs. foreign brands (n = 92); (b) implicit attitudes toward smoking depending on smoking experience (n = 82); and (c) implicit attitudes toward erotic advertising—the difference between women’s and men’s reactions (n = 92).