D11.3: Economic aspects of mobility and identity

Title: THEORY OF REASONED ACTION (TRA)

The theory of reasoned action (TRA), developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen, posits that individual behaviour is driven by behavioural intentions. The theory received particular attention in the field of consumer behaviour as it provides a simple tool to identify possibilities to change customers’ behaviour when using an innovation. To this regard, the actual use of an innovation is determined by the individual’s behavioural intention to use it. The model resulting from their research is visualised in and consist of the following components:

Starting from the behavioural intentions, these include the functions of an individual’s attitude towards the behaviour and the subjective norm surrounding the performance of the behaviour. Accordingly, the actual use of an innovation is determined by the individual’s behavioural intention to use it. The Attitude towards an act or a behaviour are the individual’s positive or negative feelings about performing a behaviour, determined through an assessment of one’s beliefs. Subjective norm is defined as an individual’s perception of whether people important to the individual think the behaviours should be performed. “To put the definition into simple terms: a person’s volitional (voluntary) behaviour is predicted by his/her attitude toward that behaviour and how he/she thinks other people would view them if they performed the behaviour. A person’s attitude, combined with subjective norms, forms his/her behavioral intention”.

Figure : Schematics of the theory of reasoned action (TRA)

However, the TRA has some limitations on explaining all mechanisms of the actual use of an innovation and the role of the individual’s behavioural intent, which are discussed in the relevant scientific literature. One limitation is the significant risk of confounding between attitudes and norms since attitudes can often be reframed as norms and vice versa. Furthermore, the assumption that when someone forms an intention to act, they will be free to act without limitation, is often unfounded. Lastly, in practice, constraints such as limited ability, time, environmental or organisational limits, and unconscious habits will limit the freedom to act.

Consequently, extended theories were needed to better describe the mechanisms that actually explain the use of an innovation and the role of the individual’s behavioural intent. A selection of these theories is described in the following sections.