Reasoned Action Theory

The theory of reasoned action has its scholarly roots in previous efforts to understand how attitudes are formed and changed, such as Norman Anderson’s information integration theory. According to this approach, a persuasive message has value (favorable or unfavorable) and weight (important or irrelevant). This entry provides an overview of the theory of reasoned action; then it discusses key concepts associated with the theory and how the theory can be applied in reputation management situations.

The perceiver combines value and weight with prior attitudes and existing information to produce the final attitude. Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen extended this theory by adding the concept of behavioral intention. Note that intention falls between an attitude and the actual performance of a behavior, yet intention can be predictive ...