Understanding and predicting human behaviour

Understanding and predicting human behaviour has been of particular interest to researchers for many years. Moreover, the assumption that knowledge of attitudes will help in the task of predicting human behaviour has formed the basis for much consumer and social research. Attitudes are assumed to play an important role in human behaviour theory as the crucial link between what people think and what they do. Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980) attitude-based questionnaire framework has been widely used for the purpose of predicting behaviour. However, despite much study and refinement, limitations still exist with both the application and the predictive ability of their approach. Labaw (1980) offers an alternative approach to predicting behaviour in which behavioural aspects of people’s lives form the basis of questionnaire design. Although less widely operationalised and tested than Ajzen and Fishbein’s approach, recent investigation found that Labaw’s approach to predicting behaviour was equivalent in terms of predictive ability, and was superior from a survey research perspective. Thus, Labaw’s behavioural approach presents a feasible alternative to attitudinal-based approaches to predicting behaviour.