Explanation:

In the marketing literature, beliefs typically have been conceptualized in narrow, object-attribute terms: beliefs are linkages between a particular brand and specific brand attributes, i.e., "consumer k's belief as to the extent to which attribute i is offered by brand j" (Wilkie and Pessemier 1973,). However, as Duncan and Olshavsky (1982) point out, not all consumer beliefs are of this kind. Beliefs may also express more generalized associations--between classes of objects (e.g., buyers, products, vendors), between product attributes (e.g., price, quality), and as notions about how the marketplace operates over time (e.g., competition, change).

Market beliefs, then, are defined as intermediate level beliefs which convey information about the association between independent market concepts (adapted from Kendler 1968, ). They are more specific in context than judgmental principles; yet, more general in their application than brand-attribute beliefs. They assume more than one type or function.