Fatemeh Ashouri - Department of Business Management, Azad University of South Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Naser Azad - Department of Business Management, Azad University of South Tehran, Tehran, Iran

When individuals encounter conflicting cognitions, the motivation to mitigate the dissonance can result in a modification of one of their cognitions. Altering attitudes is one approach to achieving this objective, serving as a strategy to alleviate cognitive dissonance by adjusting cognitions associated with the attitude. This study aims to construct an interpretive structural model of attitude change grounded in cognitive dissonance within the railway transportation industry. Employing a mixed research design, the qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with experts, while the quantitative phase encompassed the development and distribution of a paired questionnaire among the statistical population of the railway transportation industry. During the qualitative phase, the theme technique yielded ۶ overarching themes and ۳۶ organizing themes. These themes were subsequently subjected to analysis using the interpretative structural modeling technique, categorizing them as autonomous, dependent, linked, and independent variables. One of the limitations of this study is the absence of similar research conducted in Iran.

Consumer attitudes, Consumer behavior, Cognitive dissonance approach, Railway transportation