Hoofdstuk 8: Attitudes and Persuasive Communications
The power of attitudes
For consumer researchers it is important to understand the nature and power of attitudes. An
attitude is a lasting, general evaluation of people, objects, advertisements or issues. It is lasting,
because it tends to endure over time. And it is general, because it applies to more than a momentary
event. Such as hearing a loud noise, though you might, over time, have a negative attitude toward all
loud noises. Where an attitude object (A0) is anything toward which one has an attitude. Attitudes
determine whom you choose to date, what music you listen to, etc.
Psychologist Daniel Katz: functional theory of attitudes explains how attitudes facilitate social
behavior. According to this approach, attitudes exist because they serve some function for the
person. When consumers expect that they will have to deal with similar situations in the future, they
will be more likely to start to form an attitude in anticipation.
Different attitude functions:
- Utilitarian function
It relates to the basic principles of reward and punishment (H4). We develop an attitude
because the product provides pleasure or pain.
- Value-expressive function
It relates to the consumer’s self-concept (H6) or central values (H7). A person develops an
attitude towards a product, because of what it says about him/her as a person. These
attitudes are highly relevant to the psychographic analysis (H7).
- Ego-defensive function
We form these attitudes to protect ourselves either from external threats or internal
feelings. For example, deodorant ads that stress the dire, embarrassing consequences.
- Knowledge function
We form some attitudes because we need order, structure or meaning. This applies when a
person is in an ambiguous situation (casual pants on Fridays) or when he or she confronts a
new product (… wants you to know about …).
The ABC Model of Attitudes
ABC Model of Attitudes emphasizes the interrelationships among knowing, feeling and doing. The
three components of this model are:
1. Affect: how a consumer feels about an attitude object.
2. Behavior: the actions he or she takes toward the object or at least his or her intentions to
take action about it. An intention does not always result in actual behavior.
3. Cognition: what he or she believes to be true about the attitude object.
The hierarchy effects explains the relative impact of the three components. Each hierarchy specifies
that a fixes sequence of steps occur en route to an attitude.
- High-involvement hierarchy (standard learning): think feel do
It assumes that a person approaches a product decision as a problem-solving process. This
hierarchy assumes that a consumer is highly involved when he or she makes a purchase
decision. First, the person forms beliefs about a product as she accumulates knowledge
regarding relevant attributes. Next, it evaluates these beliefs and forms a feeling (affect).
Then, the person engages in a relevant behavior, such as buying products that feel good.
- Low-involvement hierarchy: think do feel
It assumes that the consumer initially does not have a strong preference for one brand over
another. The consumer acts on the basis of limited knowledge and forms an evaluation after
, he or she has bought the product. The attitude is likely to come about through behavioral
learning.
- Experiential hierarchy: feel do think
It assumes that we act on the basis of our emotional reactions. Intangible product attributes,
such as packing design, advertising, band names, an the nature of the setting in which the
experience occurs, can help shape our attitudes toward a brand. We may base these
reactions on hedonic motivations. Emotional contagion says that happy people that deliver
messages, enhance our attitude toward the product.
How do we form attitudes?
We form an attitude in several different ways, depending on the particular hierarchy of effects that
operates. We may form an attitude as a result of classical conditioning (for example, a marketer
repeatedly pairs an attitude object such as a brand name with a catchy single) or instrumental
conditioning, the marketer reinforces us when we consume the attitude objects. Consumers vary in
their commitment to an attitude; the degree of commitment relates to their level of involvement
with the attitude object.
The three levels of commitment are:
- Compliance
The lowest level of involvement. We form an attitude because it helps us to gain rewards or
avoid punishment (instrumental conditioning). It is likely to change when others no longer
monitor our behavior or when another option becomes available.
- Identification
It occurs when we form an attitude to conform to another person’s or group’s expectations.
Advertisements that show social consequences when we choose a product over another,
depends on the consumer’s tendency to imitate desirable behavior.
- Internalization
Deep-seated attitudes become part of our value system. These attitudes are difficult to
change because they are so important to us.
Principle of cognitive consistency: we value harmony among our thoughts, feelings or behaviors, and
a need to maintain uniformity among these elements motivates us. We change our thoughts, feelings
or behaviors to make them consistent with other experiences. For example, promotions are more
effective for hedonic purchases than for utilitarian purchases, because it is more difficult to defend
buying something that makes us feel good, rather than something we need. These promotions
provide the guilt-reducing justification.
A cognitive element is something a person believes about himself, a behavior he performs, or an
observation about his surroundings.
,Theory of cognitive dissonance is that a person is confronted with inconsistencies among attitudes or
behavior. The magnitude depends on the importance as well as the number of dissonance elements.
We reduce dissonance when we eliminate, add or change elements.
Self-perception theory: this theory provides an alternative explanation of dissonance effects. It
assumes that we observe our own behavior to determine what our attitudes are, like we assume that
we know what another person’s attitude is when we watch what he does. This theory explains the
effectiveness of the foot-in-the-door technique, which says that consumers are more likely to
comply with a big request if they agree to a smaller one first.
Balance theory: it considers how people perceive relations among different attitude objects, and
how they alter their attitudes so that these remain consistent. It involves relations among three
elements, so we call the resulting attitude structures triads. Each triad contains (1) a person and his
or her perceptions of (2) an attitude object and (3) some other person or object. The theory specifies
that we want relations among elements in a triad to be harmonious. If they are unbalanced, it
creates tension that we are motivated to reduce by changing our perception to restore balance.
Unit relation: a person is somehow connected to an attitude object
Sentiment relation: a person expresses liking or disliking for an attitude object.
Attitude Models
Attitude models specify the different elements that might work together to influence people’s
evaluations of attitude objects. Because attitudes are complex, marketing researchers may use
multiattribute attitude models to understand them. Multiattribute attitude models assumes that
consumers; attitude toward an attitude object depends on the beliefs they have about several of its
attributes.
Basic multiattribute attitude models contain three specific elements:
1. Attributes: characteristics of the A0.
2. Beliefs: cognitions about the specific A0, usually relative to others like it.
3. Importance weights: the relative priority of an attribute to the consumer.
Fishbein Model is the most influential multiattribute model. It measures three components of
attitude: salient beliefs, object-attribute linkages, evaluation. A jk = ∑ β ijkIik . a particular consumer’s
(k) attitude score for brand j is the sum of consumer k’s belief regarding the extent to which brand j
possesses attribute I times the importance wight given attribute I by consumer k.
Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?
Some problems with the multiattribute models are that in many cases, a person’s attitude doesn’t
predict behavior. There is a low correlation between a person’s reported attitude toward something
and actual behavior toward it. A newer version of the Fishbein Model is called the theory of
reasoned action. This model contains several important additions to the original, and although this
model is still not perfect, it does a better job of prediction.
Attitudes possess both direction and strength. Social pressure also can help motivate consumers to
engage in socially responsible behaviors. A social appeal works better than a functional appeal, and a
request phrases in terms of directly relevant others was boosted, compared to more general group
appeals. Normative influence can result in a contradiction between what we say we will do and what
we actually do.
Subjective norms is a new element to account for the effects of what we believe other people think
we should do. They measure SN by: the intensity of Normative Belief (NB) that others believe we
should take or not take some action, and the Motivation to Comply (MC) with that belief. The newer
, model also measures attitude toward the act of buying (Aact), it focuses on the perceived
consequences of a purchase. There are still some obstacles to prediction researchers encounter:
- Models tries to predict actual behavior, not the outcomes of behavior.
- Some outcomes are beyond our control.
- The basic assumption that behavior is intentional may be invalid in a variety of cases,
including impulsive acts, sudden changes in situation, novelty seeking, or even simple repeat
buying.
- Measures of attitude often do not really correspond to the behavior they are supposed to
predict, either in terms of the A 0, or when the act will occur.
- The longer the time between the attitude measurement and the behavior is supposed to
assess, the weaker the relationship will be.
- We form stronger and more predictive attitudes through direct, personal experience with an
A0, than those we form indirectly through advertising.
Persuasion: how do marketers change attitudes?
Persuasion is an active attempt to change attitudes. Basic psychological principles that influence
people to change their minds or comply with a request:
- Reciprocity: we are more likely to give if first we receive. Think of a paid survey.
- Scarcity: items (people) are more attractive when they’re not available. Think of limited
edition.
- Authority: we believe an authoritative source much more readily than one that is less
authoritative.
- Consistency : people try not to contradict themselves in terms of what they say and do about
an issue. For example, first signing a petition for supporting a donation and then donate
more.
- Liking: we agree with those we like or admire. For example, attractive collectors collect more
- Consensus: we consider what others do before we decide what to do. For example, donate
after seeing who have already done.
The Elements of Communication
The communication model specifies the elements marketers need to control to communicate with
their customers. Source is where the communication originates. Another is the message itself. There
are many ways to say something, and the structure of the message has a significant effect on how we
perceive it. The message must transmit via a medium, think of TV, radio, magazines, billboards,
personal contact or matchbook cover. Receivers interpret the message in light of their own
experiences. Finally, the source receives feedback so that the marketer can use receivers’ reactions
to modify aspects of the message as necessary.
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