Attitudes in Consumer Behavior

Attitudes in Consumer Behavior

• Attitudes are lasting, general evaluations of people, objects, advertisements, or issues
• An attitude object (AO) is anything toward which one holds an attitude
• Attitudes guide behavior through persuasion
• Persuasion forms or changes someone's attitude, leading to consumer behavior
• Persuasion involves cognitive and emotional components and can be explicit or implicit
• The attitude-behavior link depends on attitude commitment and social context.

Functional Theory of Attitudes

• This explains how attitudes serve different functions for individuals:
• The utilitarian function relates to rewards and punishments
• The value-expressive function expresses consumer's values or self-concept
• The ego-defensive function protects from external threats or internal feelings
• The knowledge function addresses the need for order, structure, or meaning

Cognitive and Affective Components of Attitudes

• Attitudes can be formed through slow and fast thinking
• Type 1 processes: fast, autonomous, and intuitive
• Type 2 processes: slow, deliberative, and analytic
• Cognitive focus includes the "I Know It" aspect, and Multiattribute attitude models
• The Fishbein model is also a cognitive focus
• Affective focus involves the "I Feel It" aspect

Multiattribute Attitude Model: The Fishbein Model

• This model includes:
• Salient beliefs
• Object-attribute linkages
• Evaluation
• Can be used to capitalize on relative advantage, strengthen perceived linkages, add a new attribute, and influence competitor's ratings

Affective Focus: Moods Shape Judgments

• Moods are temporary positive or negative affective states
• Emotions like happiness, anger, and fear tend to be more intense and relate to specific triggering events
• Emotions influence decision-making, known as neuromarketing
• Product design and aesthetics create positive attitudes by generating positive emotional reactions

Nuances in Attitude Formation

• Factors exist beyond simple evaluations:
• Ambivalence
• Explicit and implicit elements
• Social pressure

The Theory of Reasoned Action

• Subjective norm (SN) accounts for what we believe other people think we should do
• Two factors measure SN:
• The intensity of a normative belief (NB): that others believe we should take or not take some action
• The motivation to comply (MC) with that belief

Attitude Formation Through Commitment

• Compliance, the lowest level, involves forming attitudes to gain rewards or avoid punishments
• Identification, the mid-level, involves forming attitudes to conform to another person or group
• Internalization, the highest level, involves deep-seated attitudes becoming part of one's value system

Consistency Principle

• This principle emphasizes the desire for harmony among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
• Individuals will change components to maintain consistency
• It relates to cognitive dissonance, where actions are taken to resolve dissonance when attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent
• Attitudes can be formed through classical conditioning by pairing an attitude object with a catchy tagline

Balance Theory

• Explains how people perceive relationships among different attitude objects and alter their attitudes to maintain consistency/balance
• Each triad contains a person and their perceptions, an attitude object, and some other person or object

Persuasion and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

• Persuasion actively attempts to create or change attitudes
• The Elaboration Likelihood Model includes:
• Fast persuasion is the peripheral route
• Slow persuasion is the central route
• Persuasion often utilizes narrative

Crafting Persuasive Communication Strategies

• The communications model captures elements marketers use:
• A source is where communication originates
• The message itself, conveyed via a medium
• Receivers interpret the message, and the source receives feedback

Tactical Communication Options

• Key considerations include:
• Who will be in the ad
• How the message is constructed
• What media is used
• Characteristics of the target market and their acceptance of the ad

Source Credibility

• This refers to a communicator’s expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness
• Other Considerations:
• Reporting bias
• Source attractiveness
• Shared endorsements, Halo effect, Spokescharacters
• Disclaimers, fake news, Sleeper effect etc

The Message

• This is how a marketer structures messages and determines persuasiveness

Message Effectiveness

• This is influenced by factors relating the message to it's source
• Visuals are effective, enhancing influence over receivers
• Pictures may not be as effective for complex information requiring central processing
• Verbal material decays faster in memory, so more frequent exposure is needed
• Various message appeals can be used (see Table 6.2)

Comparative Appeals

• This type compares two+ recognizable brands on specific attributes
• An example is, "Unlike McDonalds, all of Arby's chicken sandwiches are made with 100% all-natural chicken"
• Negative outcomes include source derogation

Structuring Arguments

• Strategies for argument structure:
• Supportive arguments
• Two-sided messages with both positive and negative information
• Refutational argument: negative issue raised, then dismissed
• Positive attributes should refute negative attributes
• Certain appeals (sex, humor, fear, narrative)

Message Repetition

• Figure 6.5, Two-Factor Theory of Message Repetition

The Medium of Communication: Advertainment

• Advertainment is the fusion of advertising and entertainment
• Advergaming merges online games with interactive ads to target consumers.
• Another strategy is reality engineering

Product Placement and Branded Entertainment

• It involves inserting specific products and using brand names in movie/TV scripts
• Directors incorporate branded props for realism
• Its impact on consumer decision-making is debated

Chapter Summary

• It is important for consumer researchers to understand the nature and power of attitudes
• We form attitudes in several ways
• Persuasion involves an active attempt to change attitudes