The Psychology of Advertising: Lecture Slides PDF

The psychology of advertising Forming attitudes towards products Ambra Brizi Nice to meet you! 2  Goals today After today you know… What the definitions of attitudes are What the characteristics of attitudes are What predictors and consequences of attitu...

The psychology of advertising Forming attitudes towards products Ambra Brizi Nice to meet you! 2  Goals today After today you know… What the definitions of attitudes are What the characteristics of attitudes are What predictors and consequences of attitude strength are How attitudes are formed and on what this is based What the functions of attitudes are 3  Part I Introducing attitudes WHAT AN ATTITUDE?  Defining attitudes Important construct in (social) psychology - key in many theories and models - major determinant in predicting behavior - also of buying behavior (plus see chapter 6/7) 7  Defining attitudes Attitude = important determinant of behavior (e.g., theory of planned behavior) 8  Defining attitudes Disagreement about definition Agreed upon is: 1. Attitudes are evaluative responses 2. Attitudes are directed towards an attitude object 3. Attitudes are based on three classes of information (i.e., affective, behavioral, and cognitive information) 9  Defining attitudes 1. Attitudes are evaluative responses 10  Defining attitudes 1. Attitudes are evaluative responses Attitudes are very important for brands 11  Defining attitudes 1. Attitudes are evaluative responses Attitudes are very important for brands E.g., top 10 brands (2019-2020) based on number of positive/negative online posts (sentiment analysis) https://www.marketingcharts.com/brand-related/top-brands-114656  Defining attitudes 2. Attitudes are directed towards some attitude object Apple Store 13  Defining attitudes 2. Attitudes are directed towards some attitude object 14  Defining attitudes 3. Attitudes are based on three classes of information: affect, behavior, and cognition A B C more on this during the second part of this lecture 15  Defining attitudes Thus… attitude is evaluative response towards a specific object, based on affective, behavioral, cognitive information Disagreement about 1. Are attitudes unitary or not? 2. Are attitudes context-dependent or stable? Relevant to know to pinpoint at what level advertising affects consumer responses and what drives this impact 16 Are attitudes unitary or not? 17  Are attitudes unitary? Unitary = one single thing this would imply consistency between different evaluative responses (e.g., feel good, hold positive beliefs, and buy a brand) Distinction between explicit vs implicit attitudes suggests that attitudes might not be unitary Explicit attitude: attitude (evaluation) of which individual is consciously aware Implicit attitude: attitude (evaluation) of which individual is unaware, that influences behavior over which individual has little or no control To know relevance for advertising, first know measurement 18  Implicit vs explicit attitudes Way to measure explicit attitudes: self-report E.g., to what extent do you agree/disagree with the following statements? “I think … are trustworthy” “I think … are nice” “I think …” This can be about any group/object/category e.g., students, elderly, McDonalds, Iphone, etc 19  Implicit vs explicit attitudes Ways to measure implicit attitudes: Affective Priming Positive nice / OR stupid Negative Positive nice / OR stupid Negative e.g., Spruyt et al., 2007; Strick et al., 2009 19  Affective Priming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbCHov_XkoI&t=69s  IAT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOPbf3Ponew&t=1s  Implicit vs explicit attitudes Ways to measure implicit attitudes: Implicit Associations Test Fruit-tella Brand X Fruit-tella Brand X Or Or Or Or Positive Negative Negative Positive e.g., Sunga & Russo, 2018 20  Implicit vs explicit attitudes Implicit attitudes can result in ‘implicit’ behavior E.g., study showed that an implicit negative attitude toward black people (regardless of explicit attitude) resulted in… ➔ Less touching of black confederate hands (when sharing a pen) ➔ Sit farther away from a black confederate ➔ Being less friendly to a black confederate ➔ Less eye contact and more blinking e.g., Dovidio et al., 2001; Fazio et al., 1995; Fazio & Olson, 2003 22  Implicit vs explicit attitudes Translating this process to advertising and consumption: Implicit attitudes can be related to preferences/choice for product/brand Explicit attitudes (alone) not always the best predictor e.g., humor in advertising, Strick et al. 2009 ➔ effects on implicit attitudes, predictor of preferences and choice 25  Implicit vs explicit attitudes Thus, attitudes are likely not unitary Fits with dual attitudes theory (Wilson et al., 2000): people can have two attitudes towards the same thing 1. “Old” attitude (more often implicit) 2. “New” attitude (more often explicit) 26  Implicit vs explicit attitudes “Old” attitude (more often implicit): McDonalds is fun! 27  Implicit vs explicit attitudes “New” attitude (more often explicit) McDonalds is unhealthy 28  Implicit vs explicit Distinction between explicit and implicit: controversial products 29  Implicit vs explicit Distinction between explicit and implicit: controversial products https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/lonsdale-faces-ban- 30 over-neonazi-associations-6105955.html  Implicit vs explicit Distinction between explicit and implicit: controversial products 31  Implicit vs explicit Distinction between explicit and implicit: hygienic products Study on sanitary napkins by Morales et al., 2007 (not in book) https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.44.2.272 32  Implicit vs explicit Morales et al., 2007 Sanitary napkins implicitly associated with disgust Will this transfer to other products? Two conditions: Condition 1 in which sanitary napkins were not touching other product Table shown before class; evaluations about cookies after class 33  Implicit vs explicit Morales et al., 2007 Sanitary napkins implicitly associated with disgust Will this transfer to other products? Two conditions: Condition 2 in which sanitary napkins were touching other product Table shown before class; evaluations about cookies after class 34  Implicit vs explicit Morales et al., 2007 35 Q Implicit vs explicit: conclusion Conclusion: attitudes are likely not a unitary concept People can be both positive and negative about an object depending on whether it is measured explicitly or implicitly Relevant for advertising: Explicit measures might not pick up on effect of advertising (e.g., reluctance to admit influence or don’t know) Explicit attitude might be different from implicit attitude (relevant for strategy: goal could be to resolve mismatch before anything else) 36 Are attitudes context-dependent or stable? 37  Context dependent or stable? Two opposing views: - File-drawer model: attitudes are learned and retrieved from long-term memory and are therefore stable - Attitudes-as-constructions-perspective: attitudes are not necessarily enduring but are constructed “online” 38  Context dependent or stable? Evidence for both views: attitudes can be stable AND can be context-dependent Stable: e.g., brand loyalty for Apple 39  Context dependent or stable? Evidence for both views: attitudes can be stable AND can be context-dependent Context dependent: e.g., brand loyalty for Apple can change if key reason for positive attitudes is challenged 39  Context dependent or stable? Particularly impactful when sincerity of brand is on top on one’s mi4n0 d  Context dependent or stable? An example of how somebody expressed such a context dependent change: 42 Q Context dependent or stable? Role of attitude strength? Weak attitudes = more likely to be constructed online Strong attitudes = more likely to be retrieved 43  Part II Attitude strength, formation, and functions 44 Attitude strength 45  Attitude strength Strong (versus weak) attitudes: Are more stable over time Have a stronger impact on behavior Have a greater influence on information processing Show a greater resistance to persuasion 46  Attitude strength Priester et al., 2004 (not in book): consequences of attitude strength on consideration and choice of products (toothpaste) Attitude strength = how positive/negative X how important/self-relevant/certain 47  Attitude strength Which factors are related to strong attitudes? 1. Accessibility 2. Importance 3. Knowledge 4. Certainty 5. Ambivalence Relevant for advertising as this can determine strategy: what to focus on in advertising campaign 48  Accessibility Cognitive accessibility of an attitude How easy and fast it is to retrieve the attitude from memory Reflects strength of relation between attitude object and evaluation (e.g., McDonalds and unhealthy/bad) 49  Accessibility Easily accessible? ➔ More resistant to change ➔ More likely to predict behavior (Fazio et al., 1989) 50  Accessibility Easily accessible? ➔ More resistant to change ➔ More likely to predict behavior (Fazio et al., 1989) STEP 1: STEP 2: Do you like/dislike this product? You can choose one as reward Results showed that faster responses were positively related to choice 51  Importance Care a lot about a certain attitude object (e.g., Harry Potter)? ➔ Strong attitudes more likely 52  Knowledge Have a lot of knowledge about a certain attitude object (e.g., climate change)? ➔ Strong attitudes more likely 53  Certainty Have a lot of confidence in correctness of own attitude (e.g., through personal experience, accurate evidence, social consensus)? ➔ Strong attitudes more likely 54  Ambivalence Ambivalence: when someone has an equally positive as well as negative evaluation about an attitude object 55 Ambivalence Unhealthy products 56  Ambivalence Feel ambivalent? ➔ weaker attitude Less stable Less accessible Less predictive of behavior Less resistant to influence/easier to change Important to know whether people are ambivalent towards your product; try to make more univalent. 57 58 Q = Dutch mobile phone provider (Hee pineapple, put the pineapple away) 58 Attitude formation 60  Attitude formation Fennis & Stroebe: “Attitude formation rather than change is involved when the issue or object is novel to the target group” 61  Attitude formation Attitudes are formed, based on three classes of information: 1. Cognitive information 2. Affective information 3. Behavioral information ABC-model of attitudes 62  Attitude formation - cognition Knowledge and beliefs Direct experience versus indirect experience Attitudes from direct experience are more stable/accessible Direct experience: e.g., let people try your product Indirect experience: e.g., hearsay, word of mouth 63 Attitude formation - cognition Heuristics Brand image e.g., Rolex must be good Country of origin e.g., French wine tastes better Price e.g., if expensive then good 64  Attitude formation - affect Attitude based on feelings and/or emotions Mere exposure (Lecture 1) Conditioning Affect-as-information hypothesis 65 Attitude formation - affect Conditioning 66 Attitude formation - affect Conditioning in advertising Use positive feelings/relevant associations with the aim to “transfer” this to brand or product 67 Attitude formation - affect Conceptual associations 68 Attitude formation - affect Celebrities 69  Attitude formation - affect Environmental cues: Music 69 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnZD2A47LbE  Attitude formation - affect And an even more explicit connection to happiness Coca-Cola Happiness advertising campaign "Choose Happiness" - produced 70 by AG Films - YouTube  Attitude formation - affect And an even more explicit connection to happiness 72  Attitude formation - affect Affect-as-information hypothesis: rather than through mere associations (as is the case with conditioning), feelings can influence evaluations through feeling-based inferences “how do I feel?” Feel good ➔ positive evaluation Feel bad ➔ negative evaluation 73 Attitude formation - affect Classic study (Schwarz & Clore, 1983) DV: life satisfaction 73 I feel good ➔ life must be good  Attitude formation - affect Dardis et al., 2015 (not in book): related player's performance in video games to brand attitudes? Difficult to play ➔ more negative attitudes towards Volkswagen Easy to play ➔ more positive attitudes towards Volkswagen (can be explained by fluency) 74 https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2015.1021503  Attitude formation - behavior Self-perception theory (Bem, 1972): people infer their attitudes based on the perceptions of their own behavior ➔Especially the case with weak attitudes ➔How do I feel? Look at own behavior 75 Q Attitude formation - behavior Holland, Verplanken, & Van Knippenberg, 2002 Session 1: measure attitudes + attitude strength towards Greenpeace Session 2: donate to Greenpeace and measure attitude towards Greenpeace - Strong attitude: no effect of donating behavior - Weak attitude: more positive attitudes about Greenpeace after donating 76 Functions of attitudes 78  Functions of attitudes Holding attitudes has different functions Relevant to know: To successfully change attitudes, know why a person holds a particular attitude: tailor arguments accordingly 79  Functions of attitudes 1. Adjustment function Attitudes provide general approach/avoidance tendencies 2. Ego defensive function Attitudes can protect one’s self-concept 3. Value expressive function Attitudes can convey one’s personal values 4. Knowledge function Attitudes can help organize and interpret the world Katz (1960) 80  Functions of attitudes Function of attitudes can overlap with reasons why people acquire goods (i.e., attitude object) The functional theory of consumer goods; why acquire 1. Utilitarian reasons 2. Hedonic reasons 3. Self-expression reasons 4. Identity building reasons 81  Functions of attitudes Why people acquire goods Utilitarian reasons (i.e., useful, practical): performance, reliability and quality are important 82  Functions of attitudes Why people acquire goods Hedonic reasons: pleasure of from owning and consuming or using a product 83  Functions of attitudes Why people acquire goods Self-expression reasons (e.g., values or conspicuous consumption) 84  Functions of attitudes Why people acquire goods Identity building reasons: to become the person who you want to be (e.g., helps one to be that way) 85  Functions of attitudes Why people acquire goods important to advertising Match to function that the product is expected to serve This shapes the focus and content of the message (e.g., instrumental arguments to match utilitarian goal will be different from self-expressive arguments) 86 Q Functions of attitudes ➔ Often, products serve multiple goals and combined message are possible 87  Goals today After today you know… What the definitions of attitudes are What the characteristics of attitudes are What predictors/consequences of attitude strength are How attitudes are formed and on what this is based What the functions of attitudes are 88 Next lecture: Persuasion and attitude change Changing attitudes, processing effects, preventing resistance