Attitudes Chapter 7

1. Attitudes Chapter 7

2. The Power of Attitudes • Attitude: a lasting, general evaluation of people, objects, advertisements, or issues • Attitude object (AO) • Help to determine a number of preferences and actions

3. Functional Theory of Attitudes • Katz: Attitudes exist because they serve some function • Determined by a person’s motives • Attitude functions: • Utilitarian • Value-expressive • Ego-defensive • Knowledge • Marketers emphasize the function a product serves for consumers

4. Smoking Attitudes • Norwegian ad: “Smokers are more sociable than others…while it lasts.”

5. Fan Attitude “Profiles” • Die-hard, highly committed fans • Marketing: provide sports knowledge and relate attendance to personal goals/values • Unique, self-expressive game experience • Marketing: “brand switchers” who seek thrills wherever they can get them • Looking for camaraderie • Marketing: provide benefits related to small-group activities

6. ABC Model of Attitudes • Three interrelated attitude components: • Affect • Behavior • Cognition • Hierarchy of effects • Relative impact/importance of attitude components depends on consumer’s motivation toward attitude object

7. Hierarchy of Effects Figure 7.1

8. Hierarchy of Effects • Standard Learning Hierarchy • Results in strong brand loyalty • Assumes high consumer involvement • Low-Involvement Hierarchy • Consumer does not have strong brand preference • Consumers swayed by simple stimulus-response connections • Experiential Hierarchy • Consumers’ hedonic motivations and moods • Emotional contagion • Cognitive-affective model vs. independence hypothesis

9. Discussion • Contrast the hierarchies of effects outlined in this chapter • How should marketers’ strategic decisions related to the marketing mix change depending upon which hierarchy is operative among target consumers?

10. WHENU.COM Contextual Marketing • Providing customers with information about competitors at the exact time when they are searching for details/shopping for a particular product category

11. Discussion • One person’s “contextual marketing” is another person’s “spyware” • Is it ethical for marketers to track which Web sites you visit, even if by doing so they can provide you with information that might help you save money by buying a competing brand?

12. Attitude Toward the Ad • We form attitudes toward objects other than the product that can influence our product selections • We often form product attitudes from its ads • Aad: attitude toward advertiser + evaluations of ad execution + ad evoked mood + ad arousal effects on consumer + viewing context

13. Ads Have Feelings Too • Commercials evoke emotion • Pleasure • Arousal • Intimidation

14. Forming Attitudes • Classical conditioning • Instrumental conditioning • Cognitive learning/modeling

15. Attitude Commitment • Degree of commitment is related to level of involvement with attitude object • Compliance • Identification • Internalization

16. Consistency Principle • Principle of cognitive consistency • We value/seek harmony among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors • We will change components to make them consistent

17. Cognitive Dissonance & Harmony • Conflict of attitudes and behavior motivates us to reduce dissonance • We make them fit by eliminating, adding, or changing elements • Explains why evaluations of products increase after purchase • Horse race experiment • Marketers: post-purchase reinforcement

18. Discussion • Think of a behavior someone does that is inconsistent with his or her attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward cholesterol, drug use, or even buying things to make him or her stand out or attain status) • Ask the person to elaborate on why he or she does the behavior, then try to identify the way the person has resolved dissonant elements

19. Self-Perception Theory • We use observations of our own behavior to determine what our attitudes are • We must have a positive attitude toward a product if we freely purchase it, right? • Low-involvement hierarchy • Foot-in-the-door technique • Low-ball technique • Door-in-the-face technique

20. Social Judgment Theory • We assimilate new information about attitude objects in light of what we already know/feel • Initial attitude = frame of reference • Latitudes of acceptance and rejection • Assimilation and contrast effects • “Choosy mothers choose Jif peanut butter”

21. Balance Theory • Triad attitude structures • Person • Perception of attitude object • Perception of other person/object • Perception can be positive or negative • Balanced/harmonious triad elements • Unit relation and sentiment relation

22. Alex Larry Earring + Alex + + Larry Earring Alex + Alex + + Larry Earring + Larry Earring O Alex Larry Earring Figure 7.2: Balance Theory

23. Balance Theory (Cont’d) • Marketing Applications • “Basking in reflected glory” • Unit relation with popular product = positive sentiment relation in other people’s triads • Celebrity endorsers of products

24. INSIDECAROLINA.COM Discussion • Students often bask in reflected glory by taking credit for victories their teams earn over other colleges • Should students who just watch the games rather than play them take credit for their team’s performance?

25. Multi-attribute Attitude Models • Three elements • Attributes of AO(e.g., college) • e.g., Scholarly reputation • Beliefs about AO • e.g., University of North Carolina is strong academically • Importance weights • e.g., Stressing research opportunities over athletics

26. Fishbein Model • Most influential multi-attribute model • Three components of attitudes • Salient beliefs about AO • Object-attribute linkages • Evaluation of each important attribute • Aijk = ΣβijkIik • Overall Attitude Score = (consumer’s rating of each attribute for all brands) x (importance rating for that attribute)

27. Saundra’s College Decision Figure 7.1 (Abridged)

28. Fishbein Model (Cont’d) • Marketing applications • Capitalize on relative advantage • Strengthen perceived product/attribute linkages • Add a new attribute • Influence competitors’ ratings

29. Extended Fishbein Model • Research: low correlation between reported attitude and actual behavior • We love commercials, yet still not buy! • Theory of reasoned action • Intentions vs. behavior • Conviction and past purchase behavior • Behavioral intentions • Social pressure • SN = NB + MC • Attitude toward act of buying

30. Obstacles to Predicting Behavior • Many researchers do not use Fishbein Model appropriately • A few of the many obstacles (full list on pages 254-255): • Actual behavior vs. outcomes of behavior • Outcomes beyond consumer’s control • Voluntary vs. nonvoluntary acts across cultures • Relative impact of SNs vary across cultures

31. Trying to Consume • Theory of trying • Criterion should be trying to reach goal • Intervening factors between intent and performance • Several new components to account for act of trying

32. Theory of Trying Figure 7.3

33. Discussion • Construct a multi-attribute model for a set of local restaurants • Based on your findings, suggest how restaurant managers can improve an establishment’s image via the strategies described in this chapter

34. GALLUP.COM Tracking Attitudes over Time • Attitude-tracking program • More like a “movie” than a “snapshot” of attitudes • Ongoing tracking studies • Gallup Poll or Yankelovich Monitor • Changes to look for… • Changes in different age groups • Scenarios about the future • Identification of change agents