Attitudes and Persuation


 WHAT ARE ATTITUDES?

An attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a
consistently favorable or unfavorable way with respect
to a given object.

Consumer attitude may be defined as a feeling of

favorableness or unfavorableness that an individual
has towards an object. Consumer attitude basically
comprises of beliefs towards, feelings towards and
behavioral intentions towards some objects.
 The attitude ‘object’

The word object in our consumer-oriented definition
of attitude should be interpreted broadly to include
specific consumption- or marketing-related concepts,
such as product, product category, brand, service,
possessions, product use, causes or issues, people,
advertisement, Internet site, price, medium or retailer.
 Attitudes are learned
predispositions

There is general agreement that attitudes are learned. This
means that attitudes relevant to purchase behavior are formed as
a result of direct experience with the product, word-of-mouth
information acquired from others, or exposure to mass-media
advertising, the Internet and various forms of direct marketing
(e.g. a retailer’s catalogue). It is important to remember that
although attitudes may result from behavior, they are not
synonymous with behavior. Instead, they reflect either a
favorable or an unfavorable evaluation of the attitude object. As
learned predispositions, attitudes have a motivational quality,
that is, they might propel a consumer towards a particular
behavior or repel the consumer away from a particular behavior.
 Attitudes have consistency

Another characteristic of attitudes is that they are
relatively consistent with the behavior they reflect.
However, despite their consistency, attitudes are not
necessarily permanent; they do change.
 Attitudes occur within a situation

It is not immediately evident from our definition
that attitudes occur within and are affected by the
situation. By situation, we mean events or
circumstances that, at a particular time, influence the
relationship between an attitude and a behavior. A
specific situation can cause consumers to behave in
ways seemingly inconsistent with their attitudes.
 Functional theory of attitudes

 Utilitarian function—The utilitarian function relates to the basic principles of reward and
punishment. We develop some attitudes toward products simply because they provide
pleasure or pain. If a person likes the taste of a cheeseburger, that person will develop a
positive attitude toward cheeseburgers. Ads that stress straightforward product benefits (e.g.,
you should drink Diet Coke “just for the taste of it”) appeal to the utilitarian function.
 Value-expressive function—Attitudes that perform a value-expressive function relate to the
consumer’s central values or self-concept. Value-expressive attitudes also are highly relevant
to the psychographic analyses, which consider how consumers cultivate a cluster of activities,
interests, and opinions to express a particular social identity.
 Ego-defensive function—Attitudes we form to protect ourselves either from external threats
or internal feelings perform an ego-defensive function. An early marketing study showed
that housewives resisted the use of instant coffee because it threatened their conception of
themselves as capable homemakers.
 Knowledge function—We form some attitudes because we need order, structure, or
meaning. A knowledge function applies when a person is in an ambiguous situation (“it’s
OK to wear casual pants to work, but only on Friday”) or she confronts a new product (e.g.,
“Bayer wants you to know about pain relievers”).
STRUCTURAL MODELS OF
ATTITUDES

 Class Assignment

 Give examples of the three hierarchies of effects.
 Hierarchies of Effects

 The Standard Learning Hierarchy
Think → Feel → Do: The standard learning hierarchy
assumes that a person approaches a product decision as a
problem-solving process. as cognitive decision-making. First, she
forms beliefs about a product as she accumulates knowledge
(beliefs) regarding relevant attributes. Next, she evaluates these
beliefs and forms a feeling about the product (affect).6 Then she
engages in a relevant behavior, such as when she buys a product
that offers the attributes she feels good about. This hierarchy
assumes that a consumer is highly involved when she makes a
purchase decision. She’s motivated to seek out a lot of information,
carefully weigh alternatives, and come to a thoughtful decision.
 Hierarchies of Effects

 The Low-Involvement Hierarchy
Do → Feel → Think: The low-involvement hierarchy of
effects assumes that the consumer initially doesn’t have a strong
preference for one brand over another; instead, she acts on the
basis of limited knowledge and forms an evaluation only after she
has bought the product. The attitude is likely to come about
through behavioral learning, as good or bad experiences reinforce
her initial choice. So, this sequence corresponds to the model of
habitual decision-making
 Hierarchies of Effects

 The Experiential Hierarchy
Feel →Do→Think: According to the experiential hierarchy of
effects, we act on the basis of our emotional reactions. The
experiential perspective highlights the idea that intangible
product attributes, such as package design, advertising, brand
names, and 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, such as whether using the
product is exciting (like the Nintendo Wii). This sequence
corresponds to the process of affective decision-making
Tricomponent attitude model

 The Cognitive Component

The first part of the tricomponent attitude model consists of a
person’s cognitions, that is, the knowledge and perceptions that
are acquired by a combination of direct experience with the
attitude object and related information from various sources. This
knowledge and resulting perceptions commonly take the form of
beliefs; that is, the consumer believes that the attitude object
possesses various attributes and that specific behavior will lead to
specific outcomes.
 The Affective Component

A consumer’s emotions or feelings about a particular product
or brand constitute the affective component of an attitude. These
emotions and feelings are frequently treated by consumer
researchers as primarily evaluative in nature; that is, they capture
an individual’s direct or global assessment of the attitude object
(the extent to which the individual rates the attitude object as
‘favorable’ or ‘unfavorable’, ‘good’ or ‘bad’).
 The Conative Component

Conation, the final component of the tricomponent attitude
model, is concerned with the likelihood or tendency that an
individual will undertake a specific action or behave in a
particular way with regard to the attitude object. According to
some interpretations, the conative component may include the
actual behavior itself.
In marketing and consumer research, the conative component
is frequently treated as an expression of the consumer’s intention
to buy. Buyer intention scales are used to assess the likelihood of a
consumer purchasing a product or behaving in a certain way.
 All Attitudes Are Not Created
Equal

 Compliance—At the lowest level of involvement, compliance,
we form an attitude because it helps us to gain rewards or
avoid punishment.
 Identification—Identification occurs when we form an
attitude to conform to another person’s or group’s expectations.
 Internalization—At a high level of involvement we call
internalization, deep seated attitudes become part of our value
system. These attitudes are very difficult to change because
they are so important to us.
 The Consistency Principle

According to the principle of cognitive consistency, we value
harmony among our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and a need
to maintain uniformity among these elements motivates us. This
desire means that, if necessary, we change our thoughts, feelings,
or behaviors to make them consistent with other experiences.
The theory of cognitive dissonance states that when a person
is confronted with inconsistencies among attitudes or behaviors,
he will take some action to resolve this “dissonance”; perhaps he
will change his attitude or modify his behavior to restore
consistency.
 Multi-attribute attitude models

Multi-attribute attitude models portray consumers’ attitudes
with regard to an attitude object (e.g. a product, a service, a direct-
mail catalogue, a cause or an issue) as a function of consumers’
perception and assessment of the key attributes or beliefs held
with regard to the particular attitude object.
 The Attitude Towards Object
Model

The attitude towards object model is especially suitable for
measuring attitudes towards a product (or service) category or
specific brands. According to this model, the consumer’s attitude
towards a product or specific brands of a product is a function of
the presence (or absence) and evaluation of certain product-
specific beliefs and/or attributes. In other words, consumers
generally have favorable attitudes towards those brands that they
believe have an adequate level of attributes that they evaluate as
positive, and they have unfavorable attitudes towards those
brands they feel do not have an adequate level of desired
attributes or have too many negative or undesired attributes.
 Salient beliefs and Attitude
All beliefs about Crest Salient beliefs about
Crest
• Crest has fluoride • Crest has fluoride Attitude
• Crest is approved by the • Crest has mint flavor toward Crest
American Dental Association • Crest comes in a gel
• Crest has mint flavor • Crest comes in a pump
• Crest comes in a gel container
• Crest is made by Procter & • Crest has a tartar-control
Gamble formula
• Crest has a red, white, and
blue package
• Crest prevents cavities
• Crest freshens breath
• Crest gets teeth clean
• Crest comes in tubes
• Crest comes in a pump
container
• Crest is more expensive than
store brands
• Crest is what my parents use
• Crest has a tartar-control
formula
Salient beliefs and Attitude

Has mint
Has flavor
fluoride Comes in a
gel

Crest
Comes in a
pump

Has a tartar-control
formula
 Understanding Attitudes

Attitudes depend on two things:

 The strength of salient beliefs

 The evaluation of the salient beliefs

 Multiattribute Models

Basic multiattribute models contain three specific elements:

 Attributes are characteristics of the Ao. A researcher tries to identify the attributes that
most consumers use when they evaluate the Ao. For example, one of a college’s
attributes is its scholarly reputation.
 Beliefs are cognitions about the specific Ao (usually relative to others like it). A belief
measure assesses the extent to which the consumer perceives that a brand possesses a
particular attribute. For example, a student might believe that the University of North
Carolina is strong academically (or maybe this is consistency theory at work, since your
humble author got his PhD there!).
 Importance weights reflect the relative priority of an attribute to the consumer.
Although people might consider an Ao on a number of attributes, some attributes are
likely to be more important than others (i.e., consumers will give them greater weight).
Furthermore, these weights are likely to differ across consumers. In the case of colleges
and universities, for example, one student might stress research opportunities, whereas
another might assign greater weight to athletic programs.
 The Fischbein Model.

The Multi-attribute Model

 It is a mathematical way of expressing the concept of

attitudes.

 Multiply the strength of each salient belief with the

corresponding evaluation.

 Add it all up. You now have a numerical

representation of attitude.
Multi-attribute Attitude Model

No caffeine
b1 = 10
e1 = +3
b2 = 5
All natural
7up ingredients
e2 = +1
b3 = 8

Ao = 27 Lemon-lime
flavor
e3 = -1
 Changing Attitudes

 Increase strength of positive salient belief
 Decrease strength of negative salient belief

 Make a less-salient positive belief more salient

 Improve the evaluation of strong salient belief

 Changing negative to positive is hard.

 Add a new salient belief that will be positively

evaluated.
Measuring Evaluation Component

“Sodas that have no caffeine”

Very Bad -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 Very Good

“Sodas with cola flavor”

Very Bad -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 Very Good
 Measuring Belief Component

“Diet Pepsi has no caffeine”

Strongly Disagree 1—2—3—4—5—6—7—8—9--10 Strongly Agree

“Diet Pepsi has cola flavor”

Strongly Disagree 1—2—3—4—5—6—7—8—9--10 Strongly Agree
 Attitude – Behavior Link

 Does a positive attitude mean favorable behavior.

 No.

 This relationship is examined in the Theory of

Reasoned Action – a model of behavior that explains
how attitudes link to behavior.
 The Attitude Towards Behavior
Model

The attitude towards behavior model is the individual’s
attitude towards behaving or acting with respect to an object
rather than the attitude towards the object itself. The appeal of the
attitude towards behavior model is that it seems to correspond
somewhat more closely to actual behavior than does the attitude
towards object model.
 Beliefs, Attitude, and Behaviors
Beliefs about Pizza Behaviors toward Pizza
Hut Hut

• Has pan pizzas • Go to Pizza Hut on

• Has super supreme Friday night
pizzas Attitude • Order a large pan pizza
• Has a salad bar toward • Complain to manager
• Serves beer Pizza Hut • Ignore Pizza Hut ad on
• Is more expensive than Ao TV
Domino’s • Use a Pizza Hut coupon
• Has convenient for a free soft drink
location • Recommend Pizza Hut
• Has free parking to boss
• Has pleasant • Read Pizza Hut menu
employees
• Has nice atmosphere

Feedback
The Theory of Reasoned Action
Model

 The Theory of Reasoned Action
Model

Fishbein recognized that people’s attitudes toward an object may not be
strongly or systematically related to their specific behaviors. Rather, the
immediate determinant of whether consumers will engage in a particular
behavior is their intention to engage in that behavior. Fishbein modified and
extended his multiattribute attitude model to relate consumers’ beliefs and
attitudes to their behavioral intentions.
The model is called a theory of reasoned action because it assumes that
consumers consciously consider the consequences of the alternative behaviors
under consideration and choose the one that leads to the most desirable
consequences. The outcome of this reasoned choice process is an intention to
engage in the selected behavior. This behavioral intention is the single best
predictor of actual behavior. In sum, the theory of reasoned action proposes
that any reasonably complex, voluntary behavior (such as buying a pair of
shoes) is determined by the person’s intention to perform that behavior.
 The Theory of Reasoned Action
Model

Model Components.
Behaviors are specific actions directed at some target object (driving
to the store, buying a swimsuit, looking for a lost Bic pen). Behaviors
always occur in a situational context or environment and at a particular
time (at home right now, in the grocery store this afternoon, or at an
unspecified location in your town next week). Marketers need to be
clear about these aspects of the behavior of interest because the
components of the theory of reasoned action must be defined and
measured in terms of these specific features.
Basically a behavioral intention ( BI ) is a proposition connecting
self and a future action: “I intend to go shopping this Saturday.” One
can think of an intention as a plan to engage in a specified behavior in
order to reach a goal.
 The Theory of Reasoned Action
Model

Model Components.
Attitude toward the behavior reflects the consumer’s overall
evaluation of performing the behavior. Marketers measure the
strengths and evaluations of the salient beliefs about the
consequences of a behavior in the same way they measure beliefs
about product attributes.
The subjective or social norm component reflects consumers’
perceptions of what other people want them to do.
Motivation to comply is measured by asking consumers to rate
how much they want to conform to other people’s desires: