Marketing Attitudes, Persuasion, and Creative Strategy

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards derived from the lecture notes on consumer attitudes, persuasion models, benefits, argumentation, heuristics, and creative advertising templates.

Attitude

The way we think and feel about and act towards some aspect of our environment, such as a TV, product, or brand.

Cognitive Component

A component of attitude consisting of the holder’s beliefs about an object, such as believing Coke Zero has no calories or contains caffeine.

Affective Component

The feelings or emotional reactions to an object, represented by statements like “I like Coke Zero” or “I don't like Coke Zero”.

Behavioural Component

The tendency of an attitude holder to respond in a certain manner toward an object, such as the series of decisions to purchase or not purchase Coke Zero.

Dual Process Model

A psychological theory describing two ways of thinking: ($1$) fast, automatic, and intuitive based on shortcuts, and ($2$) slow, analytical, and logical for deliberate reflection.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A theory by Petty & Cacioppo ($1986$) explaining how people process persuasive messages based on factors like motivation, cognitive ability, and time and attention.

Central Route to Persuasion

A route taken when elaboration likelihood is high, requiring high motivation for argument-based processing, using strong evidence, data, and detailed product attributes.

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

A route taken when elaboration likelihood is low, relying on cues like source attractiveness, celebrity endorsement, emotional appeals, music, or scarcity cues.

Motivation

The psychological engine behind persuasion that determines what consumers value as important; it is essentially the activation of a need.

Product Attributes

Physical characteristics directly related to a product, such as being scratch resistant, sugar free, or made of organic cotton.

Non-product Attributes

Elements associated with a brand that are not directly related to features or performance, such as price, country of origin, or convenience.

Functional Benefits

Benefits focusing on what the product does and the functional advantages associated with its use, such as family protection or being dandruff free.

Experiential Benefits

Benefits focusing on the sensory or emotional experiences and what it feels like to use the product, such as feeling invigorated, accomplished, or excited.

Symbolic Benefits

Benefits focusing on extrinsic advantages, deeper meaning, and social identity, such as expressing personal success or being planet-minded.

Laddering

A working method used to move from product attributes to deep motivation to develop an advertising message proposition.

Implicit Argumentation

A style of persuasion that relies on audience inference through storytelling, visuals, or repeated examples without making direct claims.

Deductive Reasoning

A logical process moving from general rules to specific conclusions ($\text{Broad to Specific}$) often used for safety and compliance messaging.

Inductive Reasoning

A process that builds general conclusions from specific examples like testimonials ($\text{Specific to Broad}$) where the conclusion is probable but not guaranteed.

Paradox

A persuasive device used to arouse reflective thought by presenting an apparent contradiction that seems illogical at first sight, such as “The more you use it, the more you save” for a light bulb.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts used to quickly influence decision making without requiring significant mental effort, categorized into cognitive (internal) and social (external) types.

Framing

Technique used to influence decisions based on whether a message is presented as a gain (e.g., $80 \text{ per cent}$ lean beef) or a loss (e.g., $20 \text{ per cent}$ fat beef).

Price-Quality Heuristic

A mental shortcut where consumers use a higher price as an indicator for high quality, trustworthiness, or prestige.

Familiarity Heuristic

The tendency to choose recognized brands over unknown ones because they feel safe and comfortable; trust is built via repeated exposure to logos or slogans.

Social Proof

A social heuristic showing an offering is popular or trusted, making consumers feel safe to follow the crowd, often using bestseller claims or $5\text{-star}$ reviews.

Reciprocity

A heuristic that motivates action by offering an upfront gift or benefit, based on the consumer's desire to give something back in return.

Liking Heuristic

A heuristic used to make consumers feel emotionally connected to a brand through relatable role models or celebrities they admire, such as Natalie Portman for Tiffany & Co.

Single-minded Proposition (SMP)

A promise expressed in the creative brief that clearly identifies the benefit as the answer to the tension found in a human insight.

Unification Template

A creative strategy where an available element of the medium itself is used to deliver the message, such as using a bus window or a magazine page's movement.

Activation Template

A creative strategy that requires the audience to do something mentally or physically as a resource to reveal the message.

Metaphor Template

A creative strategy identifying an object or action with a recognized symbol to explain an idea, such as representing a tea bag as a pillow for relaxation.

Subtraction Template

A creative strategy where elements of the medium or product normally considered indispensable are deliberately excluded to strengthen the message.

Inversion Template

A creative strategy that suggests how horrible the world would be without the advertised product through negative or exaggerated scenarios.

Extreme Consequences Template

An idea created by exaggerating the benefit of a product to an extreme or absurd proportion.

Extreme Effort Template

A creative strategy presenting the exaggerated effort a company makes to please a customer or the absurd lengths a consumer goes to obtain a product.

Absurd Alternative Template

A strategy that presents a highly outlandish and impractical alternative to the brand being offered to highlight its specific benefit.

Media Channel

The broad category or type of media used, such as Television, Print, Radio, Outdoor, or Social Media.

Media Vehicle

The specific platform within a channel where a message appears, such as a specific newspaper, Instagram, or a Free-to-air TV station.

Media Vehicle Environment

The specific setting within a platform that shapes credibility and attention, such as a cooking competition program like MasterChef Australia for a food brand.