Chpt 6: Attitude Change - Constructs

Social Identity Theory in GenAI Advertising

Consumers see themselves and brands as part of an in-group, while GenAI may be seen as an out-group threatening human creativity.

• When a brand uses and discloses AI, consumers may feel more psychological distance and alienation = leads to more negative brand attitudes.

Related mechanisms to social identity theory

• In-group / Out-group Categorization — mentally classifying entities as belonging to “us” versus “them.”

• Psychological Distance — perceived psychological separation between the consumer and another person, group, or brand.

• Alienation — feeling psychologically disconnected or distanced from a brand or relationship.

Reciprocity

The tendency to feel obligated to return a favour or benefit after receiving something from someone else.

Example: giving someone a small gift can make them more willing to comply with a later request.

Scarcity

The tendency for something to become more desirable when it is perceived as less available.

Think: limited edition → harder to obtain → feels more valuable.

Authority

The tendency to give greater weight to information coming from a source perceived as expert, legitimate, or authoritative.

Consistency

The tendency to behave in ways that are consistent with our previous actions or commitments.

Consensus

The tendency to use other people's behaviour as information about what we should do.

• If people similar to us are doing something, we may become more likely to do the same.

Persuasion Knowledge

Consumers' beliefs and theories about how marketers are trying to persuade them.

This includes beliefs about:

○ marketer motives

○ persuasion tactics

○ whether those tactics are appropriate

○ how effective they are

○ how to cope with them

As persuasion knowledge becomes active, consumers become more vigilant toward persuasion attempts.

Persuasiveness of Reviews

Reviews that deviate from the majority opinion can sometimes be more persuasive because they may appear more thoughtful, independent, or accurate.

Example:

○ if most reviews are extremely positive, a moderately positive review may stand out more

○ if most are moderately positive, an extremely positive review may stand out more

First-Order Response

A purchase transaction that occurs after exposure to a marketing message.

Think: message → purchase

Second-Order Response

Feedback from the consumer in response to a marketing message.

Example: comments, replies, or social-media reactions.

Think: message → feedback

Source Effectiveness

The extent to which characteristics of the communicator affect their ability to persuade the consumer.

• credibility and attractiveness.

Source Credibility

The extent to which a communicator is perceived as having expertise, objectivity, and trustworthiness.

• Greater ___ can increase message believability and influence how consumers interpret future messages.

• More relevant when consumers are focused on functional/utilitarian information.

“Poison the Well” Effect

Distrust created by one persuasive message can carry over to similar messages or other advertisers, making consumers more predisposed to distrust future communications.

Source Attractiveness

The source's perceived social value.

• Consumers who are more sensitive to social acceptance may be especially influenced by attractive or socially valued endorsers.

• More relevant to hedonic/socially expressive appeals.

Endorser–Brand Fit

Persuasion tends to work better when the meaning, values, or personality of the endorser match the meaning and values of the product or brand.

Think: product/brand values ↔ endorser values

Native Advertising

Advertising designed to blend into the surrounding editorial or entertainment content, making the persuasive source less obvious.

Example: sponsored content that looks like a normal article or social-media post.

Comparative Advertising

Advertising in which a brand directly compares itself with a competitor.

• It can attract attention, but it can also make the brand's competitive motive more obvious and potentially reduce credibility.

Two-Sided Argument/refutational argument

A persuasive message that acknowledges both positive and negative information about the product rather than presenting only positive claims.

• This can sometimes increase credibility by reducing perceived bias.

Two-Factor Theory of Repetition

Repetition produces two competing psychological effects:

○ a positive learning factor

○ a negative tedium factor

Initially, repetition can improve affect through learning and familiarity, but excessive repetition eventually creates boredom and wearout.

Positive Learning Factor

Early repetition can make a message easier to learn, recognize, and process, which can improve affect.

Negative Tedium Factor

Excessive repetition creates boredom, irritation, or fatigue, reducing positive responses.

Counterarguing

The process of mentally generating arguments against a persuasive message.

If consumers counterargue heavily, persuasion becomes more difficult.

Humor may sometimes work because it can distract consumers and inhibit counterarguing.

Emotional Appeal

Persuasion that works primarily through feelings and emotional reactions and is more likely to involve heuristic processing.

Rational Appeal

Persuasion focused more on reasoning, information, and product-relevant arguments and is more likely to involve analytical processing.

Product–Appeal Fit

A persuasive appeal works better when it is psychologically congruent with the product being advertised.

Example:

○ low fit → appeal may feel irrelevant or create negative reactions

○ high fit → appeal is more likely to be effective

Humor Appeal

Humor can emerge when a message is both unexpected and incongruent with the surrounding context.

Fear Appeal Effect

Persuasion that highlights the negative consequences of failing to change an attitude or behaviour.

The relationship is not simply “more fear = more persuasion.” Moderate fear may motivate change, while too much fear can reduce effectiveness.