CB8_BabinHarris_Ch07

Attitudes and Attitude Change

  • Focus on understanding attitudes, their components, functions, and how they can be changed.

Learning Outcomes

  • Define attitudes and describe their components.

  • Explore the functions of attitudes.

  • Understand how the hierarchy of effects concept applies to attitude theory.

  • Comprehend major consumer attitude models.

  • Describe attitude change theories and their role in persuasion.

  • Investigate how message and source effects influence persuasion.

Definition of Attitudes

  • Attitudes: Relatively enduring overall evaluations of objects, products, services, issues, and people.

    • Closely related to values.

    • Consumers generally hold positive attitudes towards products that offer value.

ABC Approach to Attitudes

  • Attitudes can be analyzed through three components:

    • Affect: Emotional feelings towards an object.

    • Behavior: Actions or responses towards the object.

    • Cognitions: Beliefs or knowledge about the object.

Functional Theory of Attitudes

  • Attitudes fulfill different functions:

    • Utilitarian Function: Provides practical benefits.

    • Knowledge Function: Helps organize and interpret information.

    • Value-Expressive Function: Communicates individual values or beliefs.

    • Ego-Defensive Function: Protects self-esteem or defends against negative feelings.

Hierarchy of Effects

  • Models describing how affect, behavior, and cognitions occur in a sequence:

    • High-Involvement Hierarchy: Involves significant decisions; emotional responses follow beliefs.

    • Low-Involvement Hierarchy: Basic beliefs without strong feelings; leads to impulse purchases.

    • Experiential Hierarchy: Behaviors can occur without formed beliefs or feelings.

    • Behavioral Influence Hierarchy: Behavior precedes beliefs and feeling formation.

Multiattribute Attitude Model

  • Combines various beliefs and evaluations of attributes related to an object.

Attitude-Toward-the-Object (ATO) Model

  • Also known as the Fishbein model:

    • Key elements:

      • Salient beliefs about product attributes.

      • Strength of belief in attribute possession.

      • Evaluation of the attractiveness of the attribute.

    • Formula for predicting attitudes:

      • Ao = Attitude toward object in question.

      • bi = Strength of belief for attribute i.

      • ei = Evaluation of attractiveness of attribute i.

      • N = Total number of attributes and beliefs.

    • Compensatory Model: Lower ratings on one attribute can be offset by higher ratings on another.

Consistency in Attitude-Behavior Relationship

  • Reviews extent to which attitudes predict actual behaviors.

Behavioral Intentions Model

  • Known as the theory of reasoned action:

    • Focuses on behavioral intentions, subjective norms, and attitudes toward behaviors.

    • Formula includes:

      • B = Behavior, BI = Behavioral intention, Abehavior = Attitude toward the behavior.

    • Theory of Planned Action: Expands on this by including perceived control over the behavior.

Persuasive Techniques

  • Various approaches for influencing attitudes:

    • ATO approach, Behavioral influence approach, Schema-based affect approach, Elaboration likelihood model, Balance theory, Social judgment theory.

Message Effects & Persuasion

  • How the structure of a message impacts its persuading power:

    • Advertisers use appeals (sex, humor, fear) to enhance persuasive power.

    • Considerations include complexity of ad and comparative ads.

Source Effects

  • Various factors affecting the effectiveness of the source:

    • Credibility, attractiveness, likeability, and meaningfulness.

Key Terms

  • Attitudes, ABC approach, Functional theory, Hierarchy of effects, ATO model, Consistency, Behavioral intentions model, Attitude tracking, Persuasion, Elaboration likelihood model, Balance theory, Social judgment theory, Message effects, Source effects.

Summary

  • Components of Attitude: Include affect, behavior, and cognitions.

  • Functions of Consumer Attitudes: Include utilitarian, knowledge, value-expressive, and ego-defensive.

  • Hierarchy of Effects: High, low involvement, experiential, and behavioral influence.

  • Consumer Attitude Models: ATO and behavioral intentions models.

  • Persuasion: Affected by the message and source's effectiveness.