Chapter 7 Attitudes

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Chapter 7Attitudes
By Michael R. Solomon
Consumer Behavior Buying, Having, and Being Sixth
Edition
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Opening Vignette Soccer

• How do Jan and Terri differ in their attitudes
  toward soccer?
• Jan and Nancy are both soccer fans. How are they
  different?
• Which one of the three is the most likely target
  for ads promoting soccer?
• Is Nancy likely to convert to become a soccer
  fan?

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The Power of Attitudes

• Attitude
• A lasting, general evaluation of people
  (including oneself), objects, advertisements, or
  issues
• Anything toward which one has an attitude is
  called an object (Ao).
• Attitudes are lasting because they tend to endure
  over time.

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The Functions of Attitudes

• Functional Theory of Attitudes
• Attitudes exist because they serve some function
  for the person (i.e., they are determined by a
  persons motives)
• Katzs Attitude Functions
• Utilitarian function
• Value-expressive function
• Ego-defensive function
• Knowledge function

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Addressing Smoking Attitudes

• This Norwegian ad addresses young peoples
  smoking attitudes by arousing strong negative
  feelings. The ad reads (left panel) Smokers are
  more sociable than others. (Right panel) While
  it lasts.

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The ABC Model of Attitudes

• Affect
• The way a consumer feels about an attitude object
• Behavior
• Involves the persons intentions to do something
  with regard to an attitude object
• Cognition
• The beliefs a consumer has about an attitude
  object
• Hierarchy of Effects
• A fixed sequence of steps that occur en route to
  an attitude

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Attitudes as ABC
ATTITUDE BASED ON
cognitive information processing
behavior
behavioral learning process
behavior
hedonic consumption
behavior
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Three Hierarchies of Effects
Figure 7.1
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Attitude Hierarchies

• The Standard Learning Hierarchy
• Consumer approaches a product decision as a
  problem-solving process
• The Low-Involvement Hierarchy
• Consumer does not have strong initial preference
• Consumer acts on limited knowledge
• Consumer forms an evaluation only after product
  trial
• The Experiential Hierarchy
• Consumers act on the basis of their emotional
  reactions

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Experiential Hierarchy

• Emotional Contagion
• Emotions expressed by the communicator of a
  marketing message affect the attitude toward the
  product
• Cognitive-Affective Model
• Argues that an affective judgment is the last
  step in a series of cognitive processes
• Independence Hypothesis
• Takes the position that affect and cognition
  involve two separate, independent systems

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Smith and Wollensky

• This ad for New Yorks famous Smith Wollensky
  restaurant emphasizes that marketers and others
  associated with a product or service are often
  more involved with it than are their consumers.

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Product Attitudes Dont Tell the Whole Story

• Attitude Toward the Advertisement (Aad)
• A predisposition to respond in a favorable or
  unfavorable manner to a particular advertising
  stimulus during a particular exposure occasion
• Ads Have Feelings Too
• Three emotional dimensions
• Pleasure, arousal, and intimidation
• Specific types of feelings that can be generated
  by an ad
• Upbeat feelings Amused, delighted, playful
• Warm feelings Affectionate, contemplative,
  hopeful
• Negative feelings Critical, defiant, offended

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Discussion Question

• Sexually suggestive scenes like the one depicted
  in this ad for Union Bay clothing can generate
  feelings that affect brand attitudes.
• What specific types of feelings or responses can
  this type of advertisement elicit? How will this
  scene affect the attitude toward the ad?

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Forming Attitudes

• Not All Attitudes are Created Equal
• Levels of Commitment to an Attitude The degree
  of commitment is related to the level of
  involvement with an attitude object
• Compliance
• Identification
• Internalization
• The Consistency Principle
• Principle of Cognitive Consistency Consumers
  value harmony among their thoughts, feelings or
  behaviors to be consistent with other experiences

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Levels of Attitudinal Commitment

• By describing Cadillac as my company, the woman
  in this ad exhibits a high level of attitudinal
  commitment to her employer.

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Forming Attitudes (cont.)

• Cognitive Dissonance and Harmony among Attitudes
• Theory of Cognitive Dissonance When a person is
  confronted with inconsistencies among attitudes
  or behaviors, he or she will take action to
  reduce the dissonance by changing an attitude or
  modifying a behavior.
• Self-Perception Theory
• People maintain consistency by inferring that
  they must maintain a positive attitude toward a
  product they have bought or consumed
• Foot-in-the-door technique
• Sales strategy based on the observation that
  consumers will comply with a request if they have
  first agreed to comply with a smaller request

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Attitudinal Commitment

• This ad for a magazine illustrates that consumers
  often distort information so that it fits with
  what they already believe or think they know.

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Social Judgment Theory

• Social Judgment Theory
• People assimilate new information about Aos
  based on what they already know or feel.
• Attitudes of Acceptance and Rejection People
  differ in the information they find acceptable or
  unacceptable.
• Assimilation effect Messages that fall within
  the latitude of acceptance tend to be seen as
  more consistent with ones position than they
  actually are
• Contrast effect Messages falling within the
  latitude of rejection tend to be seen as being
  farther from ones position than they actually are

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Balance Theory

• Triad
• An attitude structure consisting of three
  elements
• (1) A person and his/her perceptions of
• (2) an attitude object, and
• (3) some other person or object
• Unit relation
• An element is seen as belonging to or being part
  of the other
• Sentiment relation
• Two elements are linked because one has expressed
  a preference for the other
• Marketing Applications of Balance Theory
• Celebrity endorsements

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Alternative Routes to Restoring Balance in a
Triad
Figure 7.2
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Discussion Question

• Consumer researchers understand that consumers
  like to bask in the reflected glory of
  successful college athletic programs by wearing
  merchandise adorned with logos like the ones on
  the right.
• How do the different attitude theories explain
  this consumer phenomenon?

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Attitude Models

• Attitude Models
• Specify the different elements that might work
  together to influence peoples evaluations of
  Aos
• Multiattribute Models
• Model that assumes a consumers Ao will depend on
  the beliefs he or she has about several
  attributes toward the object
• Multiattribute Models Specify 3 Elements
• Attributes
• Beliefs
• Importance Weights

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Attitude Models

• Choosing products
• We often choose products because of their
  association with a certain lifestyle.
• Goal of Lifestyle Marketing
• To allow consumers to pursue their chosen ways to
  enjoy life and express their social identities.
• Adopting Lifestyle Marketing
• Implies that we must look at patterns of behavior
  to understand consumers

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The Fishbein Model (Theory of Planned Behavior)

• Measures 3 components of attitude
• (1) Salient Beliefs
• (2) Object-attribute linkages
• (3) Evaluation
• Assumptions of the Fishbein Model
• Ability to specify all relevant choice attributes
• Identification, weight, and summing of attributes
• Affect referral
• A process by which a consumers overall attitude
  is formed by an overall affective response

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The Fishbein Equation

• The Basic Formula
• Aijk SßijkIik
• Where
• i attribute
• j brand
• k consumer
• I the importance weight given attribute I by
  consumer k
• ß consumer ks belief regarding the extent to
  which brand j possesses attribute I
• A a particular consumers (ks) attitude score
  for brand j

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Multi Attribute Models TPB
Fishbein Ajzen model (theory of planned
behaviour)
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Theory of Planned Behavior
0.44
attitude to quitting smoking
intention to quit smoking
attempts to quit smoking
0.32
0.35
confidence about quitting smoking
0.33
previous attempts at quitting smoking
0.09
Co-efficients relating attitude, confidence and
previous attempts to intention and later quitting
smoking Sutton et al 1986, in East
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The Basic Multiattribute Model
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Strategic Applications of the Multiattribute Model

• Capitalize on Relative Advantage
• Strengthen Perceived Product/Attribute Linkages
• Add a New Attribute
• Influence Competitors Ratings

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Using Attitudes to Predict Behavior

• In many cases, knowledge of a persons attitude
  is not a very good predictor of behavior
• Questionable link between attitude and behavior
• Consumers love a commercial, but dont buy the
  product
• The Extended Fishbein Model
• Called the Theory of Reasoned Action
• Contains several important additions to the
  original, which improve its ability to predict
  behavior

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The Theory of Reasoned Action

• Intentions Versus Behavior
• Social Pressure
• Subjective Norm (SN)
• Normative Belief (NB) Belief that others believe
  an action should or should not be taken
• Motivation to Comply (MC) Degree to which
  consumers take into account anticipated reactions
• Attitude Toward Buying
• Attitude toward the act of buying (Aact)
• How someone feels about buying due to the
  perceived consequences of a purchase

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Obstacles to Predicting Behavior in the Theory of
Reasoned Action

• Model is misapplied
• Other obstacles
• Model deals with actual behavior, not outcomes
• Some outcomes are beyond the consumers control
• The assumption of behavior as intentional may be
  invalid in some cases
• Attitude measures dont correspond to the
  behavior they are supposed to predict
• Too large a time frame between attitude measure
  and behavior measure
• Attitude accessibility perspective
• Behavior is a function of the persons immediate
  perceptions of the Ao

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Cultural Roadblocks to the Theory of Reasoned
Action

• Roadblocks that diminish the universality of the
  theory
• Model was designed to predict voluntary acts
• The relative impact of subject norms varies
  across cultures
• The model assumes that consumers are actively
  thinking ahead and planning behaviors
• A consumer that forms an intention claims that he
  or she is in control of his or her actions

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Trying to Consume

• Theory of Trying to Consume
• States that the criterion of behavior in the
  reasoned action model should be replaced with
  trying to reach a goal
• Sample issues that might be addressed
• Past frequency
• Recency
• Beliefs
• Evaluations of consequences
• The process
• Expectations of success and failure
• Subjective norms toward trying

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Theory of Trying (TT)
Figure 7.3
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Tracking Attitudes over Time

• Attitude-tracking program
• An single-attitude survey is a snapshot in time
• A program allows researchers to analyze attitude
  trends during an extended period of time
• Ongoing Tracking Studies
• Attitude tracking involves administration of a
  survey at regular intervals (e.g. Gallup Poll,
  Yankelovich Monitor)
• This activity is valuable for making strategic
  decisions

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Attitude Changes over Time

• Changes to Look for over Time
• Changes in different age groups
• Attitudes change with age
• Historical effects
• Scenarios about the future
• Consumers tracked in terms of future plans,
  confidence in economy, and so on
• Identification of change agents
• Social phenomena can alter peoples attitudes

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Changing Attitudes
Percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who agree We
must take radical action to cut down on how we
use our cars.
Figure 7.4
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Attitude Measurements

• playing the National Lottery is
• if I play the National Lottery I will win (belief
  - perceived likelihood)
• winning the National Lottery is (evaluation
  outcome)

bad -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 good
unlikely -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 likely
bad -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 good
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Attitude Measurements

• I intend to play the National Lottery next week
  (behavioral intention)
• my friends this I should play the National
  Lottery (normative belief)
• I do what my friend think I should do (motivation
  to comply)

unlikely -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 likely
unlikely -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 likely
unlikely -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 likely
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Attitude Measurements

• I can play the National Lottery more easily if I
  understand the system (action)
• I understand the system for playing the National
  Lottery (control)

unlikely -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 likely
unlikely -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 likely