Happy hours in a bar: An attitude adjustment period.
What is your attitude toward drinking alcohol?
Attitude =
Altitude
I don’t like your attitude, Don’t give me this attitude

Attitudes: Definitions…
“Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to an object or class of objects in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way.”
“Attitudes are lasting , general evaluations of people, products, advertisements or issues (Attitude object)”
Are all positive attitudes similar?
INTENSITY DIFFERENCES
Any neutral attitude?
NO ATTITUDES (VALENCE)

Are Attitudes Important for Marketers ?
Mainly important for 2 reasons…
Important role in explaining and predicting behavior toward products and services. Attitudes are closely related to behavioral intention.
Attitude toward a product may also help to evaluate responsiveness to communication from the company.

Utilitarian function: support in decision making.
Value-expressive function: what does the attitude say about me.
Ego-defensive function: strengthen self aspects.
Knowledge function: fullfill need for order, structure or meaning

Attitudes Vary Along a Number of
Dimensions
THE LINGO
 Favorability
 Accessibility
 Strength/confidence
 Persistence
 Resistance to attack
SAY WHAT??
“I like it a lot.”
“I can remember my attitude toward it.”
“I’m sure I like it.”
“I’ve liked it for a long time and will continue to like it.”
“I’ll like it no matter what anyone says about it.”

Preferences: represent attitudes toward one object in relation to another (way to measure attitudes)
Attitude toward the object:
How much do you like/dislike IBM computers?
Like very much 1 2 3 4 5 Dislike very much
Preference:
Compared to Apple personal computers, how much do you like IBM personal computers?
Like IBM much 1 2 3 4 5 Like Apple much more than Apple more than IBM

Cognitive
Attitudes Components
Based on the knowledge the person has about the attitude object.
Affective
Based on the feelings regarding the attitude object.
Behavioral
Based on the behavioral tendencies toward the attitude object.
What about attitudes formation?

Attitude
Component
Cognitions or
Beliefs
Affect or
Feelings
Conations or
Actions
Attitude Object
Dhl, For Shipping A
Business’s Small Packages
• DHL is very reliable in its service.
• DHL is more economical than other package carrier services.
• DHL is able to customize its service to my shipping needs.
• When I ship by DHL, I feel secure.
• I am very happy to be suing DHL for my shipping needs.
• I don’t care if DHL goes out of business.
• I use DHL for my shipping more than I use other carriers.
• I am often recommending DHL to other business associates.
• I am looking for alternative carriers.
Shopping For Airline
Tickets On The Internet
• For my airline tickets, shopping on the internet is very convenient.
• You can find the cheapest fares by shopping on the internet.
• Internet based travel agents do not offer you a comprehensive set of airline and flight options.
• Shopping on the Internet is:
(please circle as many as apply)
Totally cool Boring Confusing
A pain in the neck Enjoyable Terrible
• I have used Internet for my travel airline tickets recently.
• I often search Internet for planning my travel itinerary.

Cognitive
Component
Attitude
Affective
Component
Behavioral
Component

Belief Affect
Behavioral
Intention
Attitude

Hierarchy of Effects.

 Central processing route
– The customer attends to and scrutinizes message content actively and thoughtfully
 Peripheral processing route
– The consumer attends to the message only cursorily, and tends to make quick inferences by simply looking at the elements in the ad

Exhibit 6.2: General Approaches to
Attitude Formation and Change

Attitudes Formation
Key Aspect: The Consistency principle
Cognitive dissonance theory (opposed cognitive information, eliminate, add or distort)
Self-perception Theory (maintain equilibrium, low implication, use my behavior to assess my attitude)
Social Judgment Theory (maintain equilibrium in reference to a framework, latitude of acceptation, assimilation-contrast)
Balance Theory (balanced triads)

The Role of Beliefs in Attitude
Formation
The Fishbein Model
Model proposes that attitude toward an object is based on the
summed set of beliefs about the
object’s attributes weighted by the evaluation of these attributes

The Role of Beliefs in Attitude
Formation
The Fishbein Model n
A o
= Σ b i
I i
i =1
A o
= attitude toward object b i
= strength of the belief that object has attribute i
I i
= Importance of attribute i n = number of salient or important attributes

USD

Attitude Model
Strategic Application of multiattribute model
Capitalize on relative Advantage.
Strengthen Perceived Product/Attribute Linkages
Add a new attribute
Influence competitors’ ratings

Communicating the Presence of
Desirable Attributes

Communicating the Absence of
Undesirable Attributes

Exhibit 6.4:
Expectancy-Valued model: The Theory of Reasoned Action

 The Message
– Argument Quality

Strong Arguments
– One- Versus Two-Sided Messages
 One-Sided Messages
 Two-Sided Messages
– Comparative Messages

 Communication Source
– Spokesperson Credibility

Credibility
– Company Reputation

 Depends on Credibility
–
–
–
Trustworthiness
Expertise
Status / Prestige
The higher the credibility, the greater the attitude change (especially with opposed consumer)
Less impact on more knowledgeable consumers

 Overexposure
– When celebrity endorses too many products
(reduces effectiveness)
 Celebrity Behavior
– Madonna, Mike Tyson, Michael Jackson

 Simple Inferences
 Heuristics
 Frequency Heuristic

 Affective Involvement
 Affective Responses
 Emotional Appeals

 The Source
– Attractiveness
– Match-up Hypothesis
 The Message
– Emotional Appeals
– Fear Appeals

 The Mere Exposure Effect
– Wearout
 Classical Conditioning

High
Involvement
Commercial and Attitudes:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Cognition Affect
Low
Involvement