Chapter 7
Attitudes
By Michael R. Solomon
Consumer Behavior
Buying, Having, and Being
Sixth Edition
7-1
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?
7-2
WUSA Soccer
7-3
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.
7-4
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 person’s motives)
• Katz’s Attitude Functions
– Utilitarian function - based on reward and punishment
– Value-expressive function - goes to the consumer’s
central values or self- concept.
– Ego-defensive function - protects the person from threats
or internal feelings.
– Knowledge function - the need for order, meaning, and
structure.
7-5
Clorox Uses A
Utilitarian Appeal
7-6
Suave Uses
Ego Defensive
Appeal
7-7
AC Delco Uses
a ValueExpressive
Appeal
7-8
A Knowledge
Appeal
7-9
Addressing Smoking Attitudes
• This Norwegian ad addresses young people’s 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 person’s 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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Conation
Affect
Cognition
7 - 12
The Tricomponent Model
• Cognitive Component
– The knowledge and perceptions that are acquired by a
combination of direct experience with the attitude object
and related information from various sources.
• Affective Component
– A consumer’s emotions or feelings about a particular
product or brand.
• Conative Component
– The likelihood or tendency that an individual will
undertake a specific action or behave in a particular way
with regard to the attitude object.
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A Simple Representation of the Tricomponent
Attitude Model
7 - 14
Hierarchy of Effects Model
Cognitive
Awareness
Affective
Knowledge
Conative
Liking
Preference
Conviction
Purchase
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Personal Values
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
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



Comfortable life
Equality
Excitement
Freedom
Fun, exciting life
Happiness
Inner peace
Mature love
Personal
accomplishment
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Pleasure
Salvation
Security
Self-fulfillment
Self-respect
Sense of belonging
Social acceptance
Wisdom
7 - 17
7 - 18
Message Strategies
Cognitive
Affective
Conative
Brand
• Generic
• Preemptive
• Unique Selling
Proposition
• Hyperbole
• Comparative
7 - 19
An advertisement
by Bonne Bell using
the unique selling
proposition.
7 - 20
Cognitive
Affective
Conative
Brand
• Resonance
• Emotional
7 - 21
Advertisement by
Cheerios using a
resonance,
affective message
strategy.
7 - 22
Message Strategies
Cognitive
Affective
Conative
Brand
• Action-inducing
• Promotional support
7 - 23
An advertisement
by Fisher Boy
encouraging
consumers to
enter the contest.
7 - 24
Message Strategies
Cognitive
Affective
•
•
•
•
Conative
Brand
Brand user
Brand image
Brand usage
Corporate
7 - 25
An advertisement by Skechers
using a brand image message strategy.
7 - 26
Message Strategies and Hierarchy of
Effects Model
Hierarchy of Effects Model Message Strategies
 Awareness
 Knowledge
 Liking
 Preference
Conviction
 Actual purchase
 Cognitive strategies
 Affective strategies
 Conative strategies
 Brand strategies
7 - 27
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
7 - 28
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
7 - 29
Smith and Wollensky
• This ad for New York’s
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.
7 - 30
Product Attitudes Don’t
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
7 - 31
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?
7 - 32
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 - formed to gain reward or avoid punishment.
• Identification - formed to be similar to others
• Internalization - has to become part of a person’s value
system (hard to change once formed)
– The Consistency Principle:
• Principle of Cognitive Consistency: Consumers value
harmony among their thoughts, feelings or behaviors
to be consistent with other experiences
7 - 33
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.
7 - 34
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
7 - 35
Strategies of Attitude Change
• Changing the Basic Motivational
Function
• Associating the Product With an
Admired Group or Event
• Resolving Two Conflicting Attitudes
• Altering Components of the
Multiattribute Model
• Changing Beliefs About Competitors’
Brands
7 - 36
Social Judgment Theory
• Social Judgment Theory:
– People assimilate new information about Ao’s
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 one’s position than they actually are
• Contrast effect: Messages falling within the latitude of
rejection tend to be seen as being farther from one’s
position than they actually are
7 - 38
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
7 - 39
Alternative Routes to
Restoring Balance in a Triad
Figure 7.2
7 - 40
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?
7 - 41
Attitude Models
• Attitude Models:
– Specify the different elements that might work together to
influence people’s evaluations of Ao’s
• Multiattribute Models:
– Model that assumes a consumer’s Ao will depend on the
beliefs he or she has about several attributes toward the
object
• Multiattribute Models Specify 3 Elements:
– Attributes - characteristics of the attitude object
– Beliefs - cognitions about the specific attitude object
– Importance Weights - reflects the priority consumers
place on the object.
7 - 42
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
7 - 43
The Fishbein Model
• Measures 3 components of attitude:
– (1) Salient Beliefs - those beliefs about the object
that are considered during evaluation
– (2) Object-attribute linkages - the probability that a
particular object has an important attribute
– (3) Evaluation - of each of the important attributes
• Assumptions of the Fishbein Model:
– Ability to specify all relevant choice attributes
– Identification, weight, and summing of attributes
7 - 44
Strategic applications of the multi-attribute model would
include:
• 1) Capitalize on relative advantage.
• 2) Strengthen perceived product/attribute
linkages.
• 3) Add a new attribute.
7 - 45
The Basic Multiattribute Model
7 - 47
Strategic Applications of the
Multiattribute Model
• Capitalize on Relative Advantage
• Strengthen Perceived Product/Attribute
Linkages
• Add a New Attribute
7 - 48
Using Attitudes to Predict Behavior
• In many cases, knowledge of a person’s
attitude is not a very good predictor of
behavior
• Questionable link between attitude and
behavior
– Consumers love a commercial, but don’t 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
7 - 49
Theory of Reasoned Action
• A comprehensive theory of the
interrelationship among
attitudes,intentions, and behavior.
7 - 50
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
7 - 51
A Simplified Version of the Theory of
Reasoned Action
Beliefs that
the behavior
leads to
certain
outcomes
Evaluation
of the
outcomes
Beliefs that
specific
referents
think I
should or
should not
perform the
behavior
Attitude toward
the behavior
Motivation
to comply
with the
specific
referents
Subjective
norm
Intention
Behavior
7 - 52
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 consumer’s control
– The assumption of behavior as intentional may be invalid in
some cases
– Attitude measures don’t 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 person’s immediate perceptions of
the Ao
7 - 53
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
7 - 54
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
7 - 55
Figure 8.5 Ad
Illustrating
the Theory of
Trying to
Consume
7 - 56
Selected Examples of Potential Impediments That
Might Impact Trying
POTENTIAL PERSONAL IMPEDIMENTS
“I wonder whether my fingernails will be longer by the time of my wedding.”
“I want to try to lose fifteen pounds by next summer.”
“I’m going to try to get tickets for a Broadway show for your birthday.”
“I’m going to attempt to give up smoking by my birthday.”
“I am going to increase how often I go to the gym from two to four times a
week.”
“Tonight, I’m not going to have dessert at the restaurant.”
POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPEDIMENTS
“The first ten people to call in will receive a free T-shirt.”
“Sorry, the shoes didn’t come in this shipment from Italy.”
“There are only three bottles of champagne in our stockroom. You better
come in sometime today.”
“I am sorry. We cannot serve you. We are closing the restaurant because of a
problem with the oven.”
7 - 57
Theory of Trying (TT)
Figure 7.3
7 - 58
Figure 8.8
Encouraging
Trial
7 - 59
Creating an Advertisement
7 - 60
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
7 - 61
I once felt that all.....
• Attitudes change with age
7 - 64