Chapter 7
Attitudes
By Michael R. Solomon
Consumer Behavior
Buying, Having, and Being
Sixth Edition
7-1
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.
7-2
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)
(expect to deal with situation again = form att)
• Katz’s Attitude Functions
–
–
–
–
Utilitarian function (Pleasure + /Pain -)
Value-expressive function (we form att>prod what it says)
Ego-defensive function (1950 Housewives and instant coffee)
Knowledge function (need for order, structure, new product)
• Marketers emphasize the function a product
serves for consumers
7-3
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.”
7-4
The ABC Model of Attitudes
• Three interrelated attitude components
– 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:
– Relative impact/importance of attitude components
depends on consumer’s motivation toward attitude object
– A fixed sequence of steps that occur en route to an attitude
7-5
Three Hierarchies of Effects
Figure 7.1
7-6
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
Involvement paradox: the less important products to
consumers, the more important the marketing stimuli (package)
• The Experiential Hierarchy:
– Consumers act on the basis of their emotional reactions
(Consumers’ hedonic motivations and moods)
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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
7-8
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.
7-9
Discussion
• Contrast the hierarchies of effects outlined in
this chapter
– How should marketers’ strategic decisions related to the
marketing mix change depending upon which hierarchy is
operative among target consumers?
• Contextual Marketing
7 - 10
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
– Aad: attitude toward advertiser + evaluations of ad execution + ad
evoked mood + ad arousal effects on consumer + viewing context
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/thoughtful, hopeful
• Negative feelings: Critical, defiant/challenging, offended
7 - 11
Forming Attitudes
• Classical conditioning
• Instrumental conditioning
• Cognitive learning/modeling
7 - 12
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 (superficial)
• Identification (social consequences)
• Internalization (part of value system)
7 - 13
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 - 14
Forming Attitudes
– The Consistency Principle:
• Principle of Cognitive Consistency: Consumers
value harmony among their thoughts, feelings
or behaviors to be consistent with other
experiences
• We will change components to make them
consistent
7 - 15
Forming Attitudes (cont.)
• Conflict of attitudes and behavior
motivates us to reduce dissonance
– We make them fit by eliminating, adding, or
changing elements
– Explains why evaluations of products increase
after purchase
• Horse race experiment
• Marketers: post-purchase reinforcement
7 - 16
Self-Perception Theory
• We use observations of our own behavior to
determine what our attitudes are
– We must have a positive attitude toward a product if we
freely purchase it, right?
– Low-involvement hierarchy
– Foot-in-the-door technique
– Low-ball technique
– Door-in-the-face technique
• 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 - 17
Social Judgment Theory
• Social Judgment Theory:
– People assimilate new information about Ao’s based on
what they already know or feel.
– Initial attitude = frame of reference
– Latitudes 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
– “Choosy mothers choose Jif peanut butter”
7 - 18
Balance Theory
• Triad attitude structures
– Person
– Perception of attitude object
– Perception of other person/object
• Perception can be positive or negative
• Balanced/harmonious triad elements
– 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 - 19
Alternative Routes to
Restoring Balance in a Triad
7 - 20
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 - 21
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 (Scholarly reputation)
– Beliefs (GJU is strong academically)
– Importance Weights (Stressing research opportunities over
athletics)
7 - 22
The Fishbein Model
• Most influential multi-attribute model
• 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 consumer’s overall attitude is formed by
an overall affective response
7 - 23
The Fishbein Equation
• The Basic Formula:
– Where:
Aijk = ΣβijkIik
•
•
•
•
•
i = attribute
j = brand
k = consumer
I = the importance weight given attribute I by consumer k
β = consumer k’s belief regarding the extent to which brand j
possesses attribute I
• A = a particular consumer’s (k’s) attitude score for brand j
• Overall Attitude Score = (consumer’s rating of
each attribute for all brands) x (importance
rating for that attribute)
7 - 24
The Basic Multiattribute Model
7 - 25
Strategic Applications of the
Multiattribute Model
• Capitalize on Relative Advantage
– Stress the importance of an attribute
• Strengthen Perceived Product/Attribute Linkages
– “New and improved” campaigns
• Add a New Attribute
– To distinguish oneself from competitors
• Influence Competitors’ Ratings
– “comparative advertising”,
7 - 26
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 - 27
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 - 28
Obstacles to Predicting Behavior in the
Theory of Reasoned Action
• Many researchers do not use Fishbein
Model appropriately
• A few of the many obstacles (full list on
pages 254-255):
–
–
–
–
Actual behavior vs. outcomes of behavior
Outcomes beyond consumer’s control
Voluntary vs. nonvoluntary acts across cultures
Relative impact of SNs vary across cultures
7 - 29
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 - 30
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 - 31
Theory of Trying (TT)
Figure 7.3
7 - 32
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 - 33
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 people’s attitudes
7 - 34
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
7 - 35
Homework!
• Construct a multi-attribute model for a
set of
– local restaurants
– Universities
– Banks
• Based on your findings, suggest how
managers can improve an
establishment’s image via the
strategies described in this chapter
7 - 36