mkt 450 consumer attitudes: high and low effort lars perner, instructor 1 attitudes based on high...

MKT 450 CONSUMER ATTITUDES: HIGH AND LOW EFFORT Lars Perner, Instructor 2

Attitudes―components

BELIEFS AFFECT(FEELING)

BEHAVIORALINTENTIONS


SOME TYPES OF “CONTRADICTORY” BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS

• Cognitive Dissonance—there is tension between an individual’s beliefs and behavior, but there is not, strictly speaking, an outright logical inconsistency

• Logically inconsistent beliefs• Expressions made for purposes of expediency and

not based on deep internal conviction• Note: Available consumer examples are limited. Cases

probably come up frequently in proprietary market research but are not publically shared.


Cognitive Dissonance

• There is tension between an individual’s beliefs and behavior, but there is not, strictly speaking, an outright logical inconsistency—e.g., – A smoker believes that smoking causes cancer. Some

research actually suggests that smokers estimate have higher estimates of the amount of time smoking reduces a person’s life—a possible result of the desire not to be seen as being in denial.

– A parent engages in child rearing practices that he or she believes to be non-optimal (e.g., over-indulging a child or doing what is expedient over what is the “right thing” to do).

– An individual consumes foods that he or she believes to be harmful.


Logically Inconsistent Beliefs

• From the perspective of historical Western thinking, there is an outright contradiction between two or more beliefs held by the same person

– Implicit beliefs—e.g., a person may believe that all races are equal but hold prejudices below the conscious level

– Simultaneously held beliefs that are not compared (possibly for ego-defensive reasons)—e.g., believing that a historical figure was a “good person” but also that he or she held slaves.

– Hyperbole or value expressive reasoning—e.g., “It is most important to brush your teeth at night, but brushing in the morning is just as important.”

– Complex beliefs about things difficult to understand and with possible opposing forces—e.g., beliefs about the national macro-economy

– Cultural differences in dialectic thinking: Can two seemingly contradictory statements both be true? Common proverbs of some cultures seem logically inconsistent. Western thinking is generally more “absolutist.”

– Competing values leading to ambivalence—e.g., abortion: A large number of American voters both believe that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned and that abortion should be banned under most circumstances

– Exceptions to the general rule—e.g., the same individual believes that genetic testing “does more harm than good” but nevertheless favors it under certain circumstances

– Framing effects: The way a question is worded impacts response—e.g., the statement that “Speeches against democracy should be forbidden” gets lower support than saying that “Speeches against democracy should not be allowed.”


Expressions Made For Purposes of Expediency

• Expressions not based on deep internal convictions—e.g.,– An individual going along with what is socially desirable– Hypocrisy– Mindless parroting of clichés– Going with practical needs

• Chief Justice John Roberts has suggested that law school professors—who tend to focus heavily on reasoning and logical consistency— are typically not well suited for the court since practical needs dictate that court opinions joined by a justice should be reasonably consistent but not necessarily completely so. Excessive concurring opinions highlighting minor differences in reasoning and scope confuse the legal community and highlight lack of agreement among justices.


Consumers and Contradictory Beliefs

• Reported consumer examples are limited. • Instances probably come up frequently in proprietary market

research but are not publically shared.• Some factors influencing the extent to which contradictory

beliefs are identified and addressed– Consumer involvement—higher involvement—other things being equal—will

lead to deeper examination of beliefs and evidence– Under some circumstances, ego defensiveness may keep the consumer

from • Acknowledging new information that makes contradictions of current beliefs salient• Examining logical consistency and tensions (e.g., a ethically troublesome practices of a

favored brand)


What You Need to Know For the Exam

• The reality that consumers do simultaneously hold beliefs that contradict each other

• The difference between– Tensions between beliefs and behavior that do not strictly involve a

logical contradiction—e.g., an overweight person continues to eat supersized meals at McDonald’s even though he or she believes that this will result in weight gain which, in turn, will result in health problems

– Pairs of beliefs that contradict each other

• The reality that most cases of contradictory beliefs are likely to be found in proprietary market research conducted by firms who keep this information confidential as a trade secret.


Significance of Attitudes

• Cognitive: Guide thinking

• Affective: Influence feelings

• Connative: Impact behavior


Characteristics/Dimensions of Attitudes

• Favorability—Positive or negative

• Accessibility—How easily the attitude is retrieved– May require thinking or

evaluation

– Ultimate result may be either highly positive or highly negative or in between

• Confidence—Certainty with which the attitude is held

• Persistence—Extent to which the attitude will remain accessible and relevant over time

• Resistance to change—Extent to which new information is likely to change the attitude

• Ambivalence—Difficulty in balancing competing positive or negative aspects


Foundations of Attitudes

• Based on – Cognition (thoughts at

various levels of consciousness) and/or

– Affect (emotion)


Cognitive Foundations of Attitudes

• Direct or imagined experience

• Reasoning by analogy or category

• Values driven attitudes• Social identity generated

attitudes• Analytical processes

• Responses– Counter arguments

– Support arguments

– Source derogation

• Belief discrepancy: More counterarguments are likely to be generated to a message with which one disagrees


Expectancy Value Models

• Theory of Reasoned Action (TORA)


Some Attitude Change Strategies

• Change beliefs—usually very difficult– Strengthen positive beliefs

– Weaken negative beliefs

• Change evaluations of consequences

• Add new belief• Encourage attitude

formation based on imagined experience

• Target normative beliefs (need to consider reactance)


Generating Beliefs Through Advertising

• Statements must be

– Perceived

– Comprehended

– Remembered

– Believed (at least in part)


Adding Beliefs (True or Not): Examples

• Brushing and flossing do not reach all areas of the mouth

• People under stress need more vitamins

• Baking soda will reduce odor of refrigerators

• Fragmented hard drives may cause computer errors


Positioning Through Creating Beliefs

• “It’s not delivery; it’s De Journo!”

• “Wal-Mart. Always low prices. Always.”

• “I just saved a bunch of money on my auto insurance.”

• “U-um Good!” (Campbell’s Soup)


Multiattribute Models of Attitude

• Attitude computed as a function of multiple attributes weighted for importance:

Ab= attitude toward brand b

Wi: weight of attribute I

Xib: belief about brand b’s performance on attribute I

• Model assumes rationality

n

iibiXWA

1b

Calculations will not be required on the exam. You should know conceptually what this involves conceptually—i.e., weighing importance and intensity of feeling.


Influences on Cognitively Based Attitudes

• Communications source– Source credibility

• Trustworthiness

• Expertise

• Status

– Company reputation• Message

– Argument quality– One-sided vs. two-sided

messages– Comparative messages


One-sided vs. two sided appeals

• One-sided: only saying what favors your side

• Two-sided: stating your case but also admitting points favoring the other side– Why is this effective?


Affective Foundations of Advertising

• Engagement: Extent of personal connection to brand or object

• Regulatory (goal) fit– Promotion focus

– Prevention focus

• Affective responses (generations of feelings and images)

• Culture—appeal to ego vs. group oriented

• Negative emotions may be more powerful


Influences on Affect Based Attitudes

• Source– Attractiveness

– Match-up Hypothesis: Attractiveness is more effective when consistent with the product category

• Message– Emotional appeals and

contagion

– Shame and guilt associations may not be effective

– Disgust unintentionally induced (e.g., through humor) tends to have a negative impact

– Discomfort with ambivalence


Fear Appeal

• Complicated to implement• Self-defense mechanism

may kick in• Certain appeals that evoke

guilt or regret may work• Optimal level of stimulus

intensity• Offering a solution to

overcome featured outcome


Attitude Toward the Ad

• Liking of ad may lead to liking of product

• Generally used for low involvement product categories (e.g., batteries)

• In higher involvement contexts:– Informative advertisements

– Hedonic: Enjoyable advertisements


Attitudes and Behavior

• Greater consistency under– High level of involvement

and elaboration

– Attitude confidence

– Specificity of attitude

– Emotional attachment

– Attitude accessibility

• Some modifiers– Situational influences

– Normative factors

– Personality• High vs. low self-monitors


Central vs. Peripheral Route to Persuasion

• Central route– High effort in evaluation

– Quality of arguments counts more

– More information will be considered

– More emphasis on weighing of information relative to importance

– Credibility of the source is examined more carefully

• Peripheral route– Lower effort in evaluation

– The number of arguments has more of an impact

• Quality of arguments may be evaluated less

– Credibility of source may still be questioned, but not as intensively


Elaboration and Likely Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsements

Product important orexpensive?

Celebrity endorsements

more likely to beeffective

No

Is endorsercongruent with

productendorsed?

Unlikely to beeffective

More likelyto be

effective

No Yes

Yes

Lowelaboration

Highelaboration

Lowelaboration


Influences on Attitudes Under Low Involvement

• Thin-slice arguments– Quick assessments made

based on limited conscious processing of information

– Unconscious processing may implicate more information from other sources

• Body feedback– Unconscious assessment—

e.g., through fear or other emotions—may be measurable

– The “gut” feeling


Cognitive Bases for Low Effort Attitudes

• Simple associations– E.g., elegance surroundings of

product– Impressive sounding name—

e.g., French sounding name for food items

• Schema consistency– The extent to which the

message is consistent with what the consumer already believes

• Simplicity—easier to process

• Heuristics– Frequency (number of

supporting arguments)– Truth heuristic (repetition of

arguments)


Increasing Involvement and Effectiveness

• Self-referencing—making the ad more relevant by alluding to the consumer’s experience

• “Mystery ad”—important info such as actual product is not given until the very end, increasing curiosity


Affective Bases for Low Effort Attitudes

• Mere exposure– Stimuli that have been seen

before tend to be better liked

– Need to be balanced against “burnout”—previously seen ads may become boring

• Classical conditioning– Pairing a liked stimulus with

the brand or product

• Attitude toward the ad– A well liked ad may lead to

liking of brand


CLASSICAL AND INSTRUMENTAL (OPERANT) CONDITIONING

• Consumers (often unconsciously) link objects to past experience

• Consequences of behavior tend to influence subsequent behavior


Classical Conditioning

• Pavlov’s dogs• Objects (stimuli)

associated with a response may bring about the response

• Stimuli and responses


NOTE: UR and CR represent the same

behavior, but causesdiffer

Classical Conditioning

US ----> UR(Unconditioned stimulus) (Unconditioned response)

US + CS -----> UR (Conditioned stimulus)

CS ------> CR (CS alone is now (Conditioned response) able to bring

DETAILS ARE NOT NEEDED

FOR THE EXAM


Consumer Examples

• Advertising: pairing product with images of desired affect

• Product: Evoke image of object associated with positive affect (e.g., Coke Bottle)


Making Classical Conditioning Work

• Appropriate symbols (for the population in question) to elicit emotion

• NOTE: Test stimuli for desired effect!

• Repetition


INSTRUMENTAL (OPERANT) CONDITIONING

BEHAVIOR

REINFORCEMENT

NEGATIVEREINFORCEMENT

PUNISHMENT

LIKELIHOODOF

BEHAVIOR

LIKELIHOODOF

BEHAVIOR

{NOT thesame thing!


Reinforcement: An Example

You eat a cake (behavior)

----> good taste (reward)

----> more likely to eat cake

on another occasion


Negative Reinforcement(not the same as punishment!)

Aversive stimulus exists

Behavior ----> Termination of aversive

stimulus

----> Repetition of behavior

during aversive stimulus


Negative Reinforcement: An Example

Headache (aversive stimulus)

Aspirin (behavior) ---> Headache

cessation

----> Likely to consume

aspirin during future

headaches


Other Examples of Negative Reinforcement

• A husband stops nagging his wife when she takes out the garbage

• Loud fire alarm is avoided once one leaves the building affected• Children stop nagging (at least briefly) when given toys, candy,

or other objects desired• Toothache stops once the tooth is treated by a dentist• Hunger goes away upon eating• Obnoxious alarm stops once the “snooze” button is hit• Obnoxious sound goes away once seatbelts are fastened


PUNISHMENT

Behavior ----> Negative

consequences

-----> Behavior less

likely to be repeated

when punishment is

anticipated (mostly)


Punishment: Examples

• Parking meters• Looks of disapproval from

family, friends, and co-workers (usually how cultural values and expectations are learned)

• “Sin” taxes• Fees for non-ATM banking

transactions• Over-base rate utility charges


Punishment Complications

• Individuals attempt to learn explicitly the contingencies of punishment (e.g., no punishment for eating cookies when parents are not around to notice)

• Some consider certain consequences more serious punishment than others

• Punishment intended for certain behaviors may actually involve reinforcement

– E.g., “acting up” to get attention


Reinforcement Effectiveness

• Temporal proximity--conditioning is more effective if consequences immediately follow behavior (delayed reinforcement is much less effective)

• Recognition of relationship between behavior and consequences

• Schedules of reinforcement--variable ratio is most effective


Extinction

• Behavior which is not reinforced tends to become extinct gradually

• Variable ratio reinforcement is more resistant to extinction


Schedules of Reinforcement

• Fixed interval (e.g., reward is available once every ten minutes if a lever is pushed)

• Fixed ratio (a rat receives a food pellet every sixth time it redeems a coupon for the retailer’s preferred brand of chocolate milk)

• Variable ratio <------ Most resistant

• Variable interval to extinction


Shaping

Behavior approximatingdesired kind level ------> Reward e.g., buying new

product on sale

Increased requirements,when met -------> Reward e.g., magnitude of sale

gradually decreased


Shaping: Possible Examples

• Introduction of fruit flavored soft drinks in Indonesia prior to Coca Cola

• New products given premium shelf space in the beginning

• Premium given with purchase of new product

• In-store demonstrations of new products

Note that marketers’ power tends to belimited


Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning In Practice

• Marketers typically do not have the power to significantly reward or punish people greatly— typically have little power to directly influence people’s experience

• Note that many rewards and punishments are significantly delayed, leading to reduced effectiveness—e.g.,– Utility bills – Automatic camera traffic tickets

• An alternative is to influence through vicarious learning


Influences on Low Effort Affect Based Attitudes

• Communications source– Source attractiveness– Source likability– Celebrity status

• Message– Pleasantness (e.g., pictures)– Music– Humor– Transformation advertising—

emotion to which the consumer can relate

– Dramas

– Context (e.g., programming)

mkt 450 consumer attitudes: high and low effort lars perner, instructor 1 attitudes based on high...

Documents

low effort lars perner

consumer attitudes

low effortmkt

liked stimulus

ur conditioned stimulus

evaluationquality of

moremore information

information relative