1. Consumer Attitude Formation and Change

2. Class #1 Administrative The Basics of Attitude
Midterms and academic articles returned in class Thursday
The Basics of Attitude
What are attitudes?
The structure of attitudes
How are they formed?

3. Attitudes Cereal Exercise Get into groups of 4 or 5 students
You will be provided with a cereal box. Write down your attitudes toward this type of cereal independently. Then discuss your attitudes toward this type of cereal with your group.
Consider these questions as well.
How were these attitudes formed?
Are your attitudes toward this type of cereal now:
The same you held at the beginning of the exercise?
The same you have always held?
Why or why not?
Why do we have attitudes?

4. Attitude
A learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object.
We have attitudes toward many things – to people, products, advertisements, ideas, and more. For the most part, these attitudes have been learned and guide our behavior toward the object. This web link brings you to one of many sites that helps measure attitudes via online surveys.

5. What Are Attitudes? Important definitional components:
The attitude “object”
Attitudes are a learned predisposition
Attitudes have consistency
Attitudes occur within a situation
Other important characteristics:
Directionality
Degree
It is important to understand these four concepts. The first is that we must clearly define the object which we are discussing or measuring the attitude toward. Is it a product category, a specific brand, or a particular model? The second is the agreement among researchers that attitudes are learned, either through direct experience or from others. Attitudes are consistent, they are not necessarily permanent and can change over time. We all know how our attitude can be affected by a situation – think about the times you have to eat foods that are not necessarily your favorite but they are what is available or what you are being served at a friend’s house.
Functions of Attitudes
The Utilitarian Function
How well it performs
The Ego-defensive Function
To protect one’s self-concept
The Value-expressive Function
To convey one’s values and lifestyles
The Knowledge Function
A way to gain knowledge

6. Attitudes List 5 products/brands/companies/
services toward which you have a positive attitude.
Have you ever purchased, used or consumed something toward which you did not have a positive attitude?
Attitude toward H1N1 Vaccine?
Rant
A positive attitude is generally a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for purchase
We may have positive attitudes towards many products, services, brands or ideas, but that doesn’t mean that we will consume them all. Limited resources may prevent us from doing so.
Negative attitudes toward:
WalMart products – but buy because of limited resources
Dinner at someone’s house that you didn’t like – but eat because of social conventions
Flu vaccinations – but get because of fear (i.e. H1N1) or risk minimization

7. How are attitudes formed?
Attitudes are learned
Classical conditioning (through past associations)
Operant conditioning (through trial and reinforcement)
Cognitive learning (through information processing)
And formed based upon personality characteristics
From whom/what do we learn attitudes?
Attitudes are strongly influenced by:
Personal experience
Influence of family and friends
Direct marketing
Mass media
The Internet

8. Attitude Models Structural Models of Attitudes
Tri-component Attitude Model
Multi-attribute Attitude Models
Theory of Trying to Consume
Attitude toward the ad Model
attempt to understand the relationships between attitude and behavior; assume a rational model of human behaviour

9. The Tri-component Model
Exercise #1
Conation
Affect
Cognition
Cognition
The cognitive component is what you know or think about an object. This can be formed through direct experience or what you learn from others. The knowledge you form becomes a belief.
Cognitive based appeals tend to rely on using information to form (and change) attitudes
Cognitive ads will place emphasis on information processing, require higher involvement, use central route to persuasion in ELM
Affect
How you feel about a brand, the emotions you have toward it, constitutes the affective component of the model. These feelings often tend to be overall good or bad feelings.
Affective based appeals tend to rely on using emotion to form (and change) attitudes
Affective ads will place emphasis on visual cues, holistic perception usually used with lower involvement products and use peripheral route to persuasion in ELM
Conation
The conative component describes the likelihood that you will do something in regard to the object. One of the most important is your intention to buy a certain object.
Cognitive Component
knowledge and perceptions acquired through direct experience and information from various sources.
Affective component
Emotions and feelings about the object
Conative or Behavioural Component
Action tendencies toward the object

10. Multi-attribute Attitude Models
Attitude models that examine the composition of consumer attitudes in terms of selected product attributes or beliefs.
Includes:
Attitude-toward-object Model
Attitude is function of evaluation of product-specific beliefs and evaluations
Attitude-toward-behaviour Model
attitude toward a specific behaviour is a function of how strongly one believes that the action will lead to a specific outcome (either favorable or unfavorable)
Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Model
Theory of Planned Behaviour
Attitude toward the object
Attitude is function of evaluation of product-specific beliefs and evaluations
Effective for measuring attitudes toward the brand or attitudes toward the product
According to the attitude-toward-object model, consumers will like a brand or product that has an adequate level of attributes that the consumer thinks are positive. For example, if you are buying a home, there is a list of attributes that the home must have – 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, air conditioning, and a back yard. With this model, an attitude is positive for the house that has the most of these attributes.
Attitude toward behaviour
A consumer’s attitude toward a specific behaviour is a function of how strongly he or she believes that the action will lead to a specific outcome (either favorable or unfavorable).
Instead of asking people what product they like and have positive attitudes toward, the attitude-toward-behavior model is based on how positive someone's attitude is toward acting a certain way, for instance purchasing a certain brand. The question is now how likely are you to purchase brand X rather than how highly do you rate brand X.
Theory of Reasoned Actions
A comprehensive theory of the interrelationship among attitudes, intentions, and behaviour
Theory of planned behaviour
An extension of TRA that incorporates perceived beahvioural control
Theory of trying to consume
Action or outcome (purchase, possession, use or action) is attempted within bounds of impediments that may be personal or environmental
i.e. – Dexter Season 4
Attitude toward the ad Model

11. Includes cognitive, affective, and conative components
Use the theory of reasoned action to describe your attitude toward your college/university when deciding on which school to attend.
This is a figure of the theory of reasoned action. The subjective norms that are distinctive to this model are the two lower blocks on the left. A consumer has beliefs about what others think they should do and also have differing levels of how likely they will follow those beliefs, also known as their motivation to comply with the referents. This subjective norm is now combined with the consumer’s personal attitude toward a behavior to form an intention to perform a behavior. This intention may or may not lead to the actual behavior.
Certain groups are very influenced by the motivation to comply with people in their group.
This web link brings you to seventeen.com. This site for younger female teens is loaded with information to supply motivation – see if you can identify three on the homepage alone.
Includes cognitive, affective, and conative components
Includes subjective norms in addition to attitude

12. Theory of Trying to Consume Attitude-Toward-the-Ad Model
An attitude theory designed to account for the many cases where the action or outcome is not certain but instead reflects the consumer’s attempt to consume (or purchase).
Attitude-Toward-the-Ad Model
A model that proposes that a consumer forms various feelings (affects) and judgments (cognitions) as the result of exposure to an advertisement, which, in turn, affect the consumer’s attitude toward the ad and attitude toward the brand.
The theory of trying to consume addresses the fact that many people may want to purchase but in many cases they cannot. This may occur for personal reasons, such as not having enough money, or environmental reasons, such as not being able to go to a particular store.
The attitude-toward-the-ad model helps us understand how advertising impacts attitudes. The model is more thoroughly diagramed on the next slide.

13. A Conception of the Relationship Among Elements in an Attitude-Toward-the-Ad Model – Figure 6
Here we see that everything begins with exposure to the ad. After this exposure, the consumer has feelings (affect) and thoughts (cognition) regarding the ad. This forms an attitude which works with beliefs about the brand to help form an attitude toward the brand.

14. Class #2 Review attitude structure with short case
Discuss attitude change strategies

15. Case One: The Not-So-Extreme Sport
On the basis of the Theory of Reasoned Action, how would you explain the 180-dregree shift in attitudes about skateboarding that occurred over the last 30 years?

16. 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
Here are five strategies for attitude change. If you think about it, attitude change and formation are not all that different. They are both learned, they are both influenced by personal experience, and personality affects both of them.

17. Changing the Basic Motivational Function
Utilitarian
Ego-defensive
Value-expressive
Knowledge
Changing the basic motivational function means to change the basic need that a consumer is trying to fulfill. Utilitarian function is how the product is useful to us. A marketer might want to create a more positive attitude toward a brand by showing all it can do. An ego-defensive function would show how the product would make them feel more secure and confident. A value-expressive function would more positively reflect the consumer’s values, lifestyle, and outlook. Finally, the knowledge function would satisfy the consumer’s “need to know” and help them understand more about the world around them.
It is important for marketers to realize that they might have to combine functions because different customers are motivated to purchase their products for different reasons. Someone might buy a product because it tastes good and fills them up (utilitarian), while another thinks it is low fat and will make them healthy and therefore look better (ego-defensive).

18. Discussion Questions
What products that you purchase associate themselves with an Admired Group or Event?
When does it personally influence your purchasing?
Marketers often associate their products with certain not-for-profit groups. Many of us buy products because of this association. For some products, we are aware of this association but still do not purchase.

19. Altering Components of the Multiattribute Model
Changing relative evaluation of attributes
Changing brand beliefs
Adding an attribute
Changing the overall brand rating
If we think analytically about a multiattribute model, we realize there are many different attributes that make up an overall attitude. As marketers, we can change the way the consumer evaluates a certain attribute.
Perhaps the consumer thinks inexpensive is fine for a product, but a marketer might be able to point out that it is often worth paying a bit more for better quality.
A marketer can also change the way consumers believe a brand rates on a certain attribute. Maybe a consumer thinks a brand is very expensive when in fact it is less expensive then several other brands.
There may be an attribute that does not even exist. Who thought chewiness was an attribute that could even exist for a vitamin until Gummy Vites came along?
Finally, we can step away from looking individually at the attribute and attempt to change the consumer’s overall assessment of the brand. We can do any of these attitude change strategies by changing beliefs of our own product or our competitor's product.

20. How Is This New Benefit Likely to Impact Consumers’ Attitudes Toward the Product?

21. The Consumer Will Have a More Positive Attitude Overall from the New Attribute.

22. Which Attitude Change Strategy Is Depicted in This Ad?

23. Changing the Overall Brand Rating

24. Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
Customer attitudes are changed by two distinctly different routes to persuasion: a central route or a peripheral route.
The ELM is a much more global view of attitude change than the models reviewed on the previous slide. A more detailed description is provided in a diagram on the next slide.

25. Elaboration Likelihood Model
On the left-hand side of the model, we see central variables on the top and peripheral variables on the bottom. Central variables, which lead to the central route, will be effective on highly-motivated consumers. They will do the thinking necessary to understand the information they are presented. Peripheral variables, including music, spokespeople, and bright packaging, work on lower-involvement consumers. Together, or alone, they create an attitude change that results in a certain behavior.

26. Behaviour Can Precede Attitude Formation
Behave (Purchase)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Attribution Theory
Form Attitude
Form Attitude
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Holds that discomfort or dissonance occurs when a consumer holds conflicting thoughts about a belief or an attitude object.
Up to this point, we have always had an attitude change, which led to a behavior. It is now time to consumer a behavior that might change attitude. There are two main theories that address this difference in sequencing. The cognitive dissonance theory occurs after the consumer has done something, let’s say purchase a product or accepted admission to a college. They begin to create an attitude around their behavior which is often based on dissonance or discomfort.
Attribution Theory
A theory concerned with how people assign causality to events and form or alter their attitudes as an outcome of assessing their own or other people’s behavior.
Attribution theory is related to the question we have after a behavior of “Why did I do that?” This process of making inferences about behavior can lead to attitude formation and change.

27. Issues in Attribution Theory
Self-Perception Theory
Foot-in-the-Door Technique
Attributions toward Others
Attributions toward Things
How We Test Our Attributions
Distinctiveness
Consistency over time
Consistency over modality
Consensus
Here are some interesting issues in attribution theory. Self-perception theory is the inferences or judgment as to the causes of your behavior. Did something happen, like you won an award, because you were really good, because the competition was weak, or because the judges were rushed? We are constantly examining our behavior and often try to stay consistent. This is considered the foot-in-the-door technique, the fact that if you say yes to something, you will probably say yes to a similar act later on to remain consistent in your behavior.
Internal and external attributions
Consumers are likely to accept credit for successful outcomes (internal attribution) and to blame other persons or products for failure (external attribution).
We have attribution toward others and always ask ourselves “why” about other’s acts. We question their motives.
Would you believe we also have attribution toward things? Do you sometimes ask yourself, “Why do I like this software or that movie so much?”
Over time, we like to test our attributions to see if they are correct. We may decide that if something happens when we use this product, it has distinctiveness. We also see if we have the same reaction to behavior over time, in different situations (modality), and if others agree.
There are thousands of dating services online. This web link goes to therightstuff.com, a dating service for Ivy-league graduates only. People have a certain attribution toward others who attend the same colleges or group of colleges as themselves. Because they had this behavior (attended an Ivy League school) they must be like me.

28. Attitudes and Marketing Strategy
Appeal to motivational functions of attitudes
Associate product with a special group, cause or event
Change affect first through classical conditioning
Change behaviour first through operant conditioning
Resolve conflicts among attitudes
POM Wonderful;
Change beliefs about competitors’ brands (Campbell’s/Progresso War; Stuffed ; PR Lady; Broken Promises; Mr. Bean)
Influence consumer attribution
Alter components of the attitude
Change relative evaluation of attributes
Focus Group
Change brand beliefs
Ad 1 ; Ad 2
Add an attribute
Change overall brand evaluation

29. Discussion Question #5 Change beliefs about the brand
Emphasize a brand attribute (i.e. – ‘with only 4 grams of sugar per serving’; Apple Jacks provide an excellent source of fibre’; ‘Special K has 7 essential vitamins and minerals’
health check symbol, etc
Change beliefs about competing brands
Comparative ads
Changing relative evaluation of attributes
Make your brand’s attributes more important in consumer’s eyes (i.e – importance of source of fibre in one’s diet and your brand’s ability to provide it)
Adding an attribute
‘Now with more fibre’
These are all ‘Attitude toward the object’
Can also look at changing ‘Attitudes toward the behaviour’
Importance of eating breakfast (and cereal is a well balanced choice)
Possibility of replacing other meals with cereal