Attitudes Flashcards
why are attitudes and their understanding important to marketers?
because attitude influences consumer behaviour, which is what marketers want to understand
def attitude (4 characteristics)
- oriented towards an object (e.g. coffee - shops, brands, tools), which we evaluate
- learned
- stable (short-term)
- relatively consistent with behaviour
what does accessibility of attitudes depend on? (3)
- importance
- frequency of prior activations (of the attitude)
- strength of connection
state 3 dimensions of attitudes
weak vs strong
positive vs negative
varying degree of confidence
state the theory (and its parts) about WHY we form attitudes
= functional theory of attitudes (by Katz)
- utilitarian function (max rewards / min punishment)
- knowledge function (need for order and meaning)
- value-expressing function (expressing central values of an individual)
- ego defensive function (formed to protect from internal/external negative feelings)
explain the ABC model (and another name for it)
= tri-component attitude model
- affective (emotions, feelings - can be influenced by culture as well) - i feel, i (don’t) like
- cognitive (beliefs about certain attributes) - i believe, i think
- behavioural (intention, tendency of response) - i do
how common is ABC model component consistency? what happens when it is not achieved?
very common. when it is not achieved, we experience cognitive dissonance. each component affects both others.
how can the ABC model help marketers?
they can identify the specific components regarding their product and target either cognitive component (sale signs) or affective component (smell of coffee in coffeeshops)
what kind of hierarchies are there between the ABC model components? (3) what kind of attitude do they result in? what component (type) starts the process?
- standard learning (C A B -> attitude based on cognitive info processing) - consideration of many attributes starts the process
- low-involvement (C B A -> attitude based on behavioural learning process) - consideration of one/two attributes starts the process
- experiential (A B C -> attitude based on hedonic consumption) - strong emotion starts the process
which hierarchies of ABC model components have the highest and which the lowest involvement?
experiental and standard learning the highest
low-invovlvement the lowest
state two ways attitudes are formed
- classical or instrumental conditioning
2. observational learning or reasoning
what are the three levels of attitude commitment? start with the lowest.
why do they start?
how easily are they changed?
- compliance (formed bc they gain rewards / avoid punishments) - changed very easily
- identification (formed to conform to a group) - change depends on the group (if the whole group changes)
- internalisation (attitude becomes part of the value system) - could never be changed
state the possible levels of an attitude (in terms of a company). start with the broadest (6)
- product level (e.g., fast food restaurants)
- type of product (e.g., pizza and burgers)
- brand
- location
- brand+location+general situation
- brand+location+specific situation
how can the different levels of attitude (on a company level) help marketers?
a marketer in a specific location (a branch) focuses on the location level, so they can discern which parts of consumer attitude / behaviour are specific to their location
are all our beliefs important to the same extent all the time? what does the level of importance depend on? (4)
no.
- visual stimuli (ads)
- recent events, connected to the product
- moods and emotions
- current goals and values
state three possible classifications of attitude measuring systems
- direct (physiological) vs indirect (projective)
- qualitative (focus groups) vs quantitative (semantic-differential scales)
- single-item (one characteristic of an attitude) vs multi-item (takes longer for the surveyee, better results)
state 3 characteristics of the multi-attribute model
- quantitative measurement
- emphasis on cognitive elements (beliefs and evaluations)
- multi-item approach
state the formula for a multi-attribute model and explain its variables
Aijk = Σβijk*Iijk
i=attribute (eg colour, price, smell, fabric)
j=brand
k=consumer
I=importance weight (relative importance of an attribute to the consumer) given to attribute i by consumer k
β=consumer k’s belief about the extent to which the brand j possesses the attribute i
A=consumer k’s attitude score for brand j
consumer’s attitude score = sum of all consumer’s beliefs about the scope of attribute possesion by a certain brand * the importance weight of that attribute
how can the multi-attribute model serve marketers? (3)
- analysing the image of the products
- comparison with competitors
- development of new products
what is the most influential multi-attribute model? (theory of..) what does it say?
theory of resoned action by Fishbein and Ajzen. it says that intention is formed from attitude and subjective norms (= what other people think and to what extent one takes that into account)
how do attitudes change with the multi-attribute model (MAM)? (3)
- changing beliefs about brand attributes (vilification of competitors)
- changing the set of attributes that are taken into consideration (3 in 1)
- changing the perception of relative importance (relative advantages)
how can attitudes change with the ABC model? (3)
- changing the affective component (with classical conditioning, attitude towards an ad, with mere exposure)
- changing cognitive component (changing existing beliefs, changing relative importance, adding new beliefs)
- changing behavioural component (sale promotions - free samples, coupons, discounts; physical environment - impulse buying; government directives - tire changes; business procedures - opening hours)
which characteristics of marketing communications enhance attitude formation and change?
- source characteristics (credibility, expertise, popularity)
- appeal characteristics (fear / humorous / comparative-with-competitors / emotional appeal) = use of consequences as marketing (attracts attention)
- message structure characteristics (one-sided (only advantages) vs two-sided messages(both advantages and disadvantages)
what level of behaviour do attitudes explain?
only a part
why is attitude not always a good predictor of behaviour? (5)
- when involvement is higher, attitude has smaller impact on behaviour
- situational factors
- problems of availability of the brand
- problems of measuring attitudes (too abstract and LT)
- social pressure (influence of other people)
