Attitudes and Attitude Change: Influencing Thoughts and Feelings Flashcards
The Human Billboard
People have begun offering their bodies as venues for advertisers. A Utah woman,
shown here, received $10,000 to advertise Golden Palace casino on her forehead.
She plans to use the money to send her son to private school.
Advertising Can Have Powerful
Effects (1 of 2)
Example
–Until early 20th century, men bought 99% of
cigarettes sold
▪Advertisers began targeting women
–Virginia Slims “You’ve come a long way, baby”—
connecting smoking to women’s liberation
–Lucky Strikes “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet”—
connecting smoking to weight control
Advertising Can Have Powerful
Effects (2 of 2)
–In 1955
▪ 52% of adult men and 34% of adult women
smoked
–In 2015
▪21% of adult men 14% of adult women smoked
Attitudes:
Evaluation of people, objects, and ideas
People are not neutral observers of the
world
–They evaluate what they encounter
–They form attitudes
The Nature and Origin of Attitudes
Attitudes are made up of three
components:
–Affective
▪Emotional reaction
–Behavioral
▪Actions or observable behavior
–Cognitive
▪Thoughts and beliefs
Affective
Emotional reaction
Behavioral
Actions or observable behavior
Example—attitudes about cars
–Affective
▪Perhaps feel excitement about getting a new car
▪U.S. autoworker examining a new foreign-made
model, may feel anger and resentment
Example—attitudes about cars
–Behavioral
Test-drive the car and actually buy it
Example—attitudes about cars
Cognitive
Admire hybrid engine and fuel efficiency
Genetic origins of attitudes
–Identical twins share more attitudes than
fraternal twins.
▪e.g., similar attitudes about jazz music
–Indirect function of our genes
▪Temperament, personality
Where Do Attitudes Come From?
*Social experiences
–Not all attitudes are created equally.
–Though all attitudes have affective, cognitive,
and behavioral components, any given
attitude can be based more on one type of
experience than another.
Cognitively Based Attitudes
An attitude based primarily on people’s
beliefs about the properties of an attitude
object
*Sometimes our attitudes are based
primarily on the relevant facts.
–Example—a car
▪How many miles to the gallon does it get?
▪Does it have side-impact air bags?
Affectively Based Attitudes (1 of 3)
*An attitude based more on people’s
feelings and values than on their beliefs
about the nature of an attitude object
*Sometimes we simply like a car, regardless
of how many miles to the gallon it gets
*Occasionally we even feel great about
something or someone in spite of having
negative beliefs
Affectively Based Attitudes (2 of 3)
Affectively based attitudes don’t come from
examining facts
–Where do they come from?
▪Values
–Example—religious, moral beliefs
▪Sensory reaction
–Example—liking the taste of something
Affectively based attitudes don’t come from examining facts
Where do they come from?
Aesthetic reaction
Example—admiring lines and color of a car
Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
A stimulus that elicits an emotional response is paired with a neutral stimulus.
Neutral stimulus takes on the emotional properties of the first stimulus.
Operant Conditioning
Freely chosen behaviors increase or decrease when followed by reinforcement or punishment.
Affectively based attitudes are similar for several reasons.
Not a result of rational examination
Not governed by logic
Often linked to values
Behaviorally Based Attitudes
An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object
Sometimes people do not know how they feel until they see how they behave
Can form our attitudes based on our observations of our own behavior
People infer their attitudes from their behavior only under certain conditions
When initial attitude is weak or ambiguous
When no other plausible explanation for behavior
Explicit attitudes
Attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report
Implicit attitudes
Attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious
Robert is a white, middle-class college student who genuinely believes that all races are equal and abhors racial bias
This is Robert’s explicit attitude
It is his conscious evaluation of other races
Governs how he chooses to act
e.g., Consistent with his explicit attitude, he signed a petition in favor of affirmative action policies.
Robert has grown up in a culture in which there are many negative stereotypes about minority groups.
Negative ideas have affected him in ways of which he is not fully aware.
If, when Robert is around African Americans, some negative feelings are triggered automatically and unintentionally, this would be an example of a negative implicit attitude.
We have explicit and implicit attitudes about many things.
Not just different races
Example
Students can believe explicitly that they hate math
At an implicit level, can have a more positive attitude
Measurement
Implicit Attitudes Test (IAT)
When Do Attitudes Predict Behaviors?
There is some evidence that attitudes are not good predictors of behavior.
LaPiere, in early 1930s, examined anti-Chinese attitudes and discrimination.
Predicting Spontaneous Behaviors
Attitudes will predict spontaneous behaviors only when they are highly accessible to people.
Attitude accessibility:
The strength of the association between an attitude object and a person’s evaluation of that object, measured by the speed with which people can report how they feel about
the object
Theory of Planned Behavior
People’s intentions are the best predictors of their deliberate behaviors.
Intentions determined by their attitudes toward specific behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control
Specific attitudes
Only specific attitudes can be expected to predict that behavior.
Subjective norms
We also need to measure people’s subjective norms— their beliefs about how people they care about will view the behavior in question.
Perceived behavioral control
Intentions are influenced by the ease with which they believe they can perform the behavior.
Theory of planned behavior
Predicts that more specific attitudes better predict behavior
When attitudes change, it is often due to social influence.
This is why social psychologists are interested!
Attitudes are social phenomena.
Sometimes attitudes change dramatically over short periods of time.
People experience dissonance
When their image is threatened
When they cannot explain behavior with external justifications
Leads to finding internal justification for behavior
Brings your attitude and your behavior closer together
Equals attitude change!
Persuasive Communications and Attitude Change (1 of 2)
Communication (e.g., a speech or television ad) advocating a particular side of an issue
How should you construct a message so that it would really change people’s attitudes?
Persuasive Communications and Attitude Change (2 of 2)
Yale attitude change approach
The study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages
“Who said what to whom.”
Who: The source of the communication
What: The nature of the communication
Whom: The nature of the audience
Elaboration likelihood model:
An explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change
Central route
When people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the communication
Peripheral route
When people do not pay attention to the arguments but are instead swayed by surface characteristics
Central route to persuasion
Elaborate on a persuasive communication
Listening carefully to and thinking about the arguments
Occurs when people have both the ability and the motivation to listen carefully
Peripheral route to persuasion
People do not elaborate on the arguments.
People can be swayed by peripheral cues, such as by who delivers a persuasive message rather than by the strength of the message itself. An example is when consumers buy certain products because a celebrity tweets about them.
Personal relevance of the topic
How important is the topic to a person’s well-being?
More personally relevant, pay more attention
Central route
Need for cognition
A personality variable reflecting the extent to which people engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activities.
People high in the need for cognition
Form attitudes through central route
People low in the need for cognition
Rely on peripheral cues
People who base their attitudes on a careful analysis of the arguments will be:
More likely to maintain this attitude
More likely to behave consistently with this attitude
More resistant to counter-persuasion
Fear-Arousing Communications
Persuasive messages that attempt to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears
Strong amounts of fear fail if they overwhelm people.
Become defensive
Deny importance of threat
Cannot think rationally about issue
Do fear-arousing communications work?
Moderate amounts of fear work best
Provide information on how to reduce fear
Fear and Smoking Ads
The FDA has tried to implement guidelines to require all cigarette packs sold in the United States to display pictures that warn about the dangers of smoking, such as the one shown here. Do you think that this ad would scare people into quitting?
Heuristic–systematic model of persuasion
An explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change
One way is:
Systematically processing the merits of the arguments
Second way is
When using peripheral route
Use mental shortcuts (heuristics)
e.g., “Experts are always right.”
Use emotions as heuristic
Use emotions and moods as heuristics to determine attitudes
“How do I feel about it?”
If we feel good
Must have a positive attitude about object
If we feel bad
Thumbs down!
Problem with the “How do I feel about it?” heuristic
Can make mistakes about what is causing our mood
Misattribute feelings created by one source to another
If so, people might make a bad decision
Advertisers and retailers want to create good feelings about their product
Pair product with appealing music or showing pleasant images
Hope people will attribute feelings to the product
If an attitude is cognitively based
Try to change it with rational arguments
If it is affectively based
Try to change it with emotional appeals
Some ads stress the objective merits of a product
Price, reliability, efficiency
Other ads stress emotions and values
Sex, beauty, youthfulness
Attitude Change and the Body
Body posture plays a significant role in attitude change
Cartoons rated as more funny when holding an object between one’s teeth (mimicking a smile) compared to holding it between one’s lips (mimicking a frown)
Nodding or shaking one’s head while listening to strong or weak arguments also affects attitude change
People more influenced by advertising than they think.
Split cable market tests
Advertisers work with cable companies and stores
Show commercial to randomly selected group of people and keep track of purchases
Results of over 300 of these reveal ads effective, especially for new products
Public health campaigns
Meta-analysis on ads and substance use among youths encouraging
Television and radio better than print ads
How Advertising Works (1 of 2)
Many take emotional approach of attitude change
Little difference between brands
Associate product with excitement, youth, sexual attraction
Attitudes that are more cognitively based. Personally relevant
Personally relevant?
Yes—then use logical, fact-based arguments
No—might use peripheral route
Peripheral route leads to attitude change that is not long lasting
Goal to make product personally relevant
Subliminal messages:
Words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence people’s judgments, attitudes, and behavior
- There is no evidence that the types of subliminal messages encountered in everyday life have any influence on people’s behavior
Laboratory Evidence for Subliminal Influence (1 of 4)
Evidence for subliminal influence in carefully controlled laboratory conditions
Example: Examined preference for product after subliminal prime
IV: Subliminal flashes of words
Condition 1: “Lipton Ice”
Condition 2: Nonsense words
DV: Choosing Lipton Ice or Dutch mineral water
Results?
If thirsty, chose Lipton Ice significantly more often
Subliminal effects require a controlled environment
Correct illumination of the room
No distractions
Right distance from screen
Limitations
No evidence that subliminal message can get people to act counter to wishes, values, or personalities
Western cultures
Ads stress independence
“It’s easy when you have the right shoes.”
Eastern cultures
Ads stress interdependence
“The shoes for your family.”
Western cultures
May base attitudes more on individuality and self-improvement
Eastern cultures
May base attitudes more on standing in social group
Attitude inoculation
Making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position
Resisting Peer Pressure
Peer pressure in adolescence
Operates on values and emotions
Liking and acceptance by peer group
Not based in logical arguments
To make adolescents resistant to attitude change attempts via peer pressure
Attitude inoculation that focuses on inoculating against emotional appeals
Reactance theory:
Idea that when people feel their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of reactance is aroused, which they can reduce by performing the threatened behavior
