Chapter 8: Attitude Change and Interactive Communications Flashcards
Persuasion
an active attempt to change attitudes
RECIPROCITY
People are more likely to give if they receive something first.
Example: That’s why including a nominal amount of money (such as a dollar) in a mail survey questionnaire increases the response rate by an average of 65 percent over the number of responses to mail surveys without a monetary incentive.
SCARCITY
Items become more attractive when they are less available.
Example: In one study that asked people to rate the quality of chocolate chip cookies, participants who got only two cookies liked them better than those who got ten of the same kind of cookie. That helps to explain why we tend to value “limited edition” items.
AUTHORITY
We tend to believe an authoritative source much more readily.
Example: CNN.com carries more weight with respect to public opinion than does TMZ.com.
CONSISTENCY
People try not to contradict themselves in terms of what they say and do about an issue.
Example: In one study, students who solicited donations to help people with disabilities doubled the amount they normally collected in a neighbourhood by first asking the residents to sign a petition supporting people with disabilities two weeks before asking for donations
CONSENSUS
We often take into account what others are doing before we decide what to do
Example: This desire to fit in with what others are doing influences our actions; for example, people are more likely to donate to a charity if they first see a list of the names of their neighbours who have already done so
Communications model
specifies that a number of elements are necessary for communication to be achieved.
Such as a source, message, medium, receivers, and feedback
Communications model rundown
1) In this model, a source must choose and encode a message (i.e., initiate the transfer of meaning by choosing appropriate symbolic images that represent this meaning).
2) There are many ways to say something, and the structure of the message has a big effect on how it is perceived.
3) The message must be transmitted via a medium, which might be television, social media, magazines, billboards, or even a T-shirt.
4) The message is then decoded by one or more receivers, who interpret the symbols in light of their own experiences.
5) Finally, feedback must be received by the source, who uses the reactions of receivers to modify aspects of the message
Permission marketing
based on the idea that a marketer will be much more successful trying to persuade consumers who have opted into its messages; consumers who “opt out” of listening to the message probably weren’t good prospects in the first place.
Two basic types of feedback:
1) FIRST-ORDER RESPONSE.
2) SECOND-ORDER RESPONSE
1) FIRST-ORDER RESPONSE.
Direct-marketing vehicles such as online display ads, web catalogues, and TV infomercials are interactive; if successful, they result in an order, which is most definitely a response! So, let’s think of a product offer that directly yields a transaction as a first-order response.
2) SECOND-ORDER RESPONSE
A marketing communication does not have to immediately result in a purchase to be an important component of interactive marketing. Messages can prompt useful responses from customers, even though these recipients do not necessarily place an order immediately after being exposed to the communication.
persuasion knowledge model (PKM)
suggests that consumers develop knowledge about persuasion and use this knowledge to “cope” with or deal with persuasive attempts.
Three types of knowledge:
1) topic knowledge (specific knowledge related to the issue at hand),
2) agent knowledge (knowledge about the source of the persuasion),
3) and persuasion knowledge (knowledge about the persuasive tactics and techniques being used).
Two important source characteristics are:
1) credibility
2) attractiveness
Source Credibility
A source’s perceived expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness
Native advertising
digital messages designed to blend into the editorial content of the publications in which they appear
two factors that influence whether we will perceive a source to be credible?
Social Backing
Is it profitable?
Knowledge bias
implies that a source’s knowledge about a topic is not accurate
Reporting bias
occurs when a source has the required knowledge but his or her willingness to convey it accurately is compromised, as when a star tennis player is paid by a racket manufacturer to use its products exclusively
buzz
word of mouth viewed as authentic and generated by customers
Authentic message generated by customers
Cover, grassroots, authentic, credibility
hype
word of mouth dismissed as inauthentic—propaganda planted by a company
Inauthentic message generated by corporate propaganda
Advertising, overt, corporate, fake, skepticism
Source Attractiveness
refers to the source’s perceived social value
This quality can emanate from the person’s physical appearance, personality, or social status, or from his or her similarity to the receiver (we like to listen to people who are like us
halo effect
which occurs when individuals who are rated highly on one dimension are assumed to excel on others as well
what is beautiful is good
–Example: good-looking people are thought to be smarter, cooler, happier
match-up hypothesis
The theory that the dominant characteristics of a product should match the dominant features of the communications source
Non-Human Endorsers (avatars)
For these reasons, some marketers seek alternatives, including cartoon characters and mascots
Examples: M&M Characters, Ronald McDonald
You don’t have to worry about your mascot checking into rehab
spokescharacters
Animated characters created by a brand to help position the brand and promote a particular brand image
such as the Pillsbury Doughboy, Chester the Cheetah, Cheerio’s Buzz the bee, and the Geico Gecko, do, in fact, boost viewers’ recall of claims that ads make and also yield higher brand attitudes
Avatars origin
Avatars originated in computer games such as The Sims, but now they are starting to appear in online advertising and on e-commerce sites as a mechanism for enhancing the online experience
Rock bands, soft-drink makers, and other big-time marketers are using avatars.
Visual elements may affect brand attitudes in one of two ways
First, the consumer may form inferences about the brand and change his or her beliefs because of an illustration’s imagery. For example, people who saw an ad for a facial tissue accompanied by a photo of a sunset were more likely to believe that the brand came in attractive colours
Second, brand attitudes may be affected more directly. A strong positive or negative reaction elicited by the visual elements will influence the consumer’s attitude toward the ad (Aad), which will then affect brand attitudes (Ab).
two-factor theory
two separate psychological processes are operating when a person is repeatedly exposed to an ad.
The positive side of repetition is that it increases familiarity and thus reduces uncertainty about the product.
The negative side is that, over time, boredom increases with each exposure.
Comparative Advertising
a strategy wherein a message identifies two or more specifically named or recognizably presented brands and compares them in terms of one or more specific attributes
source derogation
Viewing the source of a marketing message negatively
Sex Appeals
Echoing the widely held belief that “sex sells,” many marketing communications for products from perfumes to autos feature heavy doses of erotic suggestions that range from subtle hints to blatant displays of skin
Examples: Naked men on bottle where the product just covers their penis
Erotic ads draw attention, but strong sexual imagery may make consumers less likely to:
–Buy a product (unless product is related to sex)
–Recall ad’s content
•Nude models generate tension among same-sex consumers
Humorous appeals
- The use of humour can be tricky, particularly since what is funny to one person may be offensive or incomprehensible to another
- For example, commercials in the United Kingdom and Canada are more likely to use puns and satire than those in the United States.
- Humour can be effective when it provides a source of distraction
- For example, successful marketers of beer often incorporate humour into their advertising.
•Humor varies by culture
Fear Appeals
- Fear appeals highlight the negative consequences that can occur if the consumer fails to change a behaviour or attitude
- encourage people to convert to healthier lifestyles by quitting smoking, using contraception, or relying on a designated driver.
For example, Canada was one of the first countries to introduce graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging
A study that manipulated subjects’ degree of anxiety about AIDS, for example, found that they evaluated condom ads most positively when the ads used a moderate threat
The relationship between fear and attitude change is __________, meaning increasing levels of fear does not result in increased change
non-monotonic
A metaphor
involves the use of an explicit comparison
The Elaboration Likelihood Model
assumes that once a consumer receives a message, he or she begins to process it
Traditional Communication Model
Organization, Message, Medium Consumer, Feedback, restart cycle
Customer co-creation
When the consumer interacts with the marketer to influence the product, service, or outcome that is created.
Examples include:
–StriVectin-SD
–Jones Soda
–Danone
Real-time marking
Involves marketing activities that leverage up-to-date and currently occurring events
•real-time marketing takes advantage of various social media platforms
Source effects:
Same words by different people can have very different meanings
The Source
A “source” often a spokesperson in an ad—may be chosen because s/he is expert, famous, attractive, or similar
Source is good when it is source credibility and source attractiveness
Source Credibility
Source’s perceived expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness
- Consumers’ beliefs that communicator is competent and provides competitor information
- Credible source is persuasive when consumer has no formed opinion about product
- Endorsement contract = large profits
- Native advertising
A consumer’s beliefs about a product’s attributes can be weakened if the source is perceived to be the victim of bias in presenting information
–Knowledge bias
–Reporting bias
Celebrities as Communication Sources
–Famous faces capture attention and are processed more efficiently by the brain
–Enhance company image and brand attitudes
Celebrities embody cultural and product meanings
Match-up hypothesis:
Celebrity’s image and that of product are similar
Central route to persuasion
When the consumer finds the information in a persuasive message to be relevant or somehow interesting, he or she will carefully attend to the message content
The person is likely to think actively about the arguments presented and generate cognitive responses to these arguments.
If a person generates counter-arguments in response to a message, it is less likely that he or she will yield to the message, while the generation of further supporting arguments increases the probability of compliance
Example: Drinking while pregnant message may either make the mom stop drinking and agree, or say fuck that, my mom drank everyday and I am fine
Prior knowledge about a topic may result in more thoughts about the message and will also increase the number of counter-arguments
Peripheral route to persuasion
- taken when the person is not motivated to think about the arguments presented
- instead uses other cues which might include the product’s package, the attractiveness of the source, or the context in which the message is presented in deicing on the sustainability of the message
The implication here is that low-involvement products may be purchased chiefly because the marketer has done a good job designing a “sexy” package, choosing a popular spokesperson, or perhaps just creating a pleasant shopping environment
