Exam 3

Question 1

What is an attitude?

Answer 1

A favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction to something exhibited in one’s beliefs, feelings, or intended behavior

Question 2

What is the difference between the Central and Peripheral Routes to the Elaboration Likelihood Model?

Answer 2

Central: (System 2): Careful scrutiny of a persuasive communication to determine the merits of the arguments
Peripheral: (System 1 - Intuitive), Requires little thought & relies on judgmental heuristics

Question 3

In the Elaboration Likelihood Model, what affects the route consumers take?

Answer 3

Motivation: Personal involvement/relevance, responsibility/accountability, need for cognition
Ability: Personal expertise, distraction/multi-tasking, message comprehensibility/complexity

Question 4

When does attitude change endure?

Answer 4

When they are formed via the central route–they persist longer, more resistant to new persuasion, and are more predictive of behavior

Question 5

What is the difference between central vs. peripheral cues?

Answer 5

Central Cues: Argument strength
Peripheral Cues: Source factors: likeability, attractiveness, celebrity status, expertise, perceived competence, etc; Message factors: number of arguments, length of argument, etc

Question 6

In the first study (Petty & Cacioppo 1979), under ______________ (high or low?) involvement, participants were more likely to agree with the source’s position when arguments were strong and more likely to disagree with the source’s position when arguments were weak. Under ______________ (high or low?) involvement, agreement did not vary as much based on argument strength.

Answer 6

High; Low

Question 7

In the second study (Chaiken 1980), under ______________ (high or low?) involvement, participants were more persuaded by the likeable source than the unlikeable source, regardless of how many strong arguments they presented. Under ______________ (high or low?) involvement, participants were more persuaded by the source with a greater number of strong arguments, regardless of how likeable they were.

Answer 7

Low; High

Question 8

In the second study (Chaiken 1980), under ______________ (high or low?) involvement, participants were more persuaded by the likeable source than the unlikeable source, regardless of how many strong arguments they presented. Under ______________ (high or low?) involvement, participants were more persuaded by the source with a greater number of strong arguments, regardless of how likeable they were.

Answer 8

High; Low; Celebrity; Citizen

Question 9

In the fourth study (also Petty, Cacioppo, & Goldman 1981), whether the source of the message was perceived as an expert mattered more when under ______________ (high or low?) involvement, and argument strength mattered more under ______________ (high or low?) involvement.

Answer 9

Low; High

Question 10

In the fifth study (Petty & Cacioppo 1984), under high involvement, both the ______________ and ______________ of arguments influenced participants’ attitudes. Under low involvement, only the ______________ of arguments influenced participants’ attitudes (the ______________ of arguments didn’t matter).

Answer 10

Strength and Number; Number; Strength

Question 11

In the sixth study (also Petty & Cacioppo 1984), under low involvement, participants were most persuaded when they were presented with ______________ arguments, followed by ______________ arguments, and finally ______________ arguments, again suggesting that only the ______________ of arguments influenced participants’ attitudes (the ______________ of arguments didn’t matter). Under high involvement, participants were roughly equally persuaded by ______________ arguments as they were by ______________ arguments.

Answer 11

3 Strong ???

Question 12

What are Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Social Influence?

Answer 12

Reciprocity
Consistency
Scarcity
Liking
Social Proof
Authority

Question 13

What is the reciprocity principle?

Answer 13

We want to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us

Question 14

What are two general persuasion tactics that leverage the reciprocity principle?

Answer 14

1) Exchanging Favors: Provide a person with a favor and then ask for one in return (ex. Joe getting a soda for participant, in-home testing, free samples)
2. Reciprocal Concessions: AKA the “reject-then-retreat technique” or “door-in-the-face technique”: Ask for a big favor, and when the target refuses, ask for a small favor instead (ex. boy scouts, chaperoning school trip)

Question 15

What are three aspects of the reciprocity principle that make it so influential?

Answer 15

1. It is powerful
2. It applies even to uninvited first favors
3. It can spur unequal exchanges

Question 16

What are three reasons why the reciprocal concessions tactic (also known as the “reject-then-retreat technique” or “door-in-the-face technique”) works:

Answer 16

1. Reciprocity (feel as if the second request is a concession)
2. Perceptual contrast: 2nd request appears smaller in comparison
3. Additional opportunities for success: We now have two chances of being successful: the first attempt with the big request and the second attempt with the smaller request

Question 17

What is the consistency principle?

Answer 17

Once we make a choice or take a stand, we feel pressure to behave consistently with that commitment

Question 18

Describe three examples of specific real-world marketing techniques that apply the consistency principle:

Answer 18

Toy companies advertise holiday toys and then understock them; P&G elicits customer testimonials to create loyal customers; charities invite people to “like” their causes via sm to cultivate donations

Question 19

What are two general persuasion tactics that leverage the reciprocity principle? For each general tactic, describe an example of an experiment that illustrates it:

Answer 19

1. Foot-in-the-door: Get a large favor by first getting a small one (small commitments manipulate a person’s self-image and position them for large commitment) ex sign a petition, then asked to do a similar task weeks later.
2. Low Balling: Offer an item at a lower price than is actually intended to be charged, and after eliciting a commitment, raise the price to increase profits (ex. participating in an experiment by first agreeing without knowing the time, 7 AM)

Question 20

The “foot in the door technique” is often confused with the reciprocal concessions tactic (also known as the “reject-then-retreat technique” or “door-in-the-face technique”), perhaps because both involve asking for big and small favors but in different orders. What is the difference between these two tactics?

Answer 20

The door-in-the-face technique requires that the requests come from the same person, while the foot-in-the-door technique does not

Question 21

Under what conditions is the “foot in the door technique” most effective? Provide an example of each:

Answer 21

1. Active: People are more likely to feel like they have to act consistently with something when they have actively committed to do so
2. Public: Public commitments tend to be more lasting because people care about looking consistent to others
3. Effortful: Persons who go through a great deal of trouble or pain to attain something tend to value it more highly than persons who attain the same thing with a minimum of effort
4. Internally Motivated: People are more likely to feel like they have to behave in a consistent manner when they take inner responsibility for their actions (rather than attributing it to external incentives)

Question 22

What is the scarcity principle?

Answer 22

Opportunities seem more valuable to us when their availability is limited

Question 23

Describe three examples of specific real-world marketing techniques that apply the scarcity principle:

Answer 23

Companies charge more for “limited edition” products
Companies advertise “one-time” or “limited-time” offers to boost sales
Companies artificially create scarcity by taking some items off the market (e.g. the “vault” for Disney animated classics)

Question 24

What are two reasons why the scarcity principle works?

Answer 24

1. Rareness signals value: Valuable objects are rare, so people assume that the reverse must also be true
2. Reactance: People desire things they are told they cannot have
   e. g., “All the girls get prettier at closing time”

Question 25

What is the likeability principle?

Answer 25

We are more likely to say yes to someone we know and like

Question 26

What five factors increase likeability? Define each and provide an example of how the factor could be leveraged by marketers to increase compliance:

Answer 26

1. Physical Attractiveness: Halo Effect (for favorable impressions)
2. Similarity: More likely to comply with people who are similar
3. Compliments: People are more likely to like and comply with people who compliment them
4. Contact and Cooperation: People are more likely to like and comply with people who they feel are on their “team”
5. Conditioning and Association: People are more likely to comply when they associate the salesperson, product, or brand with things they like

Question 27

What is the authority principle?

Answer 27

People often defer to authorities in a relatively automatic fashion, and there is a tendency to do so in response to the mere symbols of authority rather than to its substance

Question 28

Describe the Milgram experiments, and explain what they illustrate about the powerful influence of authority on behavior:

Answer 28

Shock experiments that a majority of people will listen to authority, whether it’s right or wrong

Question 29

What are three cues that signal authority? How could a person use these cues to increase the likelihood that others will perceive them as an authority?

Answer 29

Titles, Clothes, and Trappings (things like fancy cars)

Question 30

What is the social proof principle?

Answer 30

One important means that people use to decide what to believe or how to act in a situation is to look at what other people are believing or doing there

Question 31

Describe the Asch’s experiments, and explain what they illustrate about the influence of social proof on behavior:

Answer 31

When asked to compare matching lines, participants conformed to the group

Question 32

What normative and informational reasons for conforming?

Answer 32

Normative: In the service of avoiding the disapproval, scorn, or ostracism that accompanies norm violations; don’t want to be a jerk
Informational: In the service of learning what is right or appropriate in a situation, sometimes people don’t know what to do

Question 33

What are three factors that increase conformity?

Answer 33

1. Public nature
2. Unanimity of the majority
3. Size of the group

Question 34

Conformity increases with the size of a group up to a certain point, then levels off. At about what point does conformity level off?

Answer 34

After 3 people

Question 35

Marketers often leverage social proof by highlighting descriptive and injunctive norms in favor of their products or brands. Define these norms, and provide an example of how each could be used to increase sales:

Answer 35

Descriptive: How things are
Injunctive: How things should be
Injunctive is better to change people’s behavior (think the petrified wood example)

Question 36

Marketers sometimes misuse descriptive norms such that they backfire. What is the right and wrong way to leverage descriptive norms?

Answer 36

Anti-Pollution PSA ad that shows that EVERYONE is littering

Question 37

Mindless conformity to those around us can sometimes have negative consequences. What are three phenomena that often stem from mindless conformity? Provide an example of each:

Answer 37

1. Diffusion of Responsibility: Smoke filled room and difference in % of those that reported
2. Pluralistic Ignorance: Trigger: Discrepancy between people’s private feelings and public acts
3. Groupthink: groups try to agree with one another, and they can ignore problems with their plans to do so; pressure to reach a consensus

Question 38

What are two reasons why people are less likely to act when in the presence of others than when alone:

Answer 38

1. Diffusion of responsibility

2. Pluralistic ignorance –> normative and informational conformity

Question 39

Many products suffer from pluralistic ignorance. How could you as a marketer dispel pluralistic ignorance?

Answer 39

Peer session (about pluralistic ignorance) vs. individual session (about responsible alcohol choices)–in reference to case of college drinking; Condoms; Protective gear in athletics

Question 40

What are the antecedents and symptoms of groupthink?

Answer 40

Antecedents: High cohesiveness,Insulation of the group, Lack of procedures for information search and appraisal, Directive leadership, High stress w/little hope of finding a better solution than the leader’s proposed one
Symptoms: Illusions of invulnerability, Collective rationalization, Belief in inherent morality of group, Stereotypes of outgroups, Direct pressure on dissenters,Self-censorship, Illusion of unanimity

Question 41

Given what you know about what factors increase groupthink, how could you change these factors in order to dispel groupthink?

Answer 41

Have group members speak up