Week 6 Attitudes change and persuasion Flashcards
Attitude
A relative enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings and behavioural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols
Characteristics of attitude
- Relatively permanent: persist accros time and situations
- Limited to socially significant objects
- Generalisable
Attitude accessibility
Attitudes are represented in memory
- Have great influence on behaviour and resistant to change
Attitude strength
Attitudes are strengthened by direct experiences
–> therefore, strong attitudes are easily accesible and have greater influence on behaviour
Theory of reasoned action
Subjective norms + Attitude towards behaviour –> behavioural intention –> behaviour
Theory of planned behaviour
Subjective norms + Attitude towards behaviour + Perceived behavioural control –> Behavioural intention –> Behaviour
Perceived behavioural control also –> Behaviour
Formation of attitude: Behavioural approach
- Direct exposure: provides information about an object which shapes our opinion toward it
- Mere exposure
- Classical conditioning: repeated associations between a neutral object and a positive or negative influence our attitude towards the neutral object
3 components of persuasive communication
Who? The source
What? The message
To Whom? The audience
Cognitive dissonance and attitudes
–> People try to maintain internal consistency between their attitudes and behaviours
Cognitive dissonance: what do people do to reduce uncomfortable feelings
- Look for additional evidence
- Disregard teh source of an attitude or behaviour
- Change one or more inconstent attitudes or behaviours
Foot-in-the-door
- A asks B for a small favour
- B agrees
- A asks B for a large favour
Door-in-the-face
- A asks B for large favour
- B refuses
- A asks B for a smaller favour
Low ball
1) A gets B to commit to an attractive choice
2) A tells B that the choice is not possible
3) A offers B a less attractive choice
ex: salesman car who proposes deal then increases the price at last moment
The six principles of persuasion
- Consistency
- Consensus
- Scarcity
- Reciprocity
- Similarity
- Authority