Chapter 7: Attitudes

Elaboration likelihood moedel

A model describing when strong or weak attitude change is likely to occur. Based on elaboration continuum - the amount of thinking done about message arguments.

Tripartite Model

According to this view, the three bases of attitude should relate to one another. However, they can be independent.

Unrelated

Advertisers and sales people try to create good feelings that are _________ to their products.

Implicit attitudes

Attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious.

Explicit attitudes

Attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report.

Attitudes

Evaluations of people, objects, and ideas; a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating an entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.

Attitude inoculation

Making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position.

Heuristic systematic model

When thinking about persuasive messages we engage in either systematic (high involvement) or heuristic (low involvement) processing.

LaPiere

- Surveyed hotel owners. The majority (90%) said they would not give a room to a Chinese couple. - When tested with an actual Chinese couple, virtually all the hotels gave them a room.

Affect

An attitude based more on people's feelings and values than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object. Occasionally we even feel great about something or someone despite having negative cognitions about it.

Behavior

An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object. I must like this because I'm always behaviorally engaged with it. ("I must really like to workout because I'm always at the gym.")

Cognitive

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 and nothing else.

Attitude to behavior process model

Attitudes can predict behavior when you're not carefully thinking. 1. See an attitude object. 2. If accessible, a relevant attitude is retrieved from memory. 3. Use the attitude to evaluate the attitude object. 4. Act toward the object without thinking

Theory of planned behavior

Describes how attitudes predict behavior when you're carefully thinking. It consists of... - Attitude toward the behavior: must be a specific behavior. - Subjective norms: perceptions of others' attitudes toward the behavior. - Perceived control: ease or difficulty of performing the behavior. The best predictor of planned, deliberative behaviors are behavioral intentions to engage in the behavior.

Yale attitude change approach

Describes the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to a persuasive message. (who, what, whom) It's not always clear when one factor is more important than another.

Petty

Experiment: IV: a persuasive message about raising tuition. - IV1: high (happens next year) vs. low (happens after they graduate from college) involvement. - IV2: low or high expertise source. - IV3: strong or weak arguments. DV = did they agree that tuition should be raised? Results: - Source affected only low‐relevance participants (peripheral route). - If you're not motivated to pay attention, just judge the message based on who delivers it. - Argument quality only affected high‐relevance participants (central route). - People who were motivated to think paid attention to whether good arguments were made.

Cognitively

If the attitude toward the product is more ___________ based... - Use factual advertising if the product is relevant to a person. - Use peripheral route if the product is not relevant.

Emotional approach

Many ads take an ________ ________ of attitude change. - There's often little difference between brands. - Associate product with excitement, youth, sexual attraction

Cognition, affect, behavior

Most of our attitudes come from experiences, and they can be based on three things... - Thoughts about the object. - Emotional response. - Behaviors toward the object.

Central route

Occurs when elaboration is higher and involves focusing on strength of message arguments. This route of thinking leads to strong attitude change.

Peripheral route

Occurs when elaboration is lower and involves focusing on non‐argument related peripheral cues, heuristics. This route of thinking leads to weak attitude change.

Reactance

People like to feel that they are free and in control of how they choose to live their lives. If a persuasion attempt threatens a person's sense of control, they may do the opposite of what is being advocated. Forbidding a behavior may encourage the behavior.

MODE model

Predicts under what conditions attitudes will predict behavior.

Elaboration

Reflects the degree to which you are willing to think carefully about a message. This can vary depending on the person and the situation.

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.

Single-base model

The view that attitudes are often just based on either cognition, affect, or behavior; not all three.

Prevents

Too much fear used in advertisements ________ persuasion, but moderate amounts can be effective.

Subliminal messages

Words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence peopleʼs judgments, attitudes, and behavior. There is no evidence that these types of messages influence behavior in real life, only lab settings.