Marketing Chapter 11 - Exam 3

Are fear appeals always effective in changing attitudes? Why?

Fear appeals make use of the threat of negative consequences if attitudes or behaviors are not altered. For fear appeals to be successful, the level of fear must not be so great as to cause the consumer to distort or reject the message. In addition, the message must be believable in that the source of the fear arousing message is viewed as highly credible.

Name five possible characteristics of an appeal that would influence or change attitudes.

Fear appeals, humorous appeals, comparative ads, emotional appeals, and value-expressive/utilitarian appeals are types of appeals that affect attitudes.

What are the two characteristics of the source of a message that influence its ability to change attitudes? Describe each.

(1) Source credibility and (2) message source (e.g., celebrity sources).

What are the components of an attitude?

1) The cognitive components of an attitude consist of an individual's beliefs and knowledge about an object. (2) The affective component represents one's feelings or emotional reactions toward an object. (3) The behavioral component consists of overt actions and/or statements of behavior related to an object.

Why are celebrity sources (i.e., strong message source) sometimes effective? What risks are associated with using a celebrity source?

A celebrity attached to the message enhances its ability to draw one's attention, increases message believability, may share his or her image with the product, and fans may buy the product to emulate the celebrity. However, not everyone will like any given celebrity and the celebrity may do something to generate negative publicity. (Look at the Phelps & Woods example in this chapter re: the Kellogg, Speedo, Tag Heuer, and Nike brands... page 383).

A credible source is one that provides correct information and data with trust.

A credible source is one that the target market believes will provide accurate information. Trustworthiness and expertise are key factors in establishing source credibility. To be credible, a source should have no apparent reason to provide anything other than complete, objective, and accurate information and it should have the ability to do so.

What is a benefit segment?

A segment based on needs or sought benefits. Importance ratings are a way to measure what consumers feel is important. Clustering those who rate the importance of product features the same allows the marketer to group consumers based on attribute importance and benefits sought.

A vibe given off by our environmental surroundings

An attitude is an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual, and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of our environment. It is the way one feels, thinks, and acts toward an object.

What strategies can be used to change the following components of an attitude? (affective, behavioral, cognitive)

Affective: Various forms of classical conditioning, affect toward the ad or website (using humor, celebrities, or emotional appeal), and mere exposure (simply presenting a brand to individuals on a large number of occasions). Behavioral: Operant conditioning and "shaping" are most effective. Cognitive: Cognitive learning including, iconic rote learning, is important in this area. Strategies used to alter the cognitive structure of a consumer's attitude include change beliefs, shift importance, add beliefs and/or change ideal.

Are the components of an attitude consistent? What factors reduce the apparent consistency among attitude components?

All three components of attitude tend to be consistent and reinforce a particular attitude. That is, a favorable attitude is generally composed of positive cognitions (beliefs), positive feelings (affective), and intentions to use, recommend or support (behavioral). There are six factors found to reduce the apparent consistency among attitude components: lack of need, lack of ability, failure to consider relative attitudes, attitude ambivalence, weakly held beliefs and affect, and failure to consider interpersonal and situational influences.

Are comparative appeals effective? Why?

Comparative ads are often more effective than noncomparative ads in generating attention, message and brand awareness, greater message processing, favorable sponsor brand attitudes, and increased purchase intentions and behaviors. However, they can also have negative consequences for the sponsor brand such as lower believability, lower attitude toward the ad and sponsor brand, and more positive attitude toward the competitor brand(s).

What is attitude ambivalence?

Consumes sometimes hold mixed beliefs and/or feelings about an attitude object (e.g., seafood). These attitudes are less stable over time and less predictive of behavior

Are emotional appeals effective? Why?

Emotional ads are designed to elicit a positive affective response rather than to provide information or arguments. Emotional appeals are often effective. These types of ads may enhance attitude formation or change by: a. increasing the ad's ability to attract and maintain attention. b. increasing liking of the ad. c. increasing product liking through classical conditioning. d. increasing product liking through high involvement processes.

How can attitudes guide new-product development?

Ideal performance levels, by attribute, provide a particularly useful guide for new product development.

What strategies can consumers use to resist persuasion? Which consumers are most likely to do so?

Loyal consumers engage in discrediting, discounting, and containment strategies to resist persuasion from competitors. These involve the following: a. Discredting—loyal consumers' first strategy is to discredit negative information through counter arguments, whereby the consumers look for weaknesses in competitor attacks. b. Discounting—when discrediting does not work, loyal consumers will often resort to discounting, whereby the consumers protect their brand by decreasing the importance they put on the attribute in question. c. Containment—if a brand attack cannot be discredited, loyal consumers also engage in containment, whereby consumers "seal off" the negative information as a way to quarantine it and avoid having it spill over and spoil their existing positive attitude.

What is meant by positive message framing and negative message framing? How does the effectiveness of a positive versus negative frame vary depending on whether it's a goal frame or attribute frame?

Message framing refers to presenting one of two equivalent value outcomes either in positive or gain terms (positive framing) or in negative or loss terms (negative framing). In goal framing, the object is to stress either the positive consequences of performing (better general health by exercising) an act or the negative consequences of not performing the act (developing chronic illness from lack of exercise). In goal framing, the negative message is generally more effective, most likely due to the risk-averse nature of consumers coupled with the risk-enhancing nature of the negative goal frame.In attribute framing, a single attribute is the focus of the frame. A classic example is describing ground beef as wither 80 percent fat free (positive frame) or 20 percent fat (negative frame). In attribute framing, the positive message is usually more effective because it emphasizes the desirable aspects of the specific attribute. Framing effects can vary across products, consumers, and situations, and so, marketers should base their decision to use positive or negative framing upon research for the specific product and market.

what are the nonverbal components of an ad? What impact do they have on attitudes

Pictures, music, surrealism, etc., are nonverbal components of ads. By arousing an emotional response, the nonverbal components can affect attitude. Likewise they can provide meaning that is not possible to convey with words.

What is the elaboration likelihood model (ELM)?

The ELM is a theory suggesting that involvement is a key determinant of how information is processed and attitudes are changed. High involvement results in a "central route" to attitude change by which consumers deliberately examine and process those message elements that they believe are relevant to a meaningful and logical evaluation of the brand. Low involvement results in a "peripheral" route to attitude change in which consumers form impressions of the brand based on exposure to the readily available cues in the message regardless of the relevance of those cues to the brand itself. Cue relevance and competitive considerations need to be considered before relying solely on general ELM conclusions that central cues (product information) should be used under high involvement and peripheral cues (e.g., celebrity endorser) are only effective under low involvement.

When is a two-sided message likely to be more effective than a one-sided message?

The effectiveness of one- versus two-sided messages depends largely on the product type, the situational variables, and the ad format. However, two-sided messages are generally more effective than one-sided messages in changing a strongly held attitude (partly due to the consumer's increased trust toward the advertiser as a response to the advertiser presenting the two-sides!), and are particularly effective with highly educated consumers.

What is meant by mere exposure?

The theory that simply presenting a brand to an individual on a large number of occasions might make the individual's attitude toward the brand more positive. Thus, the continued repetition of advertisements for low-involvement products may well increase liking and subsequent purchase of the advertised brands without altering the initial belief structure. The mechanism appears to be heightened familiarity which enhances liking.

What are the three characteristics of the message structure that influence its ability to change attitudes? Describe each.

The three characteristics are (1) one- versus two-sided messages, (2) positive versus negative framing, and (3) the nonverbal components of the message. #1 One- versus two-sided message: One sided message, only a positive point of view is expressed. In a two sided message, both good and bad points are expressed which can enhance effectiveness. #2 Message framing: Refers to presenting one of two equivalent value outcomes either in positive or gain terms (positive framing) or in negative or loss terms (negative framing). The best valence depends on type of frame. For attribute frames, positive framing is best. For goal frames, negative frames tend to work best. #3 Nonverbal components include pictures, music, surrealism, and other nonverbal cues used for attitude change.

What characteristics should humorous ads have?

Though a humorous appeal may gain great attention and viewer satisfaction, to be effective, information must still be communicated. As a result, the humor should be related to the product or usage situation and generally should be used only for "non serious" products.

what is a value-expressive appeal? A utilitarian appeal? When should each be used?

Value-expressive appeals attempt to build a personality for the product or create an image of the product user. Utilitarian appeals involve informing the consumer of one or more functional benefits that are important to the target market. Utilitarian appeals are most effective for products functional products (such as toilet tissue) and value-expressive appeals are most effective for products designed to enhance self-image or provide other intangible benefits (such as a designer watch).