Persuasion Chapter 3

Likert Scales

favored in academia, government, and industry a respondents attitude is based on the average of their responses.

Subjective Norm

(included in TRA MODEL) a persons perception of what others, especially referent individuals and groups, think about the behavior in question. TRA, the subjective norm is, itself, based on two factors; a person's normative beliefs, and a person's motivation to comply.

Evaluative dimension

A second feature of attitudes is that they represent favorable or unfavorable evaluations of things. This evaluative dimension is, perhaps, the most central feature of attitudes (Dillard, 1993). If a person says, "I can't stand Marmite" or "I love Vegemite," the person is expressing his or her attitudes toward the two sandwich spreads.

non-attitudes

A second pitfall involves the problem of non-attitudes. People don't want to appear uninformed or unintelligent. So quite often, when they are asked for their attitude on a particular issue, they simply make one up—on the spot! They fear that saying "I don't know" or "I don't care" will make them look uninformed.

Attitude object

A third aspect of attitudes is that they are always directed toward an attitude object. Attitudes may be held in memory or formed on the spot (Argyriou & Melawar, 2011), but people hold attitudes about things or toward things. The attitude object can be another person, an idea, a policy, an event, or a situation.

counterattitudinal advocacy

An even better approach to changing another's attitudes is to get the person to persuade himself or herself. This can be accomplished by having the person engage in what is called counterattitudinal advocacy

Sponsorship

Another way of linking products and services with favorable attitudes is through sponsorship. who provide funding in return for the right to associate their products with the event.

Aspirational brands

Aspirational brands are those that consumers admire and aspire to own one day. They represent the ideal. Rolex watches, Viking stoves, and Gucci handbags fall into this category. The Martha Stewart brand is aspirational. Few women will actually make the complicated recipes featured in her magazine, but they like to think that they could. Aspirational brands may be so expensive that consumers settle for knock-off versions instead.

persistance

Attitudes are flexible and change over time.

counterattitudinal advocacy

CAA involves having a person create and present (orally or in writing) a message that is at odds with his or her existing attitudes, for example, claiming you favor capital punishment when, in fact, you oppose it. Research demonstrates that after engaging in CAA, the person's attitudes will tend to shift in the direction of the position advocated

Semantic Differential Scales

Charles Osgood, Percy Tannenbaum, and George Suci developed the semantic differential scale as a means for measuring attitudes. A semantic differential scale is based on the connotative meanings words have for people. The scale consists of a series of bipolar adjective pairs or, stated more simply, opposites, such as light-dark, fast-slow, happy-sad, and so on. In completing the scale, a respondent checks the "semantic" space between each adjective pair that best reflects his or her overall attitude toward the concept in question. The respondent's overall attitude is represented by the average of the spaces checked on all of the items.

methods of maintaining consistency

Denial: Denying or ignoring any inconsistency. "I really don't like that jacket after all" or "I don't really need a jacket now." 2.Bolstering: Rationalizing or making excuses. "That cow is already dead, so what difference can it make?" or "Sooner or later someone will come along and buy that jacket anyway." 3.Bargaining: Striving to reach a compromise between the conflicting attitudes. "I'll buy the jacket and volunteer to work at an animal shelter." 4.Differentiation: Separating or distinguishing the attitudes in conflict. "The jacket is cowhide. Cows aren't an endangered species. It's not as if I'm buying a jacket made from a baby harp seal or a spotted owl." 5.Transcendence: Focusing on a larger or higher level. "No one is perfect. We all give in to temptation every once in a while." 6.Modifying one or both attitudes: Altering the attitudes themselves to become more consistent. "I need to be more practical and keep my concern for animals' rights in perspective." 7.Communicating: Trying to convince others to change or convince others one did the right thing. "I'll just have to convince my friends that I'm not a hypocrite when they see me in my new jacket."

mindfulness

In order for a person to mark the space on any self-report measure, the person must be aware of what his or her attitude is. Unfortunately, respondents often, quite literally, don't know their own minds. For example, a person could harbor racist, sexist, or homophobic attitudes, without consciously realizing it. having awareness of what ones own attitude is about something

TRA

Intentions are the results of two components 1) attitude toward the behavior in question if a person intents to wear a helmet then they will wear it! if they have a favorable outlook on helmets, they will wear it, if they don't then they will not wear one. 2)beliefs about the outcome of performing the behavior and his evaluation of that outcome. ex) chris might believe that wearing a helmet might cause his friends to make fun of him. his beliefs will shape his attitude towards wearing a helmet.

cognitive dissonance theory

Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) does a nice job of explaining how people rationalize contradictory decisions and behaviors in their own minds and to other people The basic idea is that after making a decision or performing a behavior, a person worries about whether she or he made the right decision or did the right thing. The person is therefore motivated to reduce the resulting dissonance. For this reason, CDT is often referred to as a "postdecision theory." The anticipation of having to make a tough choice, however, also can produce dissonance.

Theory of reasoned action

Martin Fishbein and Isaac Ajzen developed the theory of reasoned action (TRA). Their theory does a good job of accounting for the role of attitudes and intentions on behavior TRA OFFERS A RATIONAL MODEL OF PERSUASION: ASSUMES THAT PEOPLE rational decision makers who make use of all the information available to them. INTENTIONS ARE BEST GUIDE TO BEHAVIOR. intentions don't always predict behavior

Persons motivation to comply

Motivation to comply is based on how willing a person is to conform to social pressure by relevant others.

Normative beliefs

Normative beliefs are based on perceived social pressure by relevant others to engage in the behavior in question. normative belief, then, would be based on his perceptions of what relevant others think about wearing a helmet and his desire to live up to their expectations.

social desirability bias

One limitation of self-reports is known as social desirability bias. When people know their words or actions are on display, they may exhibit what they perceive to be socially acceptable norms of conduct. During a job interview, for example, a person might express "politically correct" attitudes to win favor with the interviewer.

Capitalizing on Inconsistency

One way you can accomplish this is to align your message with your audience's frame of reference. It is much easier to tailor a suit to fit a person than it is to change a person's figure to fit a suit. Similarly, successful persuasion isn't so much a matter of shifting receivers' attitudes over to your position as it is a matter of adapting your message to the attitudes of your audience. highlight potential inconsistencies in receivers' attitudes. If you can demonstrate that some of the attitudes held by your receivers are incompatible, you may motivate them to change their attitudes in the direction you are advocating.

two widely used self-report scales are Likert scales and semantic differential scales.

Rensus Likert's (1932) A Likert scale consists of a series of statements about some attitude object, followed by a continuum of choices ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree"

marketing inconsistency

Such slogans are based on the recognition that consumers can be set in their ways and seek to overcome this inertia by encouraging brand switching.

magnitude of dissonance

The amount of dissonance one experiences is known as the magnitude of dissonance. Spending $8,000 on a plasma TV that wasn't very reliable would produce more dissonance than spending $8 on a movie that wasn't very good.

psychological reactance

The tendency to react defensively to perceived encroachments on our freedom is called psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966; Brehm & Brehm, 1981). You may also know of it as "reverse psychology." When people believe that their freedom is being threatened, they tend to rebel. Tell a little kid not to play with a particular toy and the kid won't be able to keep his grubby little hands off it. Tell your teenage daughter that you disapprove of her new boyfriend and she'll like him even more. "Mabel, there is no way you can eat that broccoli in less than a minute. No way." Now the daughter may want to prove she's up to the challenge.

Buyers remorse

The theory of cognitive dissonance is closely connected to the phenomenon known as buyer's remorse To assuage their lingering doubts, buyers engage in dissonance-reduction strategies. One method, known as selective exposure, involves seeking out consonant information and avoiding dissonant information. Cognitive dissonance isn't an all-or-nothing phenomenon. It occurs in varying degrees. The amount of dissonance one experiences is known as the magnitude of dissonance. Spending $8,000 on a plasma TV that wasn't very reliable would produce more dissonance than spending $8 on a movie that wasn't very good.

methods of maintaining consistency: How do people go about reconciling incompatible attitudes when they occur?

They do so in psychological ways, that is, ways they find psychologically satisfying or comfortable but that may or may not be strictly logical.

Semantic differential scales

a means for measuring attitudes is based on words, meaning, people, A semantic differential scale is based on the connotative meanings words have for people.

cognitive dissonance and CAA

cognitive dissonance theory is that CAA causes psychological conflict within the individual. He or she is aware of the inconsistency between his or her privately held beliefs and attitudes and his or her public behavior. This can be accomplished by asking the other to role-play for a few minutes, or to play devil's advocate for a while. The research demonstrates that attitude change should follow in the direction of the counterattitudinal position. When using this technique, however, it is important that the other person choose to engage in CAA, as opposed to being forced to do so. A meta-analysis by Preiss and Allen (1998) revealed that voluntarily engaging in CAA is the key to this strategy's effectiveness.

psychological consistency.

consistency was originally conceived of as a "drive-reduction" theory. More current thinking suggests that consistency is also socially motivated and is as much an attempt to manage face, and, project a favorable self-image as it is an internal drive These simple principles form the basis for a whole host of theories, variously known as "attitude change" or "cognitive consistency" theories

Theory of planned behavior

epresents an extension of the theory of reasoned action a third prong; perceived behavioral control TpB acknowledges that behavior is not always volitional. internal factors, such as a lack of knowledge or skills, could prevent someone from performing an intended action. Second, external factors, such as limited resources or extenuating circumstances, also might inhibit someone from carrying out an intended action.

attitude toward behavior

first of the components of intentions; determined by ones beliefs about the outcome and their evaluation of the outcome

Attitude

help to predict, explain, and modify behavior. persuaders rely on attitudes as a means of bringing about changes in receivers. is a "psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor" (Eagly & Chaiken) attitudes reflect tendencies or predispositions to respond to things in predictable ways. they represent favorable or unfavorable evaluations of things. This evaluative dimension is, perhaps, the most central feature of attitudes attitudes vary in degree or intensity. Not all attitudes are equal. Stronger attitudes, whether positive or negative, tend to be better predictors of behavior and less subject to change. they are always directed toward an attitude object. Attitudes may be held in memory or formed on the spot (Argyriou & Melawar, 2011), but people hold attitudes about things or toward things. The attitude object can be another person, an idea, a policy, an event, or a situation. Attitudes toward a complex issue may be composed of multiple attitudes toward a variety of sub-issues.

what makes some attitudes so durable and others so transitory?

if you can get your listeners to actively think about your message, you are more likely to change their attitudes for the long term, not just the short term. central route processing vs peripheral route processing elaboration liklihood theory

internal and external factors

internal factors, such as a lack of knowledge or skills, could prevent someone from performing an intended action. Second, external factors, such as limited resources or extenuating circumstances, also might inhibit someone from carrying out an intended action.

Cause-related marketing

is part of a larger trend toward corporate social responsibility Corporations want to be seen as good citizens, giving back to communities, and engaging in philanthropy. Although "shopping as philanthropy" (Einstein, 2012) may seem like a win-win-win for the consumer, the company, and the charity, there is a downside as well. A concept called moral licensing suggests that if a person buys a cause-related product, she or he may be less likely to make an actual donation to that cause (Krishna, 2011a, 2011b). "I've already done a good deed" the person reasons. Yet the amount that actually goes to the charity may be a few cents on the dollar. Sending even one dollar directly to the charity might do far more good.

visual scales

make it easier for responders to conceptualize their responses Visual analog scale: or VAS Visual scales make it easier for respondents to conceptualize their attitudes, because they can "see" where their attitudes fit on a scale or continuum.

Cause-related marketing

makes consumers feel good about themselves by feeling good about their purchases. They aren't just shopping. They are contributing to the greater good. The expression "think globally, shop locally" reflects this trend.

brand personality

may be tangible or intangible the point of branding is to create a distinctive product image that is linked to favorable qualities. Aaker (1997) developed the brand personality scale, which rates brands on the basis of characteristics such as perceived sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. brand's personality tends to "rub off" on consumers ex) After shopping at Victoria's Secret, for example, females might see themselves as more attractive, sexy, or glamorous. Such brands thereby serve as vehicles for self-expression

Likert scale

measure someone's attitudes using self reports. RENUS LIKERTS: "equal appearing interval" scales are among the most popular in use today. A Likert scale consists of a series of statements about some attitude object, followed by a continuum of choices ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" (see Figure 3.1). A respondent's attitude is represented by the average of his or her responses to all the statements in the scale. The scales are easy to construct and administer and enjoy widespread acceptance in academia, government, and industry. You've probably already completed a number of them yourself.

Mindfulness

mindfulness: In order for a person to mark the space on any self-report measure, the person must be aware of what his or her attitude is. Unfortunately, respondents often, quite literally, don't know their own minds.

Pitfalls in measuring attitudes:

mindfulness: In order for a person to mark the space on any self-report measure, the person must be aware of what his or her attitude is. Unfortunately, respondents often, quite literally, don't know their own minds. non-attitudes: People don't want to appear uninformed or unintelligent. So quite often, when they are asked for their attitude on a particular issue, they simply make one up—on the spot! They fear that saying "I don't know" or "I don't care" will make them look uninformed. social desirability bias: When people know their words or actions are on display, they may exhibit what they perceive to be socially acceptable norms of conduct.

non-attitudes

non-attitudes: People don't want to appear uninformed or unintelligent. So quite often, when they are asked for their attitude on a particular issue, they simply make one up—on the spot! They fear that saying "I don't know" or "I don't care" will make them look uninformed.

Associative networks

our attitudes, beliefs, and values can be likened to a spider's web. Like the fine silky threads of a spider's web, they are connected to one another in a delicate balance. A change in one attitude affects other attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and values. Like jiggling a spider's web, a vibration in one attitude can trigger reverberations in other cognitive structures. These mental reverberations may be quite minor, or they can be of major consequence to the individual.

Acquiescence bias

respondents may provide the answer they think the investigator wants to hear

social desirability bias

respondents may provide the socially correct response

Sloganeering

sloganeering. The importance of slogans in persuasion is underscored by Sharkansky (2002), who observes, "politics would be poorer without them, advertising could not exist, and religion would be in trouble" (p. 75). The slogans imbue the products with positive qualities that, over time, become embedded in receivers' minds. If you feel like "eatin' good in the neighborhood," where would you go for dinner?

Brand consistency

slogans used to attract customers to brand loyalty, consistency, to keep coming back for more. when you care enough to send the very best

social desirability bias

social desirability bias: When people know their words or actions are on display, they may exhibit what they perceive to be socially acceptable norms of conduct.

Predisposition to respond

tendencies or predispositions to respond to things in predictable ways. We don't have time to reflect on each and every action we take in life, so attitudes provide us with mental templates that guide our behavior. out tendencies to respond to things in predictable ways; attitudes reflect how you will respond

psychological reactance scale

the tendency to react negatively to perceived threats varies from person to person. These individual differences can be measured with the Psychological Reactance Scale

beliefs about outcomes

what are the outcomes; he is made fun, or his parents respect him and allow more freedom

Brand authenticity

which emphasizes genuineness, integrity, and down-to-earth values. ex) ETSY: formulated to make handcrafted items

evaluation about outcome

will it be negative or positive; will the person receive praise or be criticized