College 3 Flashcards

1
Q

Attitudes in psychology

A

Attitudes are a very important construct in psychology. It has a key role in many theories and models.

Attitudes are a major determinant in predicting behaviour and also in purchasing behaviour.

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2
Q

Model of planned behavior

A

Behavior is predicted by intentions and the
intentions are predicted by three factors: attitude, subjective norm and perceived
behavioral control.

If you have a positive attitude towards something you are more likely to go for it.

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3
Q

What is agreed upon in the definition of attitude?

A

Attitudes are evaluative responses.

Attitudes are directed towards an attitude object.

Attitudes are based on three classes of information:
- Affective
- Behavioural
- Cognitive

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4
Q

Evaluative responses

A

Attitudes are evaluative responses.

Attitudes are very important for brands.

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5
Q

Attitude object

A

Attitudes are directed towards some attitude object.

It is not just a general positivity thing, it is directed towards something specific.

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6
Q

ABC of attitudes

A

Affective: feelings, emotions

Behavioral: actions, intentions

Cognitive: beliefs, knowledge, perceptions

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7
Q

Definition attitude

A

Attitude is an evaluative response towards a specific object, based on affective, behavioral and cognitive information.

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8
Q

What is the disagreement on attitudes about?

A

Are attitudes unitary or not?

Are attitudes context-dependent or stable?

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9
Q

Unitary

A

= one single thing

This would imply consistency between different evaluative responses (e.g., feel good, hold positive beliefs, and buy a brand).

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10
Q

Explicit vs. implicit attitude

A
  • Explicit attitude: attitude (evaluation) of which individual is consciously aware.
  • Implicit attitude: attitude (evaluation) of which individual is unaware, that influences behaviour over which individual has little or no control.

Distinction between explicit vs. implicit attitudes suggests that attitudes might not be unitary

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11
Q

What is the first thing you need to know, to know the relevance for advertising?

A

Measurement

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12
Q

How are explicit attitudes measured?

A

Via self-reports.

This can be about any group/ object/ category.

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13
Q

How are implicit attitudes measured?

A

Affective priming.
- Nice/stupid => positive or negative

Implicit Associations Test (IAT)
- E.g., slap you left hand for fruit-tella or positive vs. right hand for brand X or negative. And then left hand for fruit-tella or negative vs. right hand for brand X or positive. Which time were you the fastest? => relation is easier to make.

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14
Q

Implicit behaviour

A

Implicit attitudes can result in ‘implicit’ behaviour.

E.g., study showed that an implicit negative attitude toward black people (regardless of explicit attitude) resulted in…

  • Less touching of black confederate hands (when sharing a pen).
  • Sit farther away from a black confederate.
  • Being less friendly to a black confederate.
  • Less eye contact and more blinking.
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15
Q

Implicit and explicit attitudes in advertising and consumption

A

Implicit attitudes can be related to preferences/choice for product/brand.

Explicit attitudes (alone) not always the best predictor.

  • E.g., humor in advertising, Strick et al. 2009 => effects on implicit attitudes, predictor of preferences and choice.
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16
Q

So, are attitudes unitary?

A

No, it is likely that they are not unitary. People can be both positive and negative about an object depending on whether it is measured explicitly or implicitly.

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17
Q

What theory fits with the idea that attitudes are not a unitary concept?

A

The dual attitudes theory: people can have two attitudes towards the same thing
- “Old” attitude (more often implicit)
- “New” attitude (more often explicit)

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18
Q

In what products is the distinction between explicit and implicit attitudes more clear?

A

In controversial products and in hygienic products.

You can have implicit associations and you can transfer that towards other products.

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19
Q

Study on sanitary napkins by Morales et al., 2007

A

Sanitary napkins implicitly associated with disgust.

Will this transfer to other products?

Two conditions
- Condition 1 in which sanitary napkins were not touching other product. Table shown before class; evaluations about cookies after class.
- Condition 2 in which sanitary napkins were touching other product. Table shown before class; evaluations about cookies after class.

Conclusion: in condition 1 the cookies were good, in condition 2 the cookies were not good.

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20
Q

How are explicit measures relevant for advertising? And explicit and implicit attitudes?

A

Explicit measures might not pick up on effect of advertising (e.g., reluctance to admit influence or don’t know).

Explicit attitude might be different from implicit attitude
- Relevant for strategy: goal could be to resolve mismatch before anything else.

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21
Q

What are the two opposing views on if attitudes are context-dependent or stable?

A

The file-drawer model.

The attitudes-as-constructions-perspective.

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22
Q

The file-drawer model

A

Attitudes are learned and are retrieved from long-term memory and are therefore stable.

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23
Q

The attitudes-as-constructions-perspective

A

Attitudes are not necessarily enduring but are constructed “online”.

24
Q

Which is better? The file-drawer model or the attitudes-as-constructions-perspective?

A

Neither. There is evidence for both views: attitudes can be stable AND can be context dependent.

E.g., Apple
- Stable: brand loyalty for Apple.

  • Context dependent: e.g., brand loyalty for Apple can change if key reason for positive attitudes is challenged.

o Particularly impactful when sincerity of brand is on top of one’s mind.

25
Q

Attitude strength (where do they come from?)

A

Weak attitudes = more likely to be constructed online.

Strong attitudes = more likely to be retrieved.

26
Q

Strong (vs. weak) attitudes

A

Are more stable over time.

Have a stronger impact on behaviour.

Have a greater influence on information processing.

Show a greater resistance to persuasion.

27
Q

Priester et al., 2004: Consequences of attitude strength on consideration and choice of products (toothpaste).

A

Attitude strength = how positive/negative * how important/self-relevant/certain.

Weak attitudes have more effect on the probability of consideration than on the probability of choice.

28
Q

Which factors are related to strong attitudes?

A
  • Knowledge
  • Importance
  • Certainty
  • Ambivalence
  • Accessibility
29
Q

How is knowing which factors are related to strong attitudes relevant for advertising?

A

Relevant for advertising as this can determine strategy: what to focus on in advertising campaign.

30
Q

Cognitive accessibility of an attitude

A

How easy and fast it is to retrieve the attitude from memory.

  • Reflects strength of relation between attitude object and evaluation (e.g., McDonalds and unhealthy/bad).
31
Q

Easily accessible?

A
  • More resistant to change.
  • More likely to predict behaviour.

Results showed that faster responses were positively related to choice.

32
Q

When are strong attitudes more likely?

A

When you care a lot about a certain attitude object.

Have a lot of knowledge about a certain attitude object (e.g., climate change)?

Have a lot of confidence in correctness of own attitude (e.g., through personal experience, accurate evidence, social consensus)?

33
Q

When are weak attitudes more likely?

A

Ambivalence: when someone has an equally positive as well as negative evaluation about an attitude object.

Feel ambivalent? => weaker attitude

  • Less stable
  • Less accessible
  • Less predictive of behaviour
  • Less resistant to influence/ easier to change
34
Q

What can you do when you know that people are ambivalent towards your product?

A

Try to make it more univalent.

35
Q

What is the most involved when the issue or object is novel to the target group?

A

Attitude formation (rather than change).

36
Q

On which three classes of information are attitudes formed?

A
  • Cognitive information
  • Affective information
  • Behavioural information
37
Q

Direct experience versus indirect experience in the context of attitude formation

A

Attitudes from direct experience are more stable/accessible.

  • Direct experience: e.g., let people try your product.
  • Indirect experience: e.g., hearsay, word of mouth.
38
Q

Heuristics in attitude formation

A
  • Brand image
  • Country of origin
  • Price
    o E.g., if expensive then good
39
Q

What affects an attitude based on feelings and/or emotions

A
  • Mere exposure
  • Conditioning
  • Affect-as-information hypothesis
40
Q

Conditioning in advertising

A

Use positive feelings/relevant associations with the aim to “transfer” this to brand or product.

  • Conceptual associations
  • Celebrities
  • Environmental cues: music
  • And an even more explicit connection to happiness.
41
Q

Affect-as-information hypothesis

A

Rather than through mere associations (as is the case with conditioning), feelings can influence evaluations through feeling-based inferences.

Feel good => positive evaluation
Feel bad => negative evaluation

42
Q

Classic study by Schwarz & Clore, 1983 on life satisfaction and the weather.

A

They started calling random people in the country. They asked: how satisfied are you with your life. They related this to the weather forecast.

They found, that when it was sunny, people were more satisfied with their live.

The idea is that people use their affect as information about how they are feeling. If feel good, because the sun is shining => life must be good.

I feel good => life must be good

43
Q

Study by Dardis et al., 2015 on player’s performance in video games related to brand attitudes.

A

Difficult to play => more negative attitudes towards Volkswagen.

Easy to play => more positive attitudes towards Volkswagen

Can be explained by fluency.

44
Q

(Bem’s) self-perception theory

A

People infer their attitudes based on the perceptions of their own behavior.

  • Especially the case with weak attitudes.
  • How do I feel? Look at own behaviour.
45
Q

Holding attitudes has different functions

A
  • Adjustment function
  • Ego defensive function
  • Value expressive function
  • Knowledge function
46
Q

Why is it relevant to know which attitude function someone has?

A

Function of attitudes can overlap with reasons why people acquire goods (i.e., attitude object).

47
Q

Adjustment function

A

Attitudes provide general approach/avoidance tendencies.

48
Q

Ego defensive function

A

Attitudes can protect one’s self-concept.

49
Q

Value expressive function

A

Attitudes can convey one’s personal values.

50
Q

Knowledge function

A

Attitudes can help organize and interpret the world.

51
Q

Why is it relevant to know which function someones attitude has?

A

To successfully change attitudes, know why a person holds a particular attitude: tailor arguments accordingly.

52
Q

The functional theory of consumer goods; why acquire: utilitarian reasons

A
  • Rational and practical
  • Performance, reliability and quality are important.
53
Q

The functional theory of consumer goods; why acquire: hedonic reasons

A
  • Pleasure from owning and consuming/using a product.
  • Emotional and sensory
54
Q

The functional theory of consumer goods; why acquire: self-expression reasons

A

E.g., values or conspicuous consumption.

55
Q

The functional theory of consumer goods; why acquire: identity building reasons

A

To become the person who you want to be (e.g., helps one to be that way).

56
Q

Why is it relevant to advertising why people acquire goods?

A
  • Match to function that the product is expected to serve.
  • This shapes the focus and content of the message.

o E.g., instrumental arguments to match utilitarian goal will be different from self-expressive arguments