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Attitude Changeand Interactive

Communications

Chapter 8

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Changing Attitudes

• Persuasion: effectiveness of marketing communications to change attitudes– Reciprocity– Scarcity– Authority– Consistency– Consensus

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Tactical Communications Options

• Who will be source of message?

• How should message be constructed?

• What media will transmit message?

• What target market characteristics will influence ad’s acceptance?

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Communication Model

Figure 8-1

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Interactive Communications

• The traditional communications model doesn’t tell the whole story…– Consumers have many more choices

available and greater control to process messages

– Permission marketing– Frankfurt School theorists

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Uses and Gratifications Theory

• Consumers are active, goal-directed, and draw on mass media to satisfy needs

• Media compete with other sources of entertainment and information– Advertising = entertainment, escaping, play,

self-affirmation• Media play both positive and negative role

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Updated Communications Model• Consumers are now proactive in communications

process– VCRs, DVRs, video-on-demand, pay-per-view TV, Caller ID,

Internet

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New Message Formats• M-commerce

– Worldwide revenue will reach $39 billion in 2007!

• Blogging– Moblogging– Video blogging (vlogging)– Podcasting– RSS (Really Simple Sydication)– Flogs (fake blogs)

• Discussion: Are flogs ethical?

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Interactive Response Levels

• Response can be more than just a purchase/transaction– First-order response: transaction (sales data)– Second-order response: nontransaction

customer feedback

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The Source

• Source effects: the same words by different people can have very different meanings– Source credibility– Source attractiveness

• Match between consumers needs and offered rewards of source

• Match between source and type of product– Experts for utilitarian products– Celebrities for social risk/impression products– “Typical” consumers for everyday/low-risk products

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Source Credibility

• A source’s perceived expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness– Consumers’ beliefs that communicator is

competent and provides competitor information

• Credible source is persuasive when consumer has no formed opinion about product

• Endorsement contract = large profits

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Sleeper Effect• Over time, disliked sources can still get a

message across effectively– We “forget” about negative source while changing

our attitudes

• Explanations– Dissociative cue hypothesis– Availability-valence hypothesis

• Discussion: There’s a saying in public relations that “any publicity is good publicity.” Do you agree?

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Building Credibility

• Relevant qualifications of source to the product can enhance credibility of message

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Source Biases

• Consumer beliefs about product can be weakened by a source perceived to be biased– Knowledge bias– Reporting bias (“hired gun”)

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Hype vs. Buzz

• Corporate paradox

Hype Buzz

Advertising Word of mouth

Overt Covert

Corporate Grassroots

Fake Authentic

Skepticism Credibility

Table 8.1

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Source Attractiveness

• Perceived social value of source– Physical appearance– Personality– Social status– Similarity

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“What Is Beautiful Is Good”• Halo effect

– Good-looking people are thought to be smarter, cooler, and happier

– Consistency principle

• Social adaptation perspective

• Physically attractive source leads to attitude change

– Directs attention to marketing stimuli (ads with attractive models)

– Beauty = source of information (especially for attractiveness—relevant products)

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Star Power• Celebrities as communications sources

– Tiger Woods ~$62 million/year in endorsements!– Famous faces capture attention and are processed

more efficiently by the brain– Enhance company images and brand attitudes

• Celebrities embody cultural and product meanings

• Q-Score for celebrity endorsers• Match-up hypothesis

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Discussion

• Many, many companies rely on celebrity endorsers as communications sources to persuade. Especially when targeting younger people, these spokespeople often are “cool” musicians, athletes, or movie stars– In your opinion, who would be the most

effective celebrity endorser today, and why?– Who would be the least effective, and why?

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Nonhuman Endorsers

• Often, celebrities’ motives are suspect as endorsers of mismatched products

• Thus, marketers seek alternative endorsers:– Cartoon characters– Mascots/animals– Avatars

“Virtualstars”

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The Message• Positive and negative effects of elements in TV

commercials– Most important feature: stressing unique product attribute/benefit

Positive Effects Negative Effects

Showing convenience of use Extensive information on components, ingredients, nutrition

Showing new product/improved features

Outdoor setting (message gets lost)

Casting background (i.e., people are incidental to message)

Large number of onscreen characters

Indirect comparison to other products Graphic displays

Table 8.2 (abridged)

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The Message (Cont’d)

• Selected message issues facing a marketer (full list on p. 222)– Message: Is it conveyed in words or pictures?– How often should message be repeated?– Should it draw an explicit conclusion?– Should it show both sides of argument?– Should it explicitly compare product to

competitors?

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Sending the Message

• Visual vs. verbal communication of message– Visual images: big emotional impact– Verbal message: high-involvement situations

• Factual information• More effective when reinforced by a framed picture• Require more frequent exposures (due to decay)

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Dual Component of Brand AttitudesFigure 8-3

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Vividness

• Powerful description/graphics command attention and are strongly embedded in memory– Active mental imagery (vs. abstract stimuli)

• Concrete discussion of product attribute

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Repetition

• Multiple exposure are usually required for learning

• Two Factor Theory– two psychological processes are operating when a person

is repeatedly exposed to an ad

– Positive: increases familiarity, reduces uncertainty

– Negative: boredom increases

– H&R Block

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Two-Factor Theory• Repetition can be a double-edged sword…

– Mere exposure phenomenon vs. habituation

Figure 8-4

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One- vs. Two-sided Arguments

• One-sided: supportive arguments

• Two-sided: both positive and negative information– Refutational arguments increase source

credibility by reducing reporting bias– Positive attributes should refute presented

negative attributes– Effective with well-educated and not-yet-loyal

audiences

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Drawing Conclusions

• Should argument draw an explicit conclusion for consumer?– Yes…if argument is hard to follow or

consumers’ motivation is lacking– No…if message is personally relevant

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Comparative Advertising• Message compares two+ recognizable brands on

specific attributes– “New OcuClear relieves three times longer than Visine”

• But…confrontational approach can result in source derogation

• Effective for a new product that:– Does not merely say it is better than leading brand– Does not compare itself to an obviously superior competitor

• Discuss some conditions in which it would be advisable to use a comparative advertising strategy

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Emotional vs. Rational Appeals• Appeal to the head or to the heart?• Many companies use an emotional strategy

when consumers do not find differences among brands– Especially brands in well-established, mature

categories (e.g., cars and greeting cards)

• Recall of ad contents tends to be better for “thinking” ads– Although conventional ad effectiveness measures

may not be entirely valid to assess emotional ads…

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Sex Appeals

• The prevalence of sexual appeals varies from country to country

• Nudity/undressed models in print ads generates negative feelings/tension among same-sex consumers

• Erotic ad content draws attention, but strong sexual ad imagery may make consumers less likely to:– Buy a product (unless product is related to sex)– Process and recall ad’s content

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Discussion

• Think of ads that rely on sex appeal to sell products– How often are benefits of the actual

product communicated to the reader?

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Humorous Appeals• Specific cultures have different senses

of humor

• Overall, humorous ads do get attention– Funny ad as source of distraction– Inhibits counterarguing, thus increasing

message acceptance

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Humorous Appeals (Cont’d)

• Humor is more effective when it:– Doesn’t “swamp” message of clearly defined

brand– Doesn’t make fun of potential consumer– Is appropriate to product’s image

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Fear Appeals• Emphasize negative consequences that can

occur unless consumer changes behaviour/ attitude

• Fear is common in advertising (especially in social marketing)

• Most effective:– Moderate threat– Presented solution to problem– Highly credible source

• Not all threats are equally effective at inducing a fear response– The strongest threats are not always the most

persuasive

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Message as Art Form• Marketers as storytellers

(allegory)– Using literary devices to

communicate product benefits/meanings

• Metaphor (“A is B”)• Similie (“A is like B”)• Resonance: play on words

with picture– Pepsi ad: “This year, hit

the beach topless” with a Pepsi bottle cap lying on the sand (see Table 8.3 for full list of examples)

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Discussion

• Think of examples of ads that rely on the use of metaphors or resonance– Do you feel these ads are effective?– If you were marketing the products, would you

feel more comfortable with ads that use a more straightforward, “hard-sell” approach? Why or why not?

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Forms of Story Presentation

• Commercials as a lecture vs. a drama– Lecture is an attempt at persuasion– Drama is similar to play or movie

• Draws viewer into action or emotional response (transformational advertising)

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Source vs. Message

• What is said, how it’s said, and who says it…– Which aspect has most impact on consumer

attitudes?• The answer seems to be related to variations in a

consumer’s level of involvement

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ELM• Receiver will follow one of two routes to persuasion

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ELM: “Steak” or “Sizzle”?

• ELM research indicates that relative effectiveness of a strong message and favourable source depends on consumers’ level of involvement with advertised product– Highly involved consumers look for “steak”

• Strong message arguments

– Those less involved look for “sizzle”• Packaging colours/images, celebrity endorsers

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Support for the ELM

• Message-processing involvement

• Argument strength

• Source characteristics