MKT201 - Week 9

Attitude Change and Interactive Communications

(Ch. 8)

Changing AttitudesThrough Communication

• Persuasion:– An active attempt to change attitudes

– Basic psychological principles that influence people to change their minds or comply with a request:

• Reciprocity (social exchange, e.g. incentives for survey)

• Scarcity (less available -> more attractive; limited edition)

• Authority (who delivers the message)

• Consistency (not contradict oneself in belief & action)

• Liking (agree with whom you like or admire, e.g. good- looking -> better in fund

raising)

• Consensus (conformity, follow others’ behaviour)

Decisions, Decisions: Tactical Communications Options

• Who will be the source of the message?– Man, woman, child, celebrity, athlete?

• How should message be constructed?– Emphasize negative consequences?– Direct comparison with competition?– Present a fantasy?

• What media will transmit the message?– Print ad, television, door-to-door, Web site?

• What are the characteristics of the target market?– Young, old, frustrated, status-oriented? (e.g. frustrated consumers -> receptive to fantasy appeal)

The Elements of Communication

• Communications Model:– Specifies that a number of elements are necessary

for communication to be achieved.• Source: Where the communication originates

• Message: Content of the message itself

• Receivers: Interpret the message

• Feedback: Must be received by the source

Launch uses the Web to collect information from subscribers

Launch

The Traditional Communications Model

Figure 8.1

• An Updated View: Interactive Communications– Uses and Gratifications (Uses and Gratifications Theory)

• Active, goal-directed audience, draw on mass media to satisfy needs.

– Who’s in Charge of the Remote (Remote Control of TV/VCR)?

• Interactive communication model (see Fig. 8.2)

– Levels of Interactive Response

• First-Order Response (immediate response, e.g. through direct marketing)

• Second-Order Response (not immediate, response may happen later)

Changing Attitudes Through Communication

Uses and GratificationsUses and Gratifications

• Uses and Gratifications TheoryUses and Gratifications Theory– Consumers constitute an active, goal-directed

audience that draws on mass media as a resource to satisfy needs.

– Emphasizes that media compete with other sources to satisfy needs, and these needs include diversion/amusement and entertainment, as well as information.

– Consumers are playing a more proactive role, more like a partner, in the communications process. They may actually seek out messages.

Interactive Communications ModelInteractive Communications Model

Receiver

Receiver

Receiver

Communication Medium

Sender

Sender

Sender

The Interactive Communications Model Takes Into Consideration That (1) Consumers Have Many More Choices Available to Them, and (2) Greater Control

Over Which Messages They Will Choose to Process

(Fig. 8.2)

New Message Formats• M-commerce (conduct commerce with a mobile

device such as mobile phone, PDA, smartphone)

– Worldwide revenue will reach $39 billion in 2007!

• Blogging– Moblogging (mobile + weblog) – camera

phone/handheld device– Video blogging (vlogging) – video diaries– Podcasting – own radio, with computers or iPods.– RSS (Really Simple Syndication) – automatic updates

to computers– Flogs (fake blogs) – generating buzz

• Discussion: Are flogs ethical?

The Source

• Source effects: A message will have different effects if communicated by a different source.

• Two important source characteristics:

1. Credibility, and

2. Attractiveness

Source Characteristics: CredibilitySource Characteristics: Credibility

• Under Most Conditions, the Source of a Message Can Have a Big Impact on the Likelihood the Message Will be Accepted.

• One Important Source Characteristic Is:

(1) Source Credibility: Source’s perceived expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness.• Credibility can be enhanced if the source’s

qualifications are perceived as somehow relevant to the product being endorsed.

• Source should not display either Knowledge or Reporting Bias in presenting information.

• Another Important Source Characteristic Is:(2) Source Attractiveness = Source’s perceived social

value.• Celebrities are successful endorsers because they embody

Cultural Meanings such as status, social class, gender, age, or personality types.

• Halo Effect often occurs when persons of high rank on one dimension are assumed to excel on others as well. The “what is beautiful is good” stereotype.

• Experts are effective endorsers for products that have High Performance Risk.

• Celebrities are effective endorsers for products that have High Social Risk.

Source Characteristics: AttractivenessSource Characteristics: Attractiveness

The Sleeper Effect: • People forget about the –ve source and change

their attitudes• Explained by

– (1) Dissociative Cue Hypothesis» over time the message and the source

become disassociated in consumer’s mind– or (2) Availability-Valence Hypotheses

» emphasizes the selectivity of memory owing to limited capacity (stronger linkage to message information than the –ve source)

Source Characteristics: CredibilitySource Characteristics: Credibility

The Source (cont.)

• Building Credibility: Credibility can be enhanced if the source’s qualifications are relevant to the product.

• Source Biases:– Knowledge bias: Implies a source’s knowledge is not

accurate.– Reporting bias: When a source has the required knowledge,

but the willingness to convey it is compromised

• Hype versus Buzz: The Corporate Paradox– Corporate Paradox: The more involved a company appears

to be in the dissemination of news about its products, the less credible it becomes.

• Buzz: Word of mouth, viewed as authentic• Hype: Corporate propaganda, viewed as inauthentic

Hype vs. Buzz

• Corporate paradox

Hype Buzz

Advertising Word-of-mouth

Overt Covert (secret)

Corporate Grass-roots

Fake Authentic

Skepticism Credibility

Table 8.1

Using Web Sites for Hype

Source Attractiveness in Ads

• To stimulate demand for milk, an industry trade group tapped a huge range of celebrities to show off their milk mustaches.

“What Is Beautiful Is Good”• Halo effect

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

– Consistency principle

• 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)

“What Is Beautiful Is Good” Concept in Use in this footwear Ad

Halo Effect

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 (Q = quality; a way to measure the familiarity and appeal of a brand, company, celebrity, cartoon character or television show.)

• Match-up hypothesis (celebrity’s image and endorsed product’s image are similar)

Celebrity Endorsers

• Omega uses tennis star Anna Kournikova as a celebrity endorser

Avatars: The manifestation of a Hindu deity/god/goddess in superhuman or animal form.

• A Swedish firm called NoDNA offers its own stable of cyber models such as Tyra, who is shown here.

• One step shop for Smart Character solution

• (Nonhuman Endorsers)

The Message

• Sending The Message (picture is better than wordings)– Framed: Message in the picture is strongly related to the

copy (when verbal elements are presented with picture)

– Chunk: Visual images allow the receiver to group information at the time of encoding -> stronger memory

• Vividness:– Pictures and words can differ in vividness

– Powerful descriptions or graphics command attention and are more strongly embedded in memory

Issues Regarding Development

of a Message Issues Regarding Development

of a Message

How Often Should Message be Repeated?How Often Should Message be Repeated?

Conclusion Drawn or Left to Listener?Conclusion Drawn or Left to Listener?

Both Sides of Argument Presented?Both Sides of Argument Presented?

Compare to Competitors?Compare to Competitors?

Blatant/conspicuous Sexual Appeals Used?Blatant/conspicuous Sexual Appeals Used?

Negative Emotions Aroused?Negative Emotions Aroused?

How Concrete or Vivid Should Arguments and Imagery Be?

How Concrete or Vivid Should Arguments and Imagery Be?

Should Ad be Funny?Should Ad be Funny?

Message Conveyed in Words or Pictures?Message Conveyed in Words or Pictures?

Positive and Negative Effectsof Elements in TV Commercials

Dual Component Model of Brand Attitudes

Figure 8.3

“One picture is worth more than 10,000 words”

Sending the MessageSending the Message

Visual MessagesStronger Memory Trace

May Affect Brand Inferencesand Brand Attitudes

Visual MessagesStronger Memory Trace

May Affect Brand Inferencesand Brand Attitudes

Verbal MessagesStronger in High-Involvement

Situations

Verbal MessagesStronger in High-Involvement

Situations

Message Conveyed in Words or Pictures Message Conveyed in Words or Pictures

Both Pictures and Words Can Differ in VividnessBoth Pictures and Words Can Differ in Vividness

Repetition Helps Us Remember - But Ads “Wear Out”Two-Factor Theory

Repetition Helps Us Remember - But Ads “Wear Out”Two-Factor Theory

Sending the Message

• Repetition:– Mere Exposure Phenomenon: People tend to like

things that are more familiar to them, even if they are not keen on them initially.

– Habituation: Consumer no longer pays attention to the stimulus because of boredom or fatigue

– Two-factor Theory: Explains the fine line between familiarity and boredom.

• Positive affect (for repetition): Increases familiarity, reduces uncertainty

• Negative affect: Boredom increases with each exposure

Two-Factor Theory

Figure 8.4

Wear out

Increases familiarity, decreases uncertainty

How to overcome?

The Way Something Is Said Can Be As Significant As What Is Said

Constructing the Argument

• One- Versus Two-Sided Arguments:– Supportive argument: Presents only positive

arguments – Two-sided message: Presents positive and negative

info

• Drawing Conclusions• Comparative Advertising:

– A strategy in which a message compares two or more recognized brands and compares them on the basis of attributes.

Two-SidedArgument

Two-SidedArgument

Constructing the ArgumentConstructing the Argument

RefutationalArguments

RefutationalArguments

One-Sided or SupportiveArgument

One-Sided or SupportiveArgument

One- Versus Two-Sided ArgumentsOne- Versus Two-Sided Arguments

Drawing Conclusions Should the Advertiser Draw Conclusions or Leave

It To the Consumer to Decide?

Drawing Conclusions Should the Advertiser Draw Conclusions or Leave

It To the Consumer to Decide?

Comparative Advertising Technique Compares Two Specifically Named

Products and Seems to be Effective for New Products

Comparative Advertising Technique Compares Two Specifically Named

Products and Seems to be Effective for New Products

Decrease reporting bias

Types of Message Appeals

• Emotional Versus Rational Appeals:– Choice depends on the nature of the product and the type of

relationship that consumers have with it– Recall of ad content tends to be better for “thinking” rather

than “feeling” ads

• Sexual Appeals:– Sex draws attention to the ad but may be counterproductive

unless the product itself is related to sex

• Humorous Appeals:– Distraction: Humorous ads inhibit the consumer from

counterarguing (thinking of reasons not to agree with the message), increasing the likelihood of message acceptance

Emotional vs. Rational

• These ads demonstrate rational versus emotional message appeals. At the time of the initial ad campaign for the new Infiniti automobiles, the ads for rival Lexus (top) emphasized design and engineering, while the ads for Infiniti (bottom) did not even show the car.

Sexual Appeals

• An ad employing a sexual appeal.

• Sexual humor can be effective or backfire, depending on the audience

Humor Appeals

• This ad relies upon humor to communicate the message that skiers and snowboarders should wear helmets.

Humorous ads grab our attention

Types of Message Appeals (cont.)

• Fear Appeals:– Emphasize the negative consequences that can

occur unless the consumer changes a behavior or an attitude

– Used mostly in social marketing contexts– Effective only when the threat is moderate and a

solution is presented– Threat: The literal content of the message– Fear: An emotional response to the message

Fear Appeals

• Life insurance companies often use a fear appeal to motivate consumers to buy policies.

• In this advertisement for Big Red chewing gum, what type of advertising appeal is being used?

• Is this an effective use of this type of appeal?

Discussion Question

What do you think about the Message Appeals in the website of Adbrownies? http://www.adbrownies.com/

Exercise

Types of Message Appeals (cont.)

• The Message as Art Form: Metaphors Be with You:– Metaphor: Involves placing two dissimilar objects in a

close relationship such that “A is B”– Simile: Compares two objects “A is like B”– Resonance: A form of presentation that combines a play on

words with a relevant picture• Forms of Story Presentation:

– Drama: Attempt to be experiential, involving the audience emotionally

– Lecture: A speech where the source speaks directly to the audience to inform and persuade them

– Transformational Advertising: Consumer associates the experience of product usage with some subjective sensation

The Message as an Art FormThe Message as an Art Form

•Product or service that has been personified by a character. (Jolly Green Giant)

•Involves use of explicit comparison. (Tony the Tiger = Strength)

•Presentation that combines a play on words with a relevant picture.

•Drama - draws viewer into the action.•Lecture - source speaks directly to audience.

AllegoryAllegory

MetaphorMetaphor

ResonanceResonance

Forms of Story PresentationForms of Story Presentation

Symbolic representation

(direct comparison between two unrelated subjects)

Symbolic representation

Personification (a metaphor)

• Many products are personified by make-believe characters.

• per·son·i·fi·ca·tion – A person or thing

typifying a certain quality or idea; an embodiment

Advertising Metaphors

• This Chinese detergent ad uses a handcuff metaphor as it urges the viewer, “Free yourself from the burden of handwash.”

The Source vs. The Message:Sell the Steak or the Sizzle?

• Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM): – Assumes that once a customer receives a message, he or she

begins to process it.

• Two Routes to Persuasion:– (1) The Central Route to Persuasion:

• The processing route taken under conditions of high involvement• Cognitive Responses (involve active thinking)

– (2) The Peripheral Route to Persuasion• The processing route taken under conditions of low involvement• Consumer are Not motivated to really think• Peripheral Cues (package design, source attractiveness, message

context)

The ELM Elaboration Likelihood Model

Figure 8.5

Support for the ELM

• The ELM has received a lot of research support

• Example: Typical ELM Study– “Thought listing” technique – to study people’s thought

about the ads for a new brand of low-alcohol beer • Independent variables:

– Message-processing involvement (with or without a gift)– Argument strength (strong/very good vs. weak)– Source characteristics (models with different social

attractiveness)

– Findings:• High involvement subjects had more cognitions• High involvement subjects swayed by powerful arguments• Low involvement subjects influenced by attractive sources

ELM: “Steak” or “Sizzle”?

• ELM research indicates that relative effectiveness of a strong message and favorable 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 colors/images, celebrity endorsers