Attitude Change and

Interactive Communications

Chapter 8

Copyright 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

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Changing Attitudes Through

Communication
Persuasion: Effectiveness of marketing
communications to change attitudes
What influences people to change their minds or
comply?
Reciprocity

Scarcity

Authority

Consistency

Liking

Consensus

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Tactical Communication Options

Who will be the source of the message?

How should the message be constructed?

What media will transmit message?
What target market characteristics will influence the
ads acceptance?

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Traditional Communication Model

FIGURE 8 - 1
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Interactive Communication
Consumers have many more choices available and
greater control to process messages

Permission marketing: Marketer may be more

successful in persuading consumers who have agreed
to let him try

Social media allows for a more interactive relationship

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Updated Communication Model

FIGURE 8 - 2
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Uses and Gratification

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, selfaffirmation
Media play both positive and negative role

Think about it: How can too much media

sometimes result in a negative role?

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8-7

New Message Formats

Mobile commerce : Marketers promote goods and
services via wireless devices such as smart
phones and tablets

Standard blogging
Video blogging
Podcasts
Virtual Worlds
Twitter
Widgets

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Levels of Interactive Response

Types of feedback:
First-order response: Direct marketing:
transaction and sales date

Second-order response: Non-transaction,

customer feedback

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Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM)

Consumers develop knowledge about persuasion
and use this knowledge to cope with persuasive
attempts

Exchange between the consumer and persuasion

agent is a two-way interaction

Target has three types of knowledge:

topic knowledge
agent knowledge
persuasion knowledge

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8 - 10

The Source
Source effects: Same
words by different
people can have
very different meanings

A source often a spokesperson

in an admay be chosen because
s/he is expert, famous, attractive,
or similar

What makes a good source?

Source credibility
Source attractiveness

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Building Credibility
Building Credibility: Sources 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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Hype versus Buzz

Buzz: Authentic message generated by customers
Hype: Inauthentic message generated by corporate
propaganda
Hype

Buzz

Advertising

Word-of-mouth

Overt

Covert

Corporate

Grass-roots

Fake

Authentic

Skepticism

Credibility
Table 8 - 1

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Hype vs. Buzz contd

Buzz building

Stealth campaigns : marketers create buzz by

implying that they had nothing to do with the buzz
YouTube home/amateur videos
Bogus press reports
Bogus reviews
Swarming the web
Backlash to come?

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Source Attractiveness
Source attractiveness: perceived social value of
source
Physical appearance
Personality
Social status
Similarity
Celebrities overseas
Japandering
Think about it: Can you think of attractive celebrities who
squandered their star power?

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8 - 15

What is Beautiful is Good

Halo effect: people who rank high on one
dimension are assumed to excel at other
dimensions
Example: good-looking people are thought to be
smarter, cooler, happier

Physically attractive source leads to attitude

change
Directs attention to marketing stimuli
Beauty = credibility

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Celebrities as Communication Sources

Celebrities as communications sources
Famous faces capture attention and are

processed more efficiently by the brain

Enhance company image and brand attitudes

Celebrities embody cultural and product meanings

Match-up hypothesis: Celebritys image and that of
product are similar

When celebrities dont behave this can create

negative associations with the brand

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8 - 17

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
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Sending the Message

Visual versus 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 Attitudes

FIGURE 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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Two-Factor Theory
Repetition can be a double-edged sword
Mere exposure phenomenon vs. habituation even wear-out

FIGURE 8 - 4
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One- versus Two-Sided Arguments

One-sided: Supportive arguments
Two-sided: Both positive and negative information
Refuting an argument: Negative issue is raised,

then dismissed
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?
Yesif argument is hard to follow or consumers
motivation is lacking
Noif message is personally relevant

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8 - 24

Comparative Advertising
Comparative advertising:
Message compares two +
recognizable brands on
specific attributes
But, confrontational
approach can result in
source derogation

An ad for a new product

should not:
Merely say it is better
than leading brand
Compare itself to a
superior competitor
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Emotional versus Rational Appeals

Appeal to the head or to the heart?
Many companies use an emotional strategy when
consumers find no 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
Conventional ad effectiveness measures may not
be effective in assessing emotional ads

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Sex Appeals
Product fit/ relevance
matters

High cognitive load and male

responses

Nude models generate

tension among same-sex
consumers

Erotic ads draw attention,

but strong sexual imagery
may make consumers less
likely to:
Buy a product (unless
product is related to sex)
Recall ads content
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Humorous Appeals
Humor varies by culture
Humorous ads get attention
Theyre a source of distraction
Work especially well when they violate expectations
whilst being relatively benign

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Fear Appeals
Emphasize negative consequences that can occur
unless consumer changes behaviour/attitude

Fear is common in social marketing

Most effective when:
Threat is moderate
Solution to problem is presented
Source is highly credible
The strongest threats are not always the most
persuasive

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Message as Art Form

Advertisers use literary elements to communicate
benefits and meaning

Allegory: Story about an abstract concept

personified in a fictional character (Jolly Green
Giant)

Metaphor: Two dissimilar objects in a close

relationship (A is B)

Simile: Compares two objects (A is like B)

Resonance: Play on words with pictures
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Examples of Advertising Resonance

Product

Headline

Visual

Embassy Suites

This Year, Were Unwrapping

Suites by the Dozen

Chocolate kisses with hotel

names underneath pillow

Toyota auto parts

Our Lifetime Guarantee May

Come as a Shock

Man holding a shock absorber

Bucks filter
cigarettes

Herd of These?

Cigarette pack with a picture

of a stag

Bounce fabric
softener

Is There Something Creeping Womans dress bunched up on

Up Behind You?
her back due to static

Pepsi

This Year, Hit the Beach

Topless

Pepsi bottle cap lying on the

sand

ASICS athletic
shoes

We Believe Women Should

Be Running the Country

Woman jogging in a rural

setting
Table 8 - 3

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8 - 31

Forms of Story Presentation

Lecture: speech in which
the source speaks directly
to the audience

Attempts to

persuade
Cognitive
responses may
occur

Drama: story that draws

viewers into the action

Characters

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indirectly address
the audience
Interact with each
other in an
imaginary setting
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Elaboration Likelihood Model

(ELM) of Persuasion
ELM: assumes that once consumers receive message, they begin
to process it

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Support for the ELM

Variables crucial to the ELM:
Message-processing involvement
Argument strength
Source characteristics
High-involvement consumers are swayed by
powerful arguments

Low-involvement consumers are swayed by source

attractiveness

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