Transcript Attitudes
ATTITUDES & PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSISTENCY 1 What is an attitude? 2 Definition: An attitude is a learned predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably toward some attitude object. Attitudes are: Learned or acquired Predispositions to respond Evaluative, favorable or unfavorable Directed toward something Measuring Attitudes 3 Likert scales Known as “equal appearing interval” scales 5-7 scale points Ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree Uncertainty regarding the neutral point Sample Likert-Type Scale Items The death penalty should be abolished. ____ strongly agree ____ ____ moderately agree ____ neutral moderately not sure disagree ____ strongly disagree Capital punishment is cruel and inhumane. ____ ____ strongly agree ____ ____ ____ _____ strongly disagree Measuring Attitudes 4 Semantic Differential Scales Based on the connotations of words Relies on bipolar adjectives (antonyms) 5-7 scale points Respondent checks the “semantic space” between the antonyms Uncertainty regarding the neutral space Sample scale items from McCroskey’s Ethos Scale Kanye West expert ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ inexpert unselfish ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ selfish timid ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ bold tense ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ relaxed trained ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ untrained Measuring Attitudes 5 Visually-oriented measures Smiley faces Projective measures Thematic Aperception Test (TAT) House-Tree-Person Test Attitude-Behavior Correlation 6 Attitude-Behavior Correlation (ABC) is stronger when: A specific attitude is being measured. Multiple measures of the attitude are made. The attitude is based on personal experience. The attitude was formed via central processing. Attitudes central to the belief system are involved. The respondents are low selfmonitors. The attitude is accessible or can be activated. Attitude-Behavior Correlation 7 ATTITUDE BEHAVIOR Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist? YES NO NOT SURE ALL 63 21 16 MEN 66 20 14 WOMEN 60 22 18 Pitfalls in Measuring Attitudes 8 Social Desirability Bias Non-Attitudes Respondents may make up opinions so as not to appear uninformed. Acquiescence Bias Respondents may provide the “socially correct” response. Respondents may provide the answer they think the investigator wants to hear. Mindfulness Respondents may not be aware of their own attitudes. Other Ways of Inferring Attitudes 9 Appearances Associations Clothing, artifacts, and other appearance cues Memberships, affiliations, social networks Behavior Actions, habits, lifestyles Consistency Theories 10 Attitudes exist in associative networks. Persuaders seek to establish connections among attitudes. The goal is to link their product, brand, idea to favorable attitudes. contraception school prayer sex education family values premarital sex abortion family leave divorce marital fidelity child support dead-beat dads Manufacturing Positive Associations 11 Image-Oriented Advertising brands are matched with idealized lifestyles. Symbols are appropriated and paired with brands. Brand Personality Associations endow brands with human qualities. fun, sophisticated, tough, youthful. Sloganeering Slogans foster favorable associations. “Breakfast of Champions” (Wheaties) Sponsorship Brought to you by… Advertising Associations 12 Foods are often advertised as: promoting good health substitutes for love guilty pleasures treatment for stress, anxiety Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign Does Dove really care about women’s body images? Or is this a clever branding strategy to sell more product? 13 McDonalds has reinvented itself Gourmet coffee Free wifi Advertising associations 14 Appropriating symbols Extreme sports Youth culture Hip hop culture Image-Oriented Advertising 15 “In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope.” Charles Revson (Founder of Revlon) “An image . . . is not simply a trademark, a design, a slogan or an easily remembered picture. It is a studiously crafted personality profile of an individual, institution, corporation, product or service.” Daniel Boorstin (Historian) “You now have to decide what ‘image’you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.” David Ogilvy (British Advertising Executive) Image-Oriented Advertising 16 A teen admires a particular brand, image, or lifestyle. A new product is paired with that brand or lifestyle. For example, iPhones and iTunes Ads for a new energy drink show teens listening to their iPods while enjoying the drink. The teen comes to equate the product with the brand. The energy drink seems to go with iPhones and iTunes. + + ? Psychological Consistency 17 People desire consistency Inconsistency causes psychological discomfort Magnitude of dissonance People prefer a state of harmony among their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors. The degree of psychological discomfort depends on the centrality of the attitudes. Greater attitude salience results in greater dissonance. People are motivated to restore consistency Parenting and Consistency Theory 18 A child admires Popeye. The child doesn’t like to eat spinach. Popeye is positively associated with Spinach. This is a cognitively imbalanced state, which should motivate the child to change one of the associations. + + - Balanced Vs. Imbalanced States 19 Balanced psychological states Any combination of even minus signs, or all plus signs is psychologically comfortable. + + - - + - + + - - + Balanced psychological states Any combination of odd minus signs, or all minus signs is psychologically uncomfortable. - - - + + - + + + + - Methods of Maintaining Consistency 20 Denial: ignoring the inconsistency Bolstering: adding rationalizations Differentiation: distinguishing between the conflicting and non-conflicting elements Transcendence: looking at the larger picture Modifying attitudes: changing one or more associations Communicating: convincing others one is being consistent Fostering inconsistency 21