Transcript Powerpoint - GEOCITIES.ws

Attribution Theory
and
Theories of Belief Change
Attribution Theory
Deals with how people perceive the
causes of behavior
 Concerned with Causal Inferences
 Personal Causes vs. External Causes

– Ex. “I earned an A” vs.
“My teacher gave me an F”

Also concerned with How people make
these types of inferences
Kelley’s Attribution Model
“Covariation Model”

Kelley suggests 3 Factors we use when
making causal attributions:
– Distinctiveness – whether a person’s behavior is
different across situations
– Consistency – looking for trends in related
situations over time (light switch)
– Consensus – comparing the person to how others
are behaving

Our ability to infer causality correctly depends
on those three factors
– movie theater audience member
Kelley’s Attribution Model

Limitations in our ability to make correct
attributions come from:
– Motivational Biases, Discounting/Augmenting
Principles, and other Biases

3 Motivational Biases:
– Self-serving bias – we alter our perceptions to
protect our self-esteem/self-concept
• Accept responsibility for the good, assign blame for the
bad: You are in charge of renting a movie
– False consensus bias – we mistakenly believe that
others are like us
• “everyone does it”
– False uniqueness bias – we mistakenly perceive
ourselves as different
• Snob Appeal
Kelley’s Attribution Model
(cont’d)

Discounting and Augmenting Principles
– Considers perceived motivations of the
message source
– Perceived source intention is one of the
most important variables in persuasion
Discounting and Augmenting
Principles

Discounting Principle
– The more possible causes there are for a behavior,
the weaker the perceived viability of any single
cause
– For example: former President Bush saying we
should vote for his son

Augmenting Principle
– An unexpected position from a source perceived as
biased will strengthen the persuasive power of the
message
– Bush saying, “after serious consideration, I think
you should have voted for Gore”
Two other types of Bias

Knowledge Bias
– Deals with the source’s previous background and
how this impacts their perspective
– People’s expectations of the source’s position
(based on this bias) can be either confirmed or
disconfirmed by the source’s behavior
• If I went to Catholic high school, but advocated the public
education system

Audience Reporting Bias
– Expectations can be confirmed or disconfirmed
based on the nature of the audience that the
source is presenting the message to
• I speak to undergraduates about parking... Registrar?
– How would I confirm? Disconfirm?

Related Conclusions w/respect to ads:
– The believability of some product claims
increase by disclaiming: “a superiority on
some, but not all” product features while
admitting only average performance in
other features
• Suggestion of throwing in one “weak” feature of
a product to enhance overall credibility of the
ad
• Consumers tend to discount testimonials that
are completely positive
• WHY?
Self-Perception Theory
(Bem, 1972)

Sometimes people observe their own
behavior and then make inferences about
their attitudes
 If people don’t possess a strong attitude, or
give an issue much thought, they may infer
that they approve of the behavior after
engaging in it
 Internal and External attributions will also be
used to explain their own behavior
For a different approach to Attributions of Behavior…
Weiner’s Attribution Model
Also interested in the perceived causes
of actions and behaviors
 Considers the following factors
(internal/external):

– Intention
– Controllability
– Stability
– Locus of Control
Theory of Reasoned Action
(TORA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1981)

Why study attitudes?
– To gain insights into how we can change them

This Reasoned Action model is useful for
developing attitude change strategies
because it focuses directly upon attributes
that may be impacted by the source
 The theory predicts behavior based on the
attitude toward the behavior, and the
pressure to behave in a certain way
TORA (cont’d)
Deals with behaviors that are voluntary
 Predicts the likelihood of behavior by
gauging behavioral intention


Intention is the step between attitude
and behavior… intention determines the
behavior
TORA (cont’d)

Accordingly, Behavioral Intention is
influenced by two components:
– Attitude toward the behavior (Ab)
– Subjective Norm (SN)
TORA Model
TORA: Algebraically Stated
(all together now!)
B  BI = w1Ab+w2SN
 Behavior (B) is a function of () Behavioral
Intention (BI), which is measured by adding
Attitude toward the Behavior (Ab) to the
Subjective Norm (SN)


w1 and w2 are weights determining the
relative importance of each term
Attitude Component
Attitude is a function of one’s salient beliefs
about the behavior
 Theory claims: Attitude toward buying the car
is a function of the strength by which one
holds a salient belief and the evaluation of
whether the consequence of that belief is
positive/negative, etc.


n
AB =  biei
i=1

Where i is each consequence, and n is the
total number of beliefs
Implications for persuasion and
Attitudes (4)

Change total number of beliefs to be
considered by the consumer (add new
information/stress different information)
 Change the belief strength of receivers’ held
beliefs (add new information)
 Change the evaluations by which receivers
rate the consequences of the beliefs
(emphasize the downside/upside of the
behavior)
 Change the configuration of beliefs in order to
make certain beliefs more salient (buying a
PC)
Subjective Norm Component



Constitutes the individual’s beliefs that people
who are important to him/her, think he/she
should or should not perform the action in
reference
M
SN=(NB)
i(MC)I
i=1
NB = normative beliefs
 MC = motivation to comply
 M = number of referents (people)
Implications for persuasion and
the Subjective Norm (4)

Increase # of referent individuals, or salient
others who advise the consumer or provide
approval/disapproval of the behavior
 Change the strength of the normative beliefs
 Change the motivation to comply component
(why comply? Be independent…)
 Change the configuration of supporters
(versus distractors) who impact on the
consumer’s decision (they are just jealous)
Example in Advertising
Source Characteristics
Source Credibility
Expertise (knowledge bias)
 Trustworthiness (audience reporting
bias)
 McCroskey: Authoritativeness and
character
 Berlo, Lemert and Mertz: safety factor
(trustworthiness), qualification factor
(expertise), and dynamism

Expertise
Described as: “trained, experienced, skillful,
informed, authoritative, able, and intelligent”
 The audience expects an expert to present
strong arguments—weak arguments can
completely remove any influence of perceived
expertise due to title, appearance, and
qualifications
 The more change that is desired, the more
expertise should be emphasized

Expertise vs. Similarity Appeal

When should you opt for similarity?
– Select Comfort Mattress; BlockBusters;
Paint Store Story

Social comparison theory (natural social
comparisons exist given: age, gender,
occupation, etc.)
– Holding “correct” attitude as a function of
comparison group’s consensus
• Becomes “social proof”
Expertise vs. Similarity Appeal
(cont’d)

Similarity is more likely to be effective when:
– Intent of attitude/behavior is to Satisfy personal
need
– Similarity Is relevant to the topic
– Used to Increase liking for the speaker
– The right variables are examined (age, sex…)
– Source refers to attitudes (not beliefs… why does
this make sense?)
Trustworthiness
As the topic becomes more personal,
trust becomes more important
 Speakers who speak against their own
interest (augmenting principle)
 Overheard messages (discounting
principle)

Personal Characteristics

Composure: relaxed, comfortable and calm
 Dynamism: powerful, active, energetic,
outgoing
 Sociability: friendly, helpful, likeable
*Sometimes it is easiest to think about the
ability of these qualities to persuade by
imagining someone who is deficient in them
* Or use the book’s
Vincent the Waiter story (p. 135)
Physical Attractiveness

Society emphasizes beauty
 Attractive individuals have more confidence,
are more optimistic, more fluent, and speak
faster
 Studies show:
– Jury may be more lenient to attractive criminals
• But not when they used their beauty to commit the crime
– Good looking men in organizations are perceived
to have leadership skills, but this is not the case
for women

What about expertise vs.
physical attractiveness?
Celebrity Endorsements

Only 20% of celebrity appeals work?
– Is the risk worth it? LeBron and his $90mil?
– Companies want to know what circumstances will
make it work—therefore, you will want to know

Things to know:
– Effective when the receiver identifies with the
celebrity…
• who is Alf trying to identify with?
– Children are more likely to be influenced by the
“in” celebrities –
• Britney and Pepsi; Christina and Coke
– Match-Up Hypothesis: the public image of the
celebrity and the message about the product
• Joe Namath and Arthritis
Opinion Leaders
Two-step flow: media affect opinion
leaders who then affect individuals
 Opinion Leaders

– Tend to be better informed, talk to more
people, may have more formal education,
are heavy media consumers
– Specific opinion leaders vary depending on
the topic
Theoretical Bases of Power

Informational Influence – very often leads to
belief/attitude/behavior change
– Present new information, or new arguments (like
with Affirmative Action discussion)

Referent Influence – Simply due to people
wanting to be associated with the source’s
referent group
– People can be influenced by the role model
• Explains successful celebrity endorsement

Expert Influence – Superior Power
– Ex. Computer skills, mastery of the English lang,
or excellent musicians are perceived to be experts
Theoretical Bases of Power
(cont’d)

Legitimate Influence
– When people have a “right” to impact your
behavior; as a boss, parent or teacher
• Key is the receiver’s belief that the source is legitimate

Reward and Coercive Influences
– If an agent/source can control the rewards and
punishments the target/receiver receives, they can
influence all of the above
Improving
Communicator Effectiveness

Have low-credibility? Got milk? Be introduced
after you speak/present your message
 Learn to speak proficiently using appropriate
verbal and nonverbal communication modes
 Find common ground with the audience
– Careful not to be obvious

Effectively use the media
– Written messages produce more thoughts about the
content (why?)
– Audio/Visual content produce more thoughts about
the speaker (why?)
– Therefore… good looking, likable, credible speakers
should do it live
Next Class…
Predicting Group and
Individual Responses!
MORE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES