Seth M. Noar, Ph.D.

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Attitudes and Consistency (Chapter 3)

• Seth M. Noar, Ph.D.
• COM482
• Department of Communication
• University of Kentucky

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Quick Review

• Weve learned
• Arguments for and against studying persuasion
• How to define persuasion
• Dual process models of persuasion (how people
  react to persuasion)
• But if you want to persuade someone, what should
  you focus on changing?

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Attitudes

• Attitudes, of course!
• Attitudes help predict, explain, and modify
  behavior.
• An attitude is a learned predisposition to
  respond favorably or unfavorably toward some
  attitude object.
• Which means

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Attitudes

• Are learned, not innate.
• Represent favorable or unfavorable evaluations of
  things, with varying intensity.
• Are directed toward an attitude object.
  Correspondence is important.
• Are thought to precede behavior.

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Assessment

• We cant see attitudes!
• Standardized self-report scales often used
• Likert scale
• 2. Semantic differential scale
• Likert scales are most often used

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Likert Example

• UK provides adequate parking for students and
  employees
• Traffic around UK is not a problem
• 1------2-----3-----4------5
• Strongly disagree Strongly agree

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Semantic Differential Example

• UK student parking is
• Adequate-------------------------Inadequate
• Problematic---------------Not Problematic
• Easy to access------------Difficult to access

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Criticisms of Self-Report Scales

• Social desirability bias
• Non-attitudes
• Acquiescence bias
• Mindfulness

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Inferential Measures

• Appearances inferring attitudes from how a
  person looks, what they wear, etc.
• Associations - inferring attitudes from who a
  person hangs out with, groups theyve joined,
  etc.
• Behavior -inferring attitudes from what a person
  does
• Note these all have problems

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Physiological Measures

• Measuring attitudes from physiological reactions
• Galvanic skin response - skin
• Pupillary response - eyes
• EMG facial muscles, emotions
• Note these all have problems

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Theory of Reasoned Action
Beliefs about outcome
Attitude
Evaluation of outcome
Behavioral Intention
Behavior
Normative Beliefs
Subjective Norm
Motivation to Comply
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Theory of Reasoned Action

• Fairly well supported in the literature
• Sometimes criticized for
• Also all these specific attitudes exist in an
  associative network.
• Advertisers capitalize on this.

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Advertising and Attitudes

• Image-oriented advertising Linking products
  with favorable attitudes, values, and lifestyles

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Advertising (contd)

• Sloganeering creating slogans that pair the
  product with positive qualities

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Advertising (contd)

• Sponsorship pairing a product / company with
  sporting and other cool events

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Psychological Consistency

• People strive for consistency among their
  attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavior
• When dilemmas occur, we are motivated to fix
  such dilemmas to maintain consistency.
• These actions are part of cognitive dissonance
  theory. (we cant change our behavior, but we can
  change our attitude)
• We do this in a number of ways
• (e.g., veggie example)

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Psychological Consistency

• Denial
• Bolstering
• Differentiation
• Transcendence
• Modifying attitudes
• Communicating

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Consistency in Ads

• Advertisers try and create brand loyalty, so
  your attitudes (liking Coke) and your behaviors
  (buying Coke over Pepsi) are in line.
• This is done in many ways

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Creating Inconsistency

• Advertisers who want you to change your attitudes
  will try and create inconsistency.
• For example

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Stages of Change Readiness to Change
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The Stages of Change
Maintenance
Action
Preparation
Contemplation
Precontemplation
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Precontemplation

• Not Ready To Act
• Have no intention to take action in the near
  future

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Contemplation

• Thinking About Taking Action
• Intend to start in the near future

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Preparation

• Getting Ready to Take Action
• Intend to start very soon (next 30 days)

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Action

• Recently Started to Change Overt Behavior
• For less than 6 months

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Maintenance

• Has Overtly Changed Behavior
• For 6 months or more

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Stages of Change

• Describe process of behavioral change
• Individuals will often cycle through the stages
  many times before ending up in Action /
  Maintenance
• Relapse and recycling through the stages is a
  natural part of the change process
• Stage movement considered progress

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Application to Persuasion

• If you know where someone is, then you can better
  tailor your strategy to persuade them.
• If the majority of a group is in PC, then very
  different persuasive messages will be important
  as compared to PR.
• Advertisers can put out a whole range of ads,
  focusing on various stages of change.