Part A Find an Ad that fits in each of the tri-component model

of attitude.
I. Tri-component model of attitude
An attitude is a learned predisposition to behave consistently in a favourable or
unfavourable way to a given object. The word object in consumer-oriented definition of
attitude broadly includes specific consumption- or marketing-related concepts, such as
product category, brand, service, possessions, product use, causes or issues, people,
advertisement, internet size, price, medium or retailer. There is a general agreement that
an attitude can be conceptualized as a summary evaluation of an object.

Motivated by desire to understand the relationship between attitudes and behaviour,

psychologists have sought to construct models that capture the underlying dimensions of
an attitude. To this end, the focus has been on specifying the composition of an attitude
to better explain or predict behaviour. There are several important attitude models, one
of them is Tricomponent attitude model, which consists of three major components: a
cognitive (knowledge) component, an affective (feeling and emotional) component, and
a conative (action) component.

A. The Cognitive Component

The knowledge or the cognitive component comprises the cognitive processes that lead
to the formation of attitudes. In terms of marketing, the knowledge or cognitive
component of the tricomponent model consists of consumers' knowledge about the
products/service offering and the marketing mix. Consumer attitudes are formed on the
basis of experiences as well as information received from personal (WOM, family, friends,
peers etc.) as well as impersonal (marketers sources) sources of information that are
retained in ones memory. These get shaped by beliefs and opinions, where the consumer
begins to perceive that the attitude object (person, situation or thing) possesses certain
attributes and acts of behaviour would lead to outcomes. The beliefs and opinions get
repeatedly reinforced, and finally give rise to attitudes. This knowledge component leads
to the emotional component.

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 Figure 1 Cognitive Component shown in Maggi Oats Noodles

Product: Noodles
Brand: Maggie Oats Noodles
Attributes: Taste and Health
Belief: This print advertisement of Maggi Oats Noodles will definitely activate the
mental process of consumers watching this ad. This advertisement attracts those
consumers especially the mothers who want to feed their children something tasty and
healthy as well. This ad is showing that Maggi Oats Noodles is also consumed by famous
actor Madhuri Dixit who herself is a mother and would want her children to eat
something healthy and tasty. This ad triggers as a stimulus in consumers brain and
activates thinking process as response to that stimuli. As Maggi is already a well-known
brand and this advertisement is showing that their noodles are healthy and tasty so
here those customers who want to eat healthy food will be attracted. The attributes
shown by Maggi Oats Noodles are- brand, quality, taste, health etc. hence, consumer can
make satisfactory decision.

B. The Affective Component

The feeling or the affect component comprises the emotional component of attitudes. In
fact, this is understood to be the attitude itself, as it depicts emotional states that are
positive, neutral or negative. In marketing terms, it refers to a consumers feelings about
a product/service offering and the marketing mix. These emotions could relate to an
attribute or the overall object. It is evaluative in nature and would vary on a continuum
as like or dislike, favourableness or unfavourableness. It manifests itself through feelings
and resultant expressions like happiness, sadness, anger, surprise etc., and is indicative

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of consumer reaction towards the offering and the mix, which subsequently affects the
purchase decision making as well as the purchase process. Such reactions and resultant
states also get stored in our memory. Their retrieval, recall and recollection also impacts
future decision making.

Figure 2 Affective Component shown in Airtel Night Store Ad

Product: Telephone Network

Brand: Airtel
Attributes: Cheap, Good network, Voice clarity
Belief: The above advertisement of Airtel featuring a couple and showing love as
emotion. In this ad, the couple wants to chat on phone and express their love to each
other. And using Airtel telephone network they can talk all night at cheap rates through
Airtel Night Store. This emotion of love acts as stimuli which is targeting youth as
customers for Airtel. Here, emotional consumers are those breed of consumers who do
not follow the cognitive approach and are impulsive buyers.

C. The Conative Component

The behavioural or the conative component of attitudes depicts the outcome of an
attitude. As attitudes are formed out of psychographic components, they cannot be seen.
The first two components, knowledge and feeling are not expressive or illustrative of
attitudes. It is only this third component through which attitudes can be inferred. The
conative component, is indicative of an individuals tendency to behave [act or not to act
(to buy or not to buy)] in a particular manner with respect to the attitude object
(product/service offering, brand etc.).

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 Figure 3 Conative Component shown in Cadbury Gems Ad

Product: Chocolates
Brand: Cadbury Gems
Attributes: Taste, Fun
Belief: This ad of Cadbury Gems shows that be it a child or an adult, everyone is a fan of
Cadbury Gems. The adults turn into a kid when he has a pack of Gems which also lets him
win a toy. Gems persuades the consumer to behave like a kid to get his pack of gems and
his favourite toy. The consumers tendency to behave like a kid, whenever he sees a pack
of Gems and wants to have it at any cost and win the toy.

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Part B Find ads that are designed to change the attitude
I. Strategies of Attitude Change
Consumers influence the formations of their attitudes a concerning consuming or not
consuming different types of items. Some attitudes seem to persist indefinitely while
others change fairly often. The reason behind the change is of vital importance to
marketers, for without knowing how attitudes are formed, they are unable to understand
or to influence consumer attitudes or behaviour. It is important to recognize that much
of what has been said about attitude formation is also basically true of attitude change.
That is, attitude changes are learned; they are influenced by personal experience and
other sources of information, and personality affects both the receptivity and the speed
with which attitudes are likely to be altered.

In many product categories, many competitors take aim at the market leaders when
developing their marketing strategies. Their objective is to change the attitudes of the
market leaders customers and win them over. Among the attitude-change strategies that
are available to them are (1) changing the consumers basic motivational function, (2)
associating the product with an admired group or event, (3) resolving two conflicting
attitudes, (4) altering components of the multi-attribute model, and (5) changing
consumer beliefs about competitors brands.

A. Changing the consumers basic motivational function

The consumer attitudes towards a product or brand can be changed by making a
particular need important. The approach which is used to change the motivation is
functional approach. According to this approach, attitudes can be classified in terms of
four functions:
a. Utilitarian Function
b. Ego-defensive function
c. Value expressive function
d. Knowledge Function

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a. Utilitarian Function
Consumer value a particular brand because of its utility function. When a
consumer is having an experience of using a product in past, he will tend to have
positive opinion about it. Therefore, the marketer can change the attitude of
consumer by focusing on the utilitarian function which the consumers are not
aware of.

Figure 4 Utilitarian Function shown in Good

Knight Ad

Product: Mosquito Repellent

Brand: Good Knight
Attributes: Mosquito killer
Strategy: With repetitive use of Good Knight mosquito repellent, consumers tend
to buy the same product again and again. Consumers hold certain brand attitudes
partly because of the brands utility. This ad of Good Knight shows that it can serve
a utilitarian purpose that points out that this product kills mosquitos and save
them from being bitten.

b. The Ego-Defensive Function

It is natural that most of the consumer wants to protect their self-images and they
want to feel secure and safe about the product which they are going to buy. Many
advertisements help the consumer to feel secure and confident by which the

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 marketer tries to change the attitude by offering reassurance to the consumers
self-concept.

Figure 5 The ego-defensive function shown in

Fair & Lovely Ad

Product: Fairness Cream

Brand: Fair & Lovely Fairness Creams
Attributes: Fairness, Confidence
Strategy: This ad of Fair & Lovely fairness cream, stresses in its headline: The
power to shape my destiny lies in my hands. Here, the consumer wants to replace
her uncertainty with a sense of security and personal confidence. This need is
acknowledged by the Fair & Lovely ad.

c. The Value-expressive Function

Attitudes are an expression or reflection of the consumers general values,
lifestyles, and outlook. If a consumer segment generally holds a positive attitude
toward owning the latest designer jeans, then their attitudes toward new brands
of designer jeans are likely to reflect that orientation. Thus, by knowing target
consumers attitudes, marketers can better anticipate their values, lifestyles or
outlook and can reflect these characteristics in their advertising and direct
marketing efforts.

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 Figure 6 The value-expression function shown in iPhone
Ad

Product: Mobile Phone

Brand: iPhone 7
Attributes: Smart Phone, Good Performance, Good Battery Life, Good Operating
System
Strategy: Many consumers have a positive attitude towards being high-tech and
gadget freak. Their attitudes towards phones such iPhone are likely to reflect
this viewpoint. The values of having a latest phone are reflected by the consumers
who buy iPhones.

d. The Knowledge Function

Customers always have the urge of knowing more about the products. This need to
know is considered to be important while positioning the product. Indeed, many
products and brands positioning are attempt to satisfy the need to know and to
improve consumers attitude toward the brand by emphasizing its advantages over
competitive brands.

Figure 7 The Knowledge Function shown in

Pepsodent-Colgate Ad war
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 Product: Toothpaste
Brand: Pepsodent vs Colgate
Strategy: In this ad, Pepsodent points out how it is superior to Colgate in cleaning
teeth and killing germs. This ad focuses on the product information panel for
Pepsodent that it is 130% better than Colgate in killing germs. An important
characteristic of the advertising is its appeal and usefulness to consumers need to
know.

B. Associating the product with a group or event

Attitudes are related, at least in part, to certain groups, social events or causes. It is
possible to alter attitudes toward companies and their products, services and brands by
pointing out their relationships to particular social groups, events, or causes.

Companies regularly include mention in their advertising of the civic and public acts that
they sponsor to let the public know about the good and that they are trying to do. For
example, Crest Sponsors a program that promotes good oral care to children through the
Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Recent research into brand-cause alliances have investigate the relationship between the
cause and the sponsor. For instance, one study found that while both the brand and the
cause benefit from such alliances, a low familiar cause benefited more from this
association with a positive brand than did a highly familiar cause. This finding seems to
indicate that it is likely to be a good idea for a sponsor to reveal to target consumers the
reasoning behind their sponsorship, so that consumers know the sponsors motives
rather than from their own potentially inaccurate or negative motives.

Figure 8 Associating the product with a group or 9|Page

event shown in P&G Ad
Product: FMCG products
Brand: P&G Products
Strategy: 'P&G Shiksha' is a project which focuses on providing free and quality
education to children in India. A consumer needs to participate in the campaign by buying
any P&Gs products during Shiksha Program's months. A part of the proceeds is donated
toward enabling underprivileged children on the path towards education. Shiksha project
also includes to work with the state education departments to relook at existing
education policies, create awareness to build more schools with better infrastructure and
basic amenities like water, electricity, health, enrol more children into formal schools and
promotion of retention in schools. This ad shows how P&G works for a cause.

C. Resolving two Conflicting Attitudes

Attitude change strategies can sometimes resolve actual or potential conflict between
two attitudes. Specifically, if consumers can be made to see that their negative attitude
toward a product, a specific product, a specific brand or its attributes is really not in
conflict with another attitude, they may be induced to change their evaluation of the
brand.

Figure 9 Resolving two conflicts shown in Patanjali Beauty

Products Ad
Product: Cosmetic
Brand: Patanjali Beauty Products
Strategy: This ad of Patanjali beauty products points out that their products are as
effective as synthetic products and are safer because they are all natural. For consumers

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who care about both the effectiveness and safety of the health, they use Patanjali Beauty
Products. Attempting to resolve what might otherwise be conflicting attitudes.

D. Altering components of multi-attribute models

Multi attitude models have implications for attitude change strategies; specifically, they
provide us with additional insights as to how to bring about attitude change:

a. Changing the relative evaluation of attributes

The overall market for many products categories is often set out so that different
consumer segments are offered different brands with different features or benefits. For
instance, within a product category such as dishwashing liquids, there are brands such as
Dawn that stress potency and brands such as Dove that stress gentleness. These two
brands of dishwashing liquids have historically appealed to different segments of the
overall dishwashing liquid market. Similarly, when it comes to coffee, or when it comes
to headache remedies, there is the division between aspirin and acetaminophen.
In general, when a product category is naturally divided according to distinct product
features or benefits that appeal to a particular segment of consumers, marketers usually
have an opportunity to persuade consumers to cross-over.

Figure 10 Strategies of Attitude Change shown

in Hair Oil Ads

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Product: Hair Oil
Brand: Parachute Hair Oil and Navratna Oil
Strategy: The Parachute Hair Oil ad claims to nourish the hair and make them smooth,
shine and grow longer. If the consumer wants to nourish hair, she might buy this product.
On the other hand, if the consumer wants to get a relief from headache, he/she might shift
to the product Navratna Oil which claims to lessen the headache.
The same product categories cater to need of different market segments. One, who wants
to nourish hair and the other who wants relief from the pain.

b. Changing brand beliefs

A second cognitive oriented strategy for changing attitudes is changing beliefs or
perceptions about the brand itself. Advertising helps us to find out what a particular
product has more or is better or best in terms of some important product attribute.
As a variation on this theme of more ads for Palmolive dishwashing gentleness by
suggesting that it be used for hand washing of fine clothing items.
Within the context of brand beliefs, there are forces working to stop or slow down
attitude change. For instance, consumers frequently resist evidence that challenges a
strongly held attitude or belief and tend to interpret any ambiguous information in ways
that reinforce their pre-existing attitudes.

Figure 11 Changing Brand belief shown in Tide

Detergent Ad

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Product: Detergent
Brand: Tide
Strategy: The Tide detergent ad claims that unlike other detergents it not only cleans the
dirt away but makes the white cloth more white and bright. This way the consumers
brand belief is changed as consumer would want such a detergent which does not faint
the colour of the cloth and provides more utility than other products in the same category.

c. Adding an Attitude
This can be accomplished either by adding an attribute that previously has been ignored
or one that represents an improvement or technological innovation.
The first route, adding a previously ignored attribute, can be illustrated by the point that
yogurt has more potassium than a banana. For consumers interested in increasing their
intake of potassium, the comparison of yogurt and bananas has the power of enhancing
their attitudes toward yogurt.
The second route of adding an attribute that reflects an actual product change or
technological innovation is easier to accomplish than stressing a previously ignored
attribute.
Sometimes eliminating a characteristic or feature has the same enhancing outcome as
adding a characteristics of attribute. For instance, a number of skin care or deodorant
manufacturers offer versions of their products that are unscented.

Figure 12 Adding Attitude Strategy shown in

Bournvita Ad
Product: Health Drink for Kids
Brand: Cadbury Bournvita

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Strategy: Initially Bournvita was positioned as a superior product to milk i.e., a health
builder. Now Bournvitas advertisement claims it as necessary product or health builder
containing vital calcium, vitamins and carbohydrates and DHA which is essential for the
development of the brain and the eyes of the kids.

d. Changing the overall brand rating

Another strategy consists of attempting to alter consumers overall assessment of the
brand directly, without attempting to improve or change their evaluation of any single
brand attribute. Such a strategy frequently relies on some form of global statement that
this is the largest selling brand or the one all others try to initiate or a similar claim
that sets the brand apart from all its competitors.

Figure 13 Changing the Overall Brand rating shown in

Hyundai Ad

Product: Car
Brand: Hyundai i20
Strategy: The Hyundai i20 ad shows that it been the most awarded car in India, which
means it has been rated the best car or the number one car in India. This would definitely
attract customers and would affect their attitude towards this particular car.

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 E. Changing consumer beliefs about competitors brands
Usually it is seen that the attitude change agent is a well-respected agent authority or
peer group. Because the amount of attitude change is related to the credibility of the
source of the message. The major purpose of changing attitudes is to eventually change
consumer behavior. Thus, an understanding of consumer attitudes towards their product
will enable the marketer to adopt suitable strategies and create a positive image or
attitude for that matter of their products in the minds of the consumer.

Figure 14 Changing Beliefs about competitors' brands

Product: Newspaper
Brand: The Hindu
Strategy: This add of The Hindu newspaper very cleverly compares their news content
with that of The Times of India newspaper by stating, Stay Ahead of The Times. This
way The Hindu is trying to change the attitude of the consumer towards both the
newspaper. The consumer might think that The Times of India only prints news about
the celebrity parties whereas The Hindu prints more important news related to political
parties and other important stuff.

F. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

Sometimes, whether listening to a speech or a television advertisement, we are moved by
what the speaker says. Other times, we pay less attention to what the person is actually
saying and care more about the speaker's presence. The Elaboration Likelihood
Model indicates the factors that determine which of these is more likely. It is a theory
that specifies when people are more likely to be influenced by the content of persuasive
communication instead of superficial characteristics, and vice versa. It helps us explain

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how attitudes are formed and changed through persuasion. The model describes two
routes to persuasion - central and peripheral - that can be successful in changing
someone's attitude under the right circumstances.

a. Central Route to Persuasion

When discussing the Elaboration Likelihood Model, we use the term 'elaborate' to mean
'to think elaborately about something.' The central route to persuasion is when people
elaborate on a persuasive argument, listening carefully and thinking about the logic
behind the message. There are times when people are motivated to pay attention to the
facts during a speech or other persuasive communication and during those times are
persuaded the most by a strong logical argument. If a person believes the persuasion to
be reliable, convincing and well-constructed, he or she will typically be receptive to a
change in attitude that is long-lasting.

For example, imagine you are a college student listening to a speech about why the cost
of tuition should be increased the following year. If you are attending next year, it's likely
this subject would be important to you, and so you would listen closely to the argument.
Obviously, you would probably not want the tuition to increase. However, if you find the
argument to be convincing - say, if you were going to receive a substantial number of
benefits - you may change your mind.

b. Peripheral Route to Persuasion

There are other times when people are not motivated by the facts and instead are
persuaded by superficial things, such as the attractiveness or fame of the person
delivering the message. This is the peripheral route to persuasion - when people do
not elaborate on a persuasive argument and instead are swayed by surface
characteristics that are peripheral to the message. When using this route, peripheral cues
enable the individual to use mental shortcuts, accepting or rejecting the argument based
on superficial factors instead of actively thinking about the issue. Attitude change
resulting from the peripheral route is typically temporary and susceptible to additional
change.

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For an example of using the peripheral route, imagine you are listening to a debate
between two political candidates. It is long and boring, and you zone out for a bit. At the
end, though, you favor one particular candidate because he seems more likable and has a
warm, soothing voice. Your attitude toward the candidate has changed even though you
were not paying attention to what he was saying - his demeanour and voice were
peripheral cues that you (likely unconsciously) used as a mental shortcut to determine
his likability. Many psychologists have proposed that this is actually how most of the U.S.
population chooses a presidential candidate.

Figure 15 ELM shown in Soaps ad

Product: Soap
Brand: Lifebuoy Soap and Pears Soap
Strategy: The Lifebuoy ad follows the central route approach, as it claims to provide germ
protection. The soap is meant to cleanse and provide protection from germs and illness
and the same is being portrayed in the advertisement. On the other hand, Pears ad
(product from the same category) follows the peripheral route approach as the ad focuses
on the freebie offered along with the product.
The benefits provided by Lifebuoy soap may interest consumer more and he may buy the
product. On the other hand, the other features of the Pears ad may interest other
consumer and they might end up buying the product being lured by the other beautifying
features of the product.

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References
1. (VTU), V. T. (2008, September 12). Strategies of Attitude Change. Retrieved from
consumerbehaviour4vtu.blogspot.in:
http://consumerbehaviour4vtu.blogspot.in/2008/09/strategies-of-attitude-
change.html
2. Kanuk, S. &. (2007). Consumer Behaviour. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersly (India) Pvt.
Ltd. .
3. pooja. (2012, September 10). social ad. Retrieved from behance.net:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/5095097/P-G-Shiksha-Social-Ad
4. Ramji. (2010, December 5). Cognitive Model of Consumer Decison Making .
Retrieved from scribd.com: https://www.scribd.com/doc/44686579/Cognitive-
Model-of-Consumer-Decision-Making
5. Sahney, S. (2010). Consumer Behaviour. Kharagpur: NPTEL.

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