Attitude Change

by Jennifer Leaver, Sydney Belcher and Dan Peterson

Attitude is a construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for an entity. Essentially, attitudes are feelings and judgments about a person, place, or thing (an attitude object). In order to further breakdown attitude, we turn to the ABC model: affect, behavior, and cognition.

• Affective response is the emotional aspect that expresses an individual’s preference towards the object. Affective responses are based on our emotions

• Behavioral intention is the personal history and tendencies of the individual. Basically, it suggests that our past behavior is a factor in our present attitudes.
  

• Cognitive response is the active thought process that forms an individual’s views towards an object. This is the most involved aspect of attitude. 

After attitude is formed, it is subject to change, usually through an experience or persuasion. However, we will focus on persuasion because it is the goal of all advertising and business. There are three elements that affect the probability of a persuasive argument changing an attitude. These elements are Target, Source, and Message.

• Target characteristics are traits of the individual receiving and processing the message.
• Source characteristics describe the one delivering the message. If our perception of the person delivering the message is positive, it is likely we will form a positive attitude toward their message.
• Message characteristics are aspects of the message being sent. The message itself is the final part of the persuasive argument.

Attitude’s affect on our behavior is where business and advertising aspects come into play.
If our behavior is the culmination of our decisions, then business is just a never ending series of decisions. What are we selling? To whom? When? Where? Why? Who do we work with? Who do we hire? Who do we fire? How much do we buy? Sell? Trade? Each of these answers is affected by the influence attitude. All of business is influenced by attitude because it is such a basic and integral part of our mind.


We each interviewed different individuals and sought information about a time when their attitudes were changed about a product or brand. We were interested in the change in behavior as a result of a change in attitude.

Bike Cable Lock to Bike U-Lock
"That experience changed my attitude."

Standard Lightbulbs to Energy Efficient Lightbulbs



Team "Attitude Change"

Jennifer Leaver, Syndey Belcher, Dan Person