Final Exam Review Chapters 15 23 PowerPoint s and reading Chapter 15 Feelings 3 Attitudes and Stereotypes The ability to calculate expected value is a tremendously adaptive device However the attention STM required to compute expected value is in great demand and in short supply As a result optimal use of processing capacity requires the individual to automate many feelings known as attitudes Attitude A learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object How do attitudes differ from EV and affect Attitudes come from LTM in an automated fashion Expected value comes from STM affect comes from body chemistry and attitudes form in the LTM Function Attitudes must mediate behavior toward an object since consistent association is the basis for determining their existence Tendency to limit active evaluation is referred to as the principle of information processing parsimony Stereotype Once a person develops an attitude toward an object the attitude can be generalized or categorized so that it ultimately forms a stereotype Categorization Occurs when consumers use their prior knowledge to label identify and classify something new How do we categorize Taxonomic group similar objects in same category prototype best example of a category Implications of categorization First mover advantage positioning Attitude formation Book is focused on high involvement attitudes extended learning process Anchor and Adjust Attitudes formation process is often illustrated with anchor and adjust model A1 is first experience and here the anchor is easily moved Over time anchor becomes harder to move and eventually anchor position turns into an attitude At this point position becomes automated and is extremely hard to change Selective defense mechanisms and attitude maintenance processes operate to bias incoming information to be more consistent with already established beliefs values and attitudes Because of this early information about an object is overly represented in the cognitive structure This makes that early information critical in attitude formation process because first impressions set initial anchor position Attitude change Significant alteration in an individual s predisposition to respond to an object Since attitudes must always be inferred from behavior there is not way to identify attitude change except through behavior change Three methods by which EV component of attitudes can be changed 1 Change in a belief element 2 Change in an evaluation element 3 Add a new belief evaluation component to the individual s cognitive structure Changing beliefs is difficult due to operation of selective defense mechanisms which eliminate discrepant information Values are often even more resistant to change than beliefs Attitude strength Strong attitudes are confident predict behavior and difficult to change Strength depends on how attitude was formed They are formed by the central route high motivation opportunity ability involvement attention elaboration Attitude change Significant alteration in an individual s predisposition to respond to an object Three methods change a belief element change an evaluation element and add a new belief evaluation component Guidelines to induce attitude change 1 Discrepant information is salient important or instrumental to target person 2 Credible source 3 4 Repeated frequently 5 Attitude change will be maximized to extent that target person can be Information is delivered in a dramatic or attention grabbing way induced to interact positively with object of the attitude change attempt 6 Push target person in a curious mind set Subjectivity Emotions are subjective because they were designed by natural selection and nonverbal in nature Expected value can be subjective because beliefs and values used in calculation may not always be accurate Attitudes are subjective because they are based on summarized EV and they lose detail Conflict When feelings from different categories conflict motivation is used to weight the importance of the various feelings and is tied to individual s current need states When a conflict exists and a decision is made some feelings will always be repressed Control People are capable of both automatic and controlled information processing Conclusion Human beings are designed by natural selection to perform overt behaviors that are feeling expressive Accordingly people almost always act the way they feel These feelings may be an emotion a spontaneous calculation of expected value an attitude stereotype or any combination of the three Frequently conflict will occur among feelings and force the individual to choose the behavior that promises the greatest reward all things considered A major problem with feelings is that they are often subjective These inaccuracies cause maladaptive actions that are subsequently punished by the environment Because people are normally unaware that their feelings are inaccurate they are often puzzled and frustrated by these punishments thereby causing more negative feelings In addition when automated feelings produce maladaptive behaviors the individual cannot identify the true nature of the problem i e his her own feelings because s he cannot remember the feeling that triggered the action Accordingly they believe that the environment or other people are punishing them for no apparent reason Thus when examining human behavior from the scientific viewpoint we see a need for people to control their feelings yet the inability for them to do so Chapter 16 Decision Making Why are choices like what you plan to do after graduation difficult Many options and information Need to trade off attributes A lot of uncertainty Decision making is a central issue in consumer behavior We make countless decisions every day We use cognitive and affective components which are designed for a world that no longer exists Varies in involvement like feelings and relationships Decision making Large amount of purposeful thinking or problem solving This is controlled direct awareness and control STM involvement effortful STM requires effort objective more careful less errors and bias adaptive more likely to lead to reward and scarce limited due to STM capacity Step 1 Problem Recognition Recognize significant difference between desired state of affairs and actual state Causes Rising and falling appetites of homeostatic needs Consumption and depletion of products services Growth and maturation