In what ways does advertising influence buying behavior? - Chapter 6

Although attitudes are important determinants of consumer behavior, there are other things that are important as well, such as social norms and perceived behavioral control.

What is the relationship between attitude and behavior?

Human behavior is guided by social attitudes. In the past, many researchers were not able to find a relationship between measures of verbal attitudes and observations of actual behavior.

Ajzen and Fishbein came with the principle of compatibility and stated that is important when attitudes are related to behavior, not whether. Measures of attitudes are only related to measures of behavior if both constructs are assessed at the same level of generality. A specific action is always performed with respect to a given target in a given context and at a given point in time. One needs to make a behavioral index that aggregates across a representative variety of prejudicial actions, performed in a representative range of contexts, across a representative range of times.

What is the reasoned action approach?

Attitudes towards a certain type of behavior result from the likelihood with which one expects that behavior leads to certain outcomes, with each outcome weighted by the value the individual attaches to that outcome. Attitudes are good predictors of behavior, but behavior is also influenced by social norms and environmental factors constraining the ability to engage in this behavior.

The standard model

Two theories predict behavior intentions and assume that the impact of attitudes/other components on behavior is mediated by the intention to perform that behavior, namely the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Both theories predict behavioral intentions. They share the assumption that the impact of attitudes and other components on behavior is mediated by the intention to perform that behavior. TRA states that the intention to perform a specific behavior is determined by a person’s attitude towards that behavior and by subjective norms. These norms combine two components: normative beliefs – your beliefs about how people who are important to you expect you to behave – and motivation to comply – wanting to do what others want you to do.

TPB added the concept of perceived behavioral control as a third component to the theory of reasoned action, because people often lack the ability, resources or willpower to act on their intentions and thus often fail to do so.

According to TPB perceived behavioral control affects behavior indirectly through intentions, but can also have a direct link to behavior, which is not mediated by intentions. Perceived behavioral control has a causal influence on intention. The direct link from perceived behavioral control to behavior is more predictive in nature, since it depends on the accuracy with which an individual perceives behavioral control.

Meta-analyses support the basic assumption of these models, namely that components of these model can predict intentions and that behavior can be well predicted by measures of intention.

Extending the standard model

According to Fishbein and Ajzen their models apply to any behavior and that they had chosen general predictors that would apply to any behavior. Thus, it is possible that the inclusion of specific determinants of intentions that are likely to influence behavior – for example, the identity-related function of a particular behavior – in specific domains can improve predictions. Research findings support the assumption that adding a measure of identity similarity to the assessment of standard TPB variables improves predictions of consumer buying intentions. These findings provide further support for the argument that identity concerns can play a significant role in consumer choice and that it should influence buying behavior mainly for products that can serve identity-related goals, and not utilitarian functions, of consumers.

How can the intention-behaviour gap be narrowed?

Behavioral intentions are characterized by a ‘I intend to do X’ form.

Implementation intentions are more specific goals than behavioral intentions, since these involve the ‘I intend to do X in situation Y’ form.

People may fail to act on their intentions because they simply forget to act when the opportunity arises. Mental representation of context cues becomes activated when the time and context in which the behavior should be performed are specified. The formation of an implementation intention will create/strengthen the association between the situational cues and the response that is needed for obtaining the goal. Then the formation of an implementation intention increases the probability that the action intention will be remembered when the specified situation/context arises.

But how to resist a temptation and inhibit behavior? First you have to identify situations in which the risk of yielding to the temptation is high. Then you have to think of a coping response that can be effective in helping you to resist. Finally you have to cognitively rehearse linking the coping response to the situation. The effectiveness of is type of implementation depends on both remembering the coping strategy at the right time, as well as the effectiveness of the coping strategy in helping someone to resist the temptation.

When actions involve low effort, being reminded at a suitable moment of performing the action is likely to be sufficient enough to make sure that the action will be performed, especially when it is so well-learned and easy to perform that it is automatically enacted in response to a situational cue. However, more difficult behaviors involve longer-term self-control. Someone has to remember the implementation intention each time he/she is confronted with a temptation.

What does advertising and its implications entail?

Several techniques we can use to design strong and effective argumentations:

• Step 1: Decide what exactly you want to influence with the advertisement/commercial. Do you want to improve brand awareness or persuade people to buy a particular product? In the latter case, Fishbein’s and Ajzen’s techniques should be used. It doesn’t make sense to persuade people of a product’s qualities if they are unlikely to buy it because of subjective norms or perceived behavioral control.

• Step 2: Identify the specific beliefs which determine the targeted behavior, since they are likely to strongly influence the purchase decision.

• Step 3: Potential customers must not only be persuaded to buy the product, but also to form an implementation intention, when and where to buy it. Then it is more likely that they will actually make the purchase.

What is the automatic instigation of behavior?

According to TRA and TPB attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control result in the formation of behavioral intention. This is the most direct cause of behavior. Automatic processes are processes that occur without intention, effort or awareness and that do not interfere with other concurrent cognitive processes. One’s social and physical environment can influence behavior without him/her being aware of being influenced.

TRA and TPB also assume that although people are guided by relevant attitudes, subjective norms and control beliefs in forming behavioral intentions, the activation of beliefs can be automatic and unconscious. However, since intentions involve some kind of planning, they are likely to be conscious of the process of intention creation.

Automatic and deliberate influence of attitudes

Implicit attitudes reflect people’s automatic responses, while explicit attitudes reflect cognitively controlled processes. Although attitude measures often converge (come together), under certain conditions they diverge. These conditions exist in the area of prejudice and self-regulation (e.g. liking chocolate, but not eating it because you are on a diet). It is expected that implicit measures predict behavior better when individuals are unmotivated/unable to exert control, and explicit measures vice versa.

Automatic and deliberate influence of social norms

Intention should mediate the influence of subjective norms on behavior (according to TRA and TPB). It has been suggested that social norms might guide behavior when people are being aware of their influence. Norms are if-then rules that state that in certain situations individuals should behave in certain ways (e.g. being quiet in a library).

Many norms are tied to physical environments and according to Aarts and Dijksterhuis, these environments don’t necessarily have such behavioral implications. People mostly only act on these norms if it is of they are of behavioral relevance to them. For example, people don’t lower their voices when they are just passing by a library, but do so if they intend to visit one and are primed with a picture of a library.

Ads also often appeal to norms, but these appeals are typically quite explicit. More subtle norm primes are used in shopping environments. For example, the aim of Christmas music and decorations in shops in the weeks before Christmas is not only to bring people in a Christmas mood, but also to remind them they have to buy presents for their family.

Automatic and deliberate influence of goals

Goal-directed behavior can be triggered by cues in the environment without an intention having been formed. Theories of conscious goal pursuit and theories of unconscious goal pursuit share the basic assumption that goals are actions/outcomes towards which individuals hold positive attitudes. For it to motivate goal striving, there must be a discrepancy between the actual and desired state, and the consumer must perceive the goal as attainable. Unconscious goals are determined by attitudes, norms and perceived behavioral control to the same extent as conscious ones. Unlike theories of conscious goal pursuit, theories of unconscious goal pursuit assume that goals can be activated and pursued unconsciously, without a person having formed a conscious intention. A lot of studies support this assumption by having demonstrated that priming can activate goals without people being consciously aware of either the prime or the goal. There is also evidence that priming can influence goal enactment.

Furthermore, goal priming has been increasingly studied in the context of research on consumer behavior, where brand images were used to prime goals. Brand images seem to prime specific goals. Brands are both associated with characteristics that relate to the expected qualities of a product, as well as with personality characteristics, also referred to as brand personality.

Not only can primes trigger goals, they can also channel goal-directed behavior in a certain direction.

Goals, habits and behavior

People normally have a choice from various means to reach a certain goal. This poses a challenge to the cognitive resources. For goals to be automatically implemented, the selection of the relevant means to reach it needs to be routine by developing habits. Habits are learned sequences of acts that have become automatic responses to specific cues and are functional in obtaining certain goals. Behavior becomes habitual if it is performed frequently, regularly and under stable conditions. If habitual behaviors are well-learned (like driving and dancing), we speak of goal-dependent automaticity. Starting this behavior involves an intention, but once the process has been initiated, the rest follows automatically. This kind of behavior is hard to change.

Behavior that is performed regularly and under stable conditions is better predicted by past behavior under the same conditions than by intentions. Intentions predict infrequent behavior under varying conditions better.

If habits are cognitively represented as links between goals and actions that are instrumental for reaching these goals, then forming implementation intentions should occur through the same processes as the formation of habits. A mental link between a situational cue and a specific action is created. With habits, the association is learned through repeated behavior, while with implementation intentions, the association is learned through repeated mental simulation of performing the action in that specific situation.

Once a particular choice has become habitual, people are often not interested in alternatives anymore. Because for marketers establishing habits is extremely desirable, they try to instill habits through frequency marketing, that is awarding repeat buying through special benefits. When consumers have developed a particular skill in using a service, store, or product and switching to another would engender extra effort and time. This phenomenon has also been referred to as cognitive lock-in.

Goal conflict and impulse behavior

When internal or external stimuli simultaneously trigger two or more goals that have conflicting behavioral implications, goal conflicts arise. Self-control often leads to goal conflicts. People who try to pursue some long-term goal (e.g. lose weight) are confronted with temptations that they find difficult to resist. The difficulty in this dilemma, is that the certain and immediate short-term versus the future and uncertain long-term rewards. A goal conflict in self-control dilemma often results in impulse buying, that is spontaneous buying without sufficient consideration of the consequences of one’s purchases. This leads to buying things someone really doesn’t need. Goal conflicts result in impulse buying that is characterized by the absence of a pre-shopping intention, but also occurs in violation of such an intention.

It is likely that impulse buying occurs mostly with products that serve hedonic or identity-related functions, rather than utilitarian functions. There is some evidence for this assumption. The most serious form of impulse buying and the result of goal conflict and the breakdown of self-control is the purchase of products that someone was firmly intended not to buy. For example, dieters that go to the supermarket firmly intend not to buy candy, but end up with a bag of chocolates anyway.

What are the hidden persuaders?

Subliminal advertising refers to advertising that uses messages (embedded in a film or television report) that are presented so briefly that viewers remain unaware that they have been exposed to advertising. For example, showing the McDonald’s logo for 0.5 second during a TV show. This kind of advertising is very manipulative and banned from several countries. Also, its effects haven’t been proved significant. The assumption is that subliminal priming will mostly have an effect for brands that are not highly cognitively accessible. For well-known brands that are, for most consumers, highly accessible in their mind, subliminal advertising is unlikely to have an effect.