Eric Tafani

Attitudes and social representations : a theoretical and experimental approach

We propose here to establish the theoretical link between the concepts of ‘attitude’ and ‘social representation’. We shall base our proposal on recent conceptions of the notion of attitude, and on a structural approach to representations which account for their evaluative nature. This theoretical proposal will be followed by two experiments. The first showed that attitudes towards objects are based on the evaluative components of the representation of those objects. The second showed that a change in attitude about an object may be accompanied by changes in the evaluative dimension of its representation.

Vertical Product Line Extension Strategies: An Evaluation of Brand Halo Effect according to Range Level

The brand halo effect for vertical product line extensions is analyzed using the central nucleus theory. The empirical study is based on experimentation linked to six brands in the automotive sector. This research shows that central brand associations are transferred to the vertical product line extension regardless of range level — low, middle or high-end range — and that such transference systematically reinforces linkages between such associations and the product line extensions. In contrast, the transfer of peripheral associations appears to be range-dependent, increasing or decreasing linkages between such associations and the product line extension according to the range level considered.

Commitment to pro- versus counter-attitudinal behavior and the dynamics of social representations

This research uses the counter-attitudinal essay paradigm (Janis & King, 1954) to test the effects of social actions on social representations. Thus, students wrote either a pro- or a counter-attitudinal essay on Higher Education. Three forms of counter-attitudinal essays were manipulated countering respectively a) students’ attitudes towards higher education; b) peripheral beliefs or c) central beliefs associated with this representation object. After writing the essay, students expressed their attitudes towards higher education and evaluated different beliefs associated with it. The structural status of these beliefs was also assessed by a “calling into question” test (Flament, 1994a). Results show that behavior challenging either an attitude or peripheral beliefs induces a rationalization process, giving rise to minor modifications of the representational field. These modifications are only on the social evaluative dimension of the social representation. On the other hand, when the behavior challenges ...

The role of self-esteem in the dynamics of social representations of higher education: An experimental approach

One hundred and fifty lower-sixth pupils were asked to complete a school self-esteem scale (pre-test). They then responded to a logico-mathematical test which was presented as a means to evaluate their relative chances of succeeding in higher education. Participants were randomly given either positive or negative feed-back about their chances of success before they completed the school self-esteem scale a second time (post-test) and also a test for the centrality of 12 beliefs associated with the social representation of higher education. Results indicate that induction of low self-esteem reduces the importance accorded to higher education whereas induction of high self-esteem results in valuing the efforts that higher education requires. Additionally, it appears that both these dynamics are mediated by an intra-group differentiation process in which salience depends on the level of self-esteem induced. These results are analysed with regard to recent developments in central core theory (Abric & Tafani, 1...