Frank R. Kardes

On the Automatic Activation of Attitudes

We hypothesized that attitudes characterized by a strong association between the attitude object and an evaluation of that object are capable of being activated from memory automatically upon mere presentation of the attitude object. We used a priming procedure to examine the extent to which the mere presentation of an attitude object would facilitate the latency with which subjects could indicate whether a subsequently presented target adjective had a positive or a negative connotation. Across three experiments, facilitation was observed on trials involving evaluatively congruent primes (attitude objects) and targets, provided that the attitude object possessed a strong evaluative association. In Experiments 1 and 2, preexperimentally strong and weak associations were identified via a measurement procedure. In Experiment 3, the strength of the object-evaluation association was manipulated. The results indicated that attitudes can be automatically activated and that the strength of the object-evaluation association determines the likelihood of such automatic activation. The implications of these findings for a variety of issues regarding attitudes--including their functional value, stability, effects on later behavior, and measurement--are discussed.

Effects of Word-of-Mouth and Product-Attribute Information on Persuasion: An Accessibility-Diagnosticity Perspective

The effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) communications and specific attribute information on product evaluations were investigated. A face-to-face WOM communication was more persuasive than a printed format (experiment 1). Although a strong WOM effect was found, this effect was reduced or eliminated when a prior impression of the target brand was available from memory or when extremely negative attribute information was presented (experiment 2). The results suggest that diverse, seemingly unrelated judgmental phenomena--such as the vividness effect, the perseverance effect, and the negativity effect--can be explained through the accessibility-diagnosticity model. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.

The Role of Customer Gratitude in Relationship Marketing

Most theories of relationship marketing emphasize the role of trust and commitment in affecting performance outcomes; however, a recent meta-analysis indicates that other mediating mechanisms are at work. Data from two studies—a laboratory experiment and a dyadic longitudinal field survey—demonstrate that gratitude also mediates the influence of a sellers relationship marketing investments on performance outcomes. Specifically, relationship marketing investments generate short-term feelings of gratitude that drive long-lasting performance benefits based on gratitude-related reciprocal behaviors. The authors identify a set of managerially relevant factors and test their power to alter customer perceptions of relationship marketing investments to increase customer gratitude, which can make relationship marketing programs more effective. Overall, the research empirically demonstrates that gratitude plays an important role in understanding how relationship marketing investments increase purchase intentions, sales growth, and share of wallet.

Spontaneous Inference Processes in Advertising: The Effects of Conclusion Omission and Involvement on Persuasion

An experiment investigated the relation between inference and persuasion. Subjects were exposed to an ad in which presence or absence of conclusions and level of involvement were manipulated orthogonally. Omitted conclusions were more likely to be inferred spontaneously in high than in low involvement conditions. Further, when conclusions were omitted and high involvement made spontaneous inference formation likely, brand attitudes were more favorable and accessible than attitudes formed in low involvement conditions. Brand attitudes based on spontaneous inferences were as favorable and more accessible than attitudes formed in explicit conclusion conditions. The effects of motivation and effort on inference are discussed.

THE ROLE OF DIRECTION OF COMPARISON, ATTRIBUTE-BASED PROCESSING, AND ATTITUDE-BASED PROCESSING IN CONSUMER PREFERENCE

Preference formation involves comparing brands on specific attributes (attribute-based processing) or in terms of overall evaluations (attitude-based processing). When consumers engage in an attribute-based comparison process, the unique attributes of the focal subject brand are weighed heavily, whereas the unique attributes of the less focal referent brand are neglected. This is because the attributes of the subject are mapped onto the attributes of the referent, rather than vice versa. This direction-of-comparison effect is reduced when consumers engage in attitude-based processing or when high involvement increases motivation to process accessible attributes more thoroughly and systematically. The present research investigates a personality variable, need for cognition, that increases the likelihood of attribute-based (i.e., high need for cognition individuals) versus attitude-based processing (i.e., low need for cognition individuals) and therefore, also affects the magnitude of the direction-of-comparison effect. The direction-of-comparison effect is observed only when attribute-based processing is likely (i.e., when need for cognition is high) and when thorough and systematic processing is unlikely (i.e., when involvement is low). Mediational analyses involving attribute recall and a useful new measure of analytic versus intuitive processing support this dual-process model.

The Effects of Physiological Arousal on Information Processing and Persuasion

The effects of physiological arousal on persuasion are investigated. An exercise task was used to manipulate physiological arousal, and systolic blood pressure readings were taken to assess the effectiveness of this manipulation. The results indicate that endorser status (celebrity or noncelebrity) has a stronger influence on brand attitudes under high than under moderate levels of physiological arousal, whereas argument strength has a greater impact under moderate than under high arousal levels. The results are consistent with the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion.

Brand Retrieval, Consideration Set Composition, Consumer Choice, and the Pioneering Advantage

Recent research on the pioneering advantage has shown that consumers often prefer pioneering brands to follower brands. Recent research on consumer choice suggests that information about brands is filtered through a series of sequential cognitive processes. This study attempts to integrate these two separate lines of research by investigating the effects of pioneering on each stage of the multistage decision process. A within-subjects longitudinal experiment was conducted to simulate brand order of entry into a new market. We also developed a sequential logit model to isolate the direct impact of pioneering on each stage of the decision process while controlling for indirect effects of pioneering on previous stages. The results revealed that the pioneering brand (vs. followers) is more likely to be retrieved, considered, and selected. Moreover, the results revealed that consumers are more likely to bypass consideration set formation when the choice decision is simple (vs. complex). Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Non-Conscious Influences on Consumer Choice

While consumer choice research has dedicated considerable research attention to aspects of choice that are deliberative and conscious, only limited attention has been paid to aspects of choice that occur outside of conscious awareness. We review relevant research that suggests that consumer choice is a mix of conscious and nonconscious influences, and argue that the degree to which nonconscious influences affect choice is much greater than many choice researchers believe. Across a series of research domains, these influences are found to include stimulus that are not consciously perceived by the consumer, nonconscious downstream effects of a consciously perceived stimuli or thought process, and decision processes that occur entirely outside of awareness.

The Role of Selective Information Processing in Price-Quality Inference

This research investigates the effects of the amount of information presented, information organization, and concern about closure on selective information processing and on the degree to which consumers use price as a basis for inferring quality. Consumers are found to be less likely to neglect belief-inconsistent information and their quality inferences less influenced by price when concern about closure is low (vs. high) and information is presented randomly (vs. ordered) or a small amount of information is presented. Results provide a picture of a resource-constrained consumer decision maker who processes belief-inconsistent information only when there is motivation and opportunity.

The role of the social-identity function of attitudes in consumer innovativeness and opinion leadership

Abstract Attitudes serving the social-identity function relate nonsocial objects (e.g., products) to social objects (e.g., people). As new products tend to be more exciting than old, familiar products, the authors suggest that these attitudes influence innovativeness and opinion leadership. Based on recent research on attitude functions and adoption of consumer innovations, this research examines the relationship between the social-identity function, innovativeness, and opinion leadership, in addition to expertise and involvement; the two traditional antecedents of innovativeness and opinion leadership. The results across two product categories show that social-identity function exerts a strong impact on innovativeness and opinion leadership.