End of Chapter Questions – Chapter 7
1 Contrast the hierarchies of effects outlined in this chapter. How will strategic decisions related to the marketing mix be influenced by which hierarchy is operative among target consumers?
2 List three functions performed by attitudes, giving an example of how each function is employed in a marketing situation.
3 Think of a behaviour someone does that is inconsistent with his or her attitudes (e.g. attitudes towards cholesterol, drug use, or even buying things to make him or her stand out or attain status). Ask the person to elaborate on why he or she does the behaviour, and try to identify the way the person has resolved dissonant elements.
4 Devise an attitude survey for a set of competing automobiles. Identify areas of competitive advantage or disadvantage for each model you incorporate.
5 Construct a multi-attribute model for a group of local restaurants. Based on your findings, suggest how restaurant managers can improve their establishment’s image via the strategies described in this chapter.
6 The Heart Foundation is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to reducing the horrible effects of the number of people in Australia living with, or dying from heart, stroke and blood vessel disease. What do you think about McDonald’s use of the Heart Foundation tick? Does the alliance change your attitude about either organisation? Discuss how the relationship between a fast-food giant and this nonprofit influences your attitudes towards both organisations. Do you think it was wise for the Health Foundation to award McDonalds with a ‘healthy tick’ of approval?
7 More than 500 universities in the United States have signed up commercial companies to run campus websites and e-mail services. These agreements provide Web services to universities at little or no cost. But these actions have aroused controversy, because major companies pay to place advertising on the sites. That gives marketers entrée to influence the attitudes of thousands of students who are involuntarily exposed to product messages. How do you feel about this situation? Should companies be able to buy access to students’ eyeballs from the university they pay to attend? If the websites were not sponsored would students be willing to pay higher fees?
8 A marketer must decide whether to incorporate cognitive or emotional appeals in his or her communications strategy to change attitudes. Describe conditions that are more favourable to using one or the other.