Attitude Changes Among Consumers

Attitude change brought on by media cannot be examined without first looking at how consumers use media. In the uses and gratification theory, we see audiences as being in control of media selection and research media effect from the perspective of the audience. This theory is valuable in that it is applicable to many mediated communication theories like cognitive dissonance and selective exposure (Stone; 1999).
Studies done in the 1960s and 1970s on cognitive dissonance and consumer behavior were overwhelmingly based on attitude change as a measurement. Many studies have determined that dissonance can lead to the choosing of an alternative, depending on how much discomfort is felt. Conclusions were based on self-reports of the level of discomfort felt and the conflict brought about by the decision. A determination can be made in the validity of the theory based on the amount of evidence and the lack of challenges in its accuracy (Cummings; 1976).
Selective exposure theory was used in an analysis of the effect of Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1966 “State of the Union” address. In this study, researchers used 160 students enrolled in a basic speech class at Pennsylvania State University. The study identified key points and the students were asked their feelings on the points in the days before the speech. They were then questioned about those same key points following the event to see if Johnson’s speech had an effect on the student’s ideology. They found that while those listening to the president’s address and those choosing not to listen had significant differences in attitude on only one subject, there was support for the selective exposure theory. They did find, however, that the messenger had no effect on attitude change (McCroskey; 1967).
A study looking at self-prophecy in recycling habits, with a pre-, during and post-advertising campaign aspect, discovered that recycling increased after a marketing scheme was put into place (Spangenberg; 2003). This study shows that depending on the message, and audience agreement with that message, behaviors can be changed by media.
Thus far we’ve looked at cognitive dissonance theory and limited effects paradigm, as well as the uses and gratifications theory, and selective exposure theory. Now we turn to what creates dissonance and how that dissonance may cause changes in consumer behavior. To discover what creates dissonance, we must first look at how audiences interpret the messages they receive from media and how they use that information. Audiences that are active are believed to use media as a social tool. They will have conversations with others about things they see on a news program or a particular item they read about in the paper. These audience members feel empowered with knowledge when they can contribute to these sorts of conversations. Determining how the audience interprets the messages received from media can be done by measuring their responses to those messages. This has been used in several interpretive studies of audience responses, where respondents were classified in groups by their agreement or disagreement with a message (Carragee; 1990).