ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR

Persuasive texts either aim to create a new attitude in the reader or to change an existing attitude.
These newly-formed attitudes could then lead to a change in the reader's behaviour.

(i) Definition of “attitude”

Different definitions of attitude exist in the literature; for our purpose, Zanna and Rempel's
definition (1988: 319) is appropriate:

The categorisation of a stimulus object along an evaluative dimension, based upon,

or generated from, three general classes of information:
(1) cognitive information
(2) affective/emotional information, and/or
(3) information concerning past behaviours or behavioural intentions.

Cognitive information is based on facts; that is, on what we perceive with our senses and
deduce from these facts. For example:

I think this is a quality car because it was chosen as Car of the Year 2015.
I do not drink milk because it makes me itch.

Affective or emotional information is based on an emotional response that the cognition of an

object elicits in us:

I really loved this book; it really made me feel good.

Our own past behaviour in relating to an object can influence our attitude:

I always buy a Magnum ice cream, so I must really like it.

I have always chosen to drive a BMW. When I need a new car, it will be a BMW again.
1
Zanna and Rempel's definition implies that an attitude is an evaluation of an object. This
object can be anything from a concrete person to an abstract idea. For example, it can be:

. a person (a politician)
. certain behaviours (smoking, driving under the influence of alcohol)
. an institution (a religious denomination)
. a product (a certain brand of washing powder)
. a policy (a firearms-control policy)

(ii) Distinction between attitudes, beliefs and values

In the literature on persuasion a distinction is made between a reader's beliefs, attitudes and
values; each of these can be the target of persuasive texts. How do beliefs, attitudes and values
differ from each other and how is this difference reflected in persuasive texts? Hoeken,
Hornikx and Hustinx (2009: 45–58) provide a detailed answer to this question and we shall be
following their explanation in the following paragraphs.

Beliefs attitudes

People store enormous amounts of knowledge or cognitions in their brains. Included in this
knowledge are items such as the name of your father and mother, the shortest route to the
shopping mall, your evaluation of how our athletes performed at the London Olympics and
your belief, say, that environmental considerations should receive priority over economic
considerations. As far as persuasive texts are concerned, three types of cognitions are
important: beliefs, attitudes and values.

Beliefs can be correct or incorrect

People hold various cognitive beliefs about situations in the real world. Two important aspects of
these beliefs are their correctness or incorrectness and the measure of certainty someone has
about the correctness of the belief. A belief is correct if it is in accordance with the facts of a
situation in the real world — if not, it is incorrect. For example, the belief that the Olympic
Games of 2012 took place in London is correct. But if I believe that London is in America,
my belief will be incorrect.

2
Furthermore, we can be more or less certain of the correctness of our beliefs. For example, I
might be convinced that Johannesburg is in Gauteng. And I may also believe that AIDS can
be spread by mosquito bites, but find it impossible to believe that little men with big round
heads live on the moon.

Persuasive texts can form new beliefs

Persuasive texts can be directed at forming new beliefs; that is, in establishing a belief about the
facts of a situation in real life. Examples would be an advertisement that announces a new
One Direction CD, one that announces the special prices of certain brands to be sold in a
weekend special (‟This weekend only: a 250 g bottle Nescafé at R24,50”'), or one that
advertises a new service (‟From 25 October we will be flying directly to Atlanta”). In these
texts announcements are made in the form of descriptive statements about facts that are true
in reality. If readers accept these descriptive statements, they have acquired a new (descriptive)
belief based on facts given in such texts.

Persuasive texts can correct incorrect beliefs

Persuasive texts can also try to correct incorrect beliefs. For example, the belief that you can
contract AIDS through normal social contact with people that are HIV-positive (‟Would you
turn your relative with flu out on the street?”).

Cognitive beliefs can be tested against facts in reality

The main feature of beliefs based on cognitive information, and which distinguishes them from
beliefs based on affective information or information about past behaviour is that, in theory,
they can be tested against the facts in reality. In practice, however, testing the accuracy of
such beliefs may be difficult if the descriptive statements (on which the belief/s are based) refer
to some situation in the past or future, or if they refer to a situation outside your frame of reference.
In such cases, we simply may not have access to the means of testing such beliefs. For instance, if
someone made a statement that the temperature in Moscow dropped to –768C last night, or that
Shakespeare loved mushrooms, it would be very difficult to ascertain the real truth (or falsity) of
these statements. The most we could do, in either case, would be to attempt to gain corroboration
— in the first case (the temperature in Moscow) from, say, the weather bureau and in the second
case (Shakespeare) from specialist historians.

Primary beliefs determine attitude

Attitudes are evaluations based on beliefs. According to some researchers, a combination of
up to nine beliefs form an attitude; some believe that only three to five primary beliefs
contribute to the formation of an attitude. According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1981) our attitude
3
towards an issue/object is determined by the salient or primary beliefs about the issue/object.
For example, our attitude towards an object (e.g. a certain brand of vacuum cleaner) may be
based on the beliefs (a) that it is reliable, and (b) that it is safe. The measure of certainty about
the correctness of these beliefs (How convinced am I that the vacuum cleaner has these
attributes?) plus the evaluation of the beliefs (How important is it for me that a vacuum cleaner
is reliable and safe?) determine our attitude. Of all the beliefs one may have about a product,
however, only a limited number of them, the so-called primary beliefs, actually determine our
attitude towards that product.

How to change someone’s attitude

How do you change someone's attitude? The answer is: by either changing the beliefs
underlying their current attitude, or by introducing new beliefs that become primary ones. In the
case of our example (the vacuum cleaner) we can try and change someone's belief about how
reliable the vacuum cleaner is by telling them how often it tends to break down, or by introducing a
new belief (e.g. that it is rather expensive to keep in working order). To put it another way:
attitude change can be brought about by influencing the beliefs that underlie that attitude. Janssen
(1996:182) gives the following strategies that writers can use to change people's beliefs about
smoking:

4
Table 1.1: Strategies for changing beliefs about smoking

Strategy Example
add new disadvantages ‟Smoking is bad for your skin, gives you bad
breath and creates an image of ill-health.”

weaken alleged advantages
give more weight to
accepted disadvantages
‟Research proves that smoking does not increase
concentration at all.”
‟Blood circulation problems are very serious —
poor blood circulation has led to some smokers
having their limbs amputated.”

give less weight to ‟Smoking does suppress your appetite, but eating
accepted advantages more is less harmful than smoking.”

increase probability that ‟Recent research shows that smokers' chances of

disadvantages will indeed getting heart and coronary diseases increase by
occur 60%.”

decrease probability that ‟The new smoking laws make smokers outcasts
advantage will occur who have to go to designated areas to smoke —
that doesn't sound very sociable.”

In most cases, the objective of a health education text is to encourage people to start or
continue a certain form of behaviour, not to stop the behaviour (as in the example above on
smoking). This means that in cases where you want people to start a new form of behaviour, you
have to turn the strategies in table 1 .1 around: now you have to give more weight to the
advantages instead of lessening the weight of the advantages, or you have to add new
advantages, not disadvantages. Before you start using these strategies, you should always pause
to consider what form of behaviour you want to encourage (e.g. using birth control measures,
eating more healthily or exercising more) or discourage (e.g. smoking, drinking too much
alcohol, using drugs) as if you were a writer of health campaign texts. As a health educator,
what form of behaviour do you need to encourage in your text?

5
When you have to decide which beliefs must be seen as advantages and which as
disadvantages, the following rule can be followed: any beliefs that do not support the desired
behaviour are seen as disadvantages, while any beliefs that support the behaviour are listed
as advantages. For example, taking more exercise is a form of behaviour that the sender wants
people to start or continue. If people already think exercising is beneficial to their health,
this is an advantage they see as a consequence of exercising. You as the educator should
strengthen or reinforce this belief, because it supports the desired behaviour. However, if they
believe that one can only exercise in expensive gyms, this belief is seen as a disadvantage of
the behaviour, because it inhibits people from performing the behaviour. You must now
attempt to weaken or change this incorrect belief (e.g. by telling them that walking is one of
the best forms of exercise and that it is totally free). Make sure you take into account what the
function of your campaign text would be from a health perspective.

Link between attitudes and cognitive beliefs

The link between attitudes and cognitive beliefs is not always as strong as suggested in the
discussion above. In some cases the attitudes (evaluation) we have towards an object might be
only loosely attached to the beliefs (e.g. cognitive information) on which it is based. For example,
our attitude towards an object can be activated without also activating the knowledge on which it
was based. Seeing a specific person can, for example, invoke a positive or negative
evaluation of that person without you being aware of why you evaluated that person the way
you did in the first place.

Values beliefs
Attitudes are evaluations of an object based on beliefs. A distinction should however be made
between attitudes relating to products (such as in advertising) and attitudes relating to behaviour
(such as in health communication). If the attitude relates to a product, for example washing
powder, the beliefs about the features of that product inform the attitude. If the attitude relates to
behaviour, then beliefs about the likelihood that certain behaviour will have certain
consequences will inform the attitude. For example: a negative attitude about smoking could
have been determined by the beliefs that (i) smoking is expensive, and (ii) the likelihood of
getting heart and coronary diseases. Beliefs about the likelihood that certain (behavioural)
consequences will occur imply an evaluation of those consequences: are the consequences
desirable or undesirable, for example: smoking could lead to heart and coronary diseases is an
undesirable consequence (Hoeken, Hornikx & Hustinx 2009: 50-51). These evaluations of
consequences could differ from person to person. Values play, however, an important role in the
evaluation of consequences. Values can relate to situations (what is called the terminal values)
or to behaviour (instrumental values).

6
Values are universal
Values can be defined as lasting cognitions that certain behaviours or situations are
intrinsically preferable to others. Values are universal: all cultures have the same values. What
does differ between cultures, however, is the hierarchy that is allocated to these values: which of
them are the most important or attractive? Cultures and individuals differ in the way they rate
these values. The values themselves remain the same, but the value system is different. To
some, a clean world might be much more important than a comfortable life — such people
would therefore zealously recycle garbage, even if this meant a less comfortable life. To others,
being independent might be much more important than being obedient. Hofstede (1999) refers
to cultural differences as consisting of a certain value system shared by a group of people
that differs from the value system of other groups. Since values are universal, persuasive
texts rarely try to instil new values in readers. However, advertisements often try to use the
value system of the target group to support a change of attitude to a certain product or service.

Rokeach (1973) as quoted by Hoeken (1998: 31–31) divides values into terminal values (those
that relate to situations) and instrumental values (those that relate to behaviour). The values he
uses in research are listed alphabetically in the table below.

7
Table 1.2: Rokeach’s terminal and instrumental values
Terminal values Instrumental values
A beautiful and clean world Ambitious
A comfortable life Broad-minded
An exciting life Capable
Enjoyment Cheerful
Equality Clean
Eternal life Courageous
Freedom
Creative
Happiness
Disciplined
Inner harmony
Forgiving
National safety
Peace in the world Friendly
Respect for others Honesty
Safety of your family Helpful
Self-respect
Independent
Getting somewhere in life
True friendship Intelligent

True love Wisdom Logical

Loving
Obedient
Responsible

Every person has values, attitudes and beliefs. The number of values is limited. They form the
core of people's cognitions and embody the ideals that people pursue. All consequences of
behaviour that bring the ideal situation closer are evaluated favourably; on the other hand, all
consequences or characteristics that do not contribute to achieving the ideal situation are
evaluated unfavourably. In other words, values form the criteria for evaluating beliefs, and
the evaluation of a belief forms an attitude.

8
Values are learned
It is also important to realise that beliefs, attitudes and values are learned and are not innate.
People learn them during their upbringing through a variety of means, including conditioning,
modelling and social learning.

(iii) Attitudes and emotion

Attitudes are not always based on cognitive beliefs about an object. They can also be the result
of feelings/emotions towards the object. Some studies have shown that repeated exposure to an
object (for example visual images of a product) could have an impact on the evaluation of the
object. This phenomenon is referred to as the mere exposure-effect. The mere exposure-effect
holds that you evaluate more positively the objects you recognise than those you do not
recognise. Readers are more likely to use for example the brand they are familiar with,
especially in the case of expensive products. Preference or liking for certain products after
repetitive exposure may be due to the effect of repetition. As we have already said, repetitive
exposure can lead to an increased preference for the product, but repetition is only good up to a
point.

How to change attitudes based on emotion

How do you change an attitude based on feelings/emotions (e.g. someone's positive attitude
towards a Volkswagen Beetle simply because his beloved grandfather drove one)? Research
seems to provide conflicting results.

Some research suggests that cognition-based attitudes can best be dealt with by using cognitive
methods and emotion-based attitudes by affective (i.e. emotional) methods. In other words,
there seems to be a significant interaction between the attitude's base (cognitive or emotive)
and the persuasive method (cognitive method or emotive method). This seems to be particularly
true of attitudes based on emotions and affective methods. However, in the case of attitudes
based on cognition, other studies indicate that such attitudes are just as likely to be changed by
affective methods as they are by cognitive methods.

To make matters even more complex, yet other researchers have come up with evidence that
suggests that rational arguments are more effective in changing emotion-based attitudes and
that emotive arguments are more effective in changing cognitive-based attitudes. The reason for
this is that, if the basis of the persuasive method used is the same as the basis of the reader's
existing attitude, the reader will feel threatened — simply because this challenges the
adequacy of the reader's previous appraisal. In such a case the persuasive attempt will fail. In
9
this case, the feeling of being threatened occurs if the arguments point out certain things that
contradict the reader's beliefs or if the argument points out things that the reader has simply failed
to consider.

However, if the argument and the attitude are based on different classes of information, the
person will not feel threatened by his or her previous reasoning and, therefore, will be less
resistant to the persuasion attempt. But keep in mind that this same body of research also
indicated that cognitive-based attitudes can be influenced by either emotional or rational
arguments.

(iv) Attitudes and behavioural intention

Attitudes form the basis for behaviour. Attitudes ̶ which are a person’s personal evaluation
towards an object ̶ could result in the intention to behave in a certain way. How then does
attitude influence behavioural intention (and ultimately behaviour)?

Evaluating the consequences

In principle, people are rational beings. They usually engage in certain behaviour because they think
matters over. They have sound reasons to act as they do: I do not smoke because it is bad for my
health (negative attitude towards smoking, therefore I do not smoke); I do smoke because I enjoy
doing so (positive attitude towards smoking therefore I do smoke); I do not recycle aluminium cans
because it is inconvenient to do so; I use birth control methods because I do not want to get
pregnant; I accept this policy because it will help to solve the problem of massive
unemployment.

Furthermore, people want to have the correct attitude about something: they believe it is
important to have a valid opinion about an issue (Hoeken 1995: 6). Janssen (1996: 178) says that
it seems that people behave in a certain way because it is advantageous for them to do so.
People see something as advantageous if it promotes a core value. They will refrain from actions
if these actions have unpleasant consequences for them, or if these actions have a negative impact on
the realisation of a value. For instance, people will not exceed the speed limit because that might
lead to them being fined — and paying a fine means that there is less money available for achieving
a comfortable life (the value here being ‟achieving a comfortable life”).

There are very few actions that result in either only benefits or advantages or only disadvantages
or unpleasant consequences — in everyday life, most actions have both advantages and
disadvantages. That is why the choice of actions is governed by a process of weighing up
10
pros and cons. Janssen (1996: 179) gives an example of the advantages and disadvantages of
smoking that may well influence a person's behaviour:

Table 1.3: Possible advantages and disadvantages of smoking

Advantages Disadvantages
. sociable . costly
. pleasant taste . unpleasant smell (breath,
clothes, hair, room)
. suppresses appetite (helps . danger for others (passive smoking)
to keep you slim)
. increases one's powers of . causes lung cancer
concentration
. gives you something to do . causes cardiovascular diseases
with your hands

Obviously this list is not exhaustive nor would everybody agree with all the advantages or
disadvantages. For the purpose of this explanation, let us accept that these are indeed the
advantages and disadvantages of smoking and that both smokers and non-smokers agree on
this. If both smokers and non-smokers agree that these are the relevant pros and cons, why is
it that some people smoke and others do not?

. Smokers and non-smokers give different weight to the importance of some of the pros and
cons of smoking.
. Their risk perceptions differ: in other words, they will each estimate differently the
likelihood of the good and bad consequences actually occurring.

Thus smokers will be of the opinion that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, while
non-smokers will feel the opposite. And inveterate smokers will judge the possibility of
contracting lung cancer lower than non-smokers:

‟My aunt Mathilda smoked two packets a day and lived to be a hundred.”

Similarly, non-smokers might find it difficult to believe that smoking curbs the appetite and helps
us stay slim and will repeatedly refer to obese smokers they know. In real life not everyone
11
will agree that smoking is a sociable habit, while smokers defend the cost of smoking by
comparing it with the cost of other luxuries:

‟Whisky is not cheap either.”'

‟The good things in life do not come cheap.”'

In short, people can and do differ about the pros and cons of certain behaviour. What is seen as
an advantage by one person will be regarded as a disadvantage by others. The criteria for
weighing the pros and cons are based on the individual's value system and eventually lead to the
individual forming an attitude towards certain situations or actions. (We have already discussed
this in the previous section.)

Attitudes not the only determinants of behaviour

However, attitudes by themselves are not the only determinants of behavioural intentions. A
second important determinant is social influence (e.g. the opinions of important people in the
reader's social environment). Social influence entails the following: society's social norms,
perceived behaviour of others and direct social pressure or social support for the behaviour. In
South African society, people might have a positive attitude towards using dagga, but the
social pressure to refrain from using it is still fairly strong. In this case, an individual does not
display the behaviour (smoking dagga), not because he or she disapproves of it, but simply
because of existing social pressure. Another example is someone who has a negative attitude
towards marriage. Such a person might find that the social support for and expectations of
marriage are so strong that he or she yields to these expectations and ends up getting married
anyway.

A further complication is that behavioural intentions do not always lead to the desired
behaviour. People may intend to behave in a certain way, but considerations such as financial
and practical problems may cause non-compliance, in which case the desired behaviour
remains an intention.

Sources:

Fishbein, M. & Azjen, I. 1981. Acceptance, yielding and impact: Cognitive processes in
persuasion. In: Petty, R., Ostrom, T. and Brock, T. (Eds.) Cognitive responses in
persuasion. Hillsdale: Erlbaum, pp. 339–359.

12
Hoeken, H. 1995. The design of persuasive texts: effects of content, structure, and style on
attitude formation. Doctoral thesis, Catholic University of Brabant, Tilburg.
Hoeken, H. 1998. Het ontwerp van overtuigende teksten: Wat onderzoek leert over de opzet van
effectieve reclame en voorlichting. Bussum: Coutinho.

Hoeken, H., Hornikx, J. & Hustinx, L. 2009. Overtuigende teksten: Onderzoek en ontwerp.
Bussum: Coutinho.

Hofstede, G. 1999. Allemaal andersdenkenden: omgaan met cultuurverschillen. Amsterdam:

Contact.

Janssen, D. (red.) 1996. Zakelijke communicatie 1. Derde druk. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff.

Zanna, M. & Rempel, J. 1988. Attitudes: A new look at an old concept. In: Bar-Tal, D, and
Kruglanksi, W. (Eds.) The social psychology of knowledge. Cambridge: CUP, pp. 315–
334.

13