ATTITUDE FORMATION

Advertisers successfully use classical conditioning strategies to persuade consumers. Imagine that you are an advertising manager. For this Discussion, imagine the following scenario:

You are the advertising manager at an agency that has been hired by a corporation preparing to launch a new product. Your assignment is to design an advertisement that promises to popularize the new product and ultimately boost the corporation’s profit margin. A national ad launch guarantees the new product will have wide visibility, putting pressure on you to deliver a message that will encourage consumers to purchase the product.

For this Discussion, you will apply classical conditioning strategies to an ad campaign and analyze the formation of attitudes by classical conditioning. 

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources. 

WEEKLY RESOURCES

TO PREPARE

• Review the Learning Resources for this week and consider classical conditioning strategies employed to create positive attitudes.
• Also, consider how advertisers employ classical conditioning strategies to increase the desirability of their products.
• Create a fictional product not yet on the market and design an advertisement (i.e., print, radio, television, or some other type of media ad) that uses classical conditioning strategies. Search the Internet for ideas to guide you as you design an advertisement.

BY DAY 3

Post a description of your fictional product and your advertisement. Describe the process by which classical conditioning creates favorable attitudes sufficient to encourage consumers to buy the product. 

BY DAY 5

Respond to at least one colleague’s posts and identify the elements of classical conditioning in your colleague’s advertisement (i.e., unconditioned and conditioned stimulus, unconditioned and conditioned response). Then, determine whether or not you have been persuaded to buy the product and what persuaded you.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the social psychology theory and research. In addition to the Learning Resources, search the Walden Library and/or Internet for peer-reviewed articles to support your post and responses. Use proper APA format and citations, including those in the Learning Resources.

RESOURCES /REFERENCES

• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S. R. (Eds.). (2019). Social psychology (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
  • Chapter 7, “Attitudes and Attitude Change: Influencing Thoughts and Feelings” 
• Note: Viewing media and interactives embedded in the electronic version of this course text is not required for this course.
• Staats, A. W., & Staats, C. K. (1958). Attitudes established by classical conditioning. Journal of Abnormal and Social PsychologyLinks to an external site., 57(1), 37–40. 
• Levy, N., Harmon-Jones, C., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2018). Dissonance and discomfort: Does a simple cognitive inconsistency evoke a negative affective state? Motivation ScienceLinks to an external site., 4(2), 95–108.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/mot0000079