Consumer attitude is erudite from past experiences with products, brands, or purchase decisions.
To change consumer attitude with communication, marketers need to employ various strategies in the creation and distribution of ads.
Interactive Communication
The way you communicate with your customers will determine the impact of your message on their attitude. Adopting interactive communication where your customers can give you feedback can help change customers’ attitudes.
Engaging them continuously and implementing their suggestions can sway their decisions in your favor.
The Halo Effect
The Halo effect has to do with how people perceive a product. For example, the physical attraction of the product can change people’s attitudes toward it.
Additionally, people receive things differently from someone they love. So an ad featuring an expert, celebrity, or attractive person will be more effective than one with just anyone.
Use experts for Unitarian products like hoodies, sweatshirts, drinkware. frosted steins and accessories
Celebrities for hedonic products with high social risks like designer clothes, luxury watches, and sports cars.
Anybody for everyday products with low risks (can openers, chairs, coffee makers, computers, clothes dryers, and cooking utensils).
Non-Human Endorsement
Mascots and other non-human branding elements like cartoon characters, avatar also come handy in changing consumer attitudes to your brand. It works similar to using experts and celebrities, where the Mascot becomes a recognizable entity that helps your audience identify your brand.
It becomes a “spokes character” that passes your message across to your customers.
The Message
The content of the message and the manner it’s conveyed can determine how it’s received and the impact it has on the consumers.
Your message should have an appeal that draws the consumer to listen. It can be humorous, musical, sexual, emotional, or rational.
You also have to decide whether to use a one-sided or two-sided argument in your message. While a one-sided message is persuasive, a two-sided message with refutation provides more conviction.
So instead of just focusing on the strength of your argument, add some contradictory views to show you care genuinely.
Persuasion
The six principles of persuasion can come handy in influencing consumer’s attitudes towards a product.
Reciprocity: A situation where consumers feel obliged to buy from a brand because of discounts or other concessions. For instance, businesses that continuously message or call their customers in this period of lockdown will likely be in their minds for purchases.
Scarcity- People want more of things that can have less of. Tailoring your ads to make the product seem scarce can ignite consumers’ desire.
Authority: People are drawn to a brand that shows expertise and is credible. Your message can include your years of experience, accomplishments, or endorsements.
Consistency: don’t go full force on trying to change your consumers’ attitude. Take it one step at a time.
Liking: people listen to those that have something in common with them. Look for areas of similarity with your customers and exploit it.
Consensus: consumers usually look at the actions of others to determine their own. Your message should include the benefits of the product or how it has benefited other customers.
Conclusively, communication plays a huge role in changing customers’ perception of a brand – and its efficacy is mostly in the strategy you adopt.