Advertisers often use film stars to popularize their products. Identify the theory of attitude change that works behind it :

Two - step Theory

The concept of the two-step process was introduced by S.M. Mohsin, an Indian psychologist, to explain how attitude change occurs. According to Mohsin, attitude change unfolds in two distinct steps. In the first step, the target of change establishes identification with the source. The "target" refers to the individual whose attitude is the focus of change, while the "source" represents the person who seeks to influence this change. Identification occurs when the target develops liking and respect for the source, empathizing and attempting to understand their perspective. In turn, the source must hold a positive attitude towards the target, fostering mutual regard and attraction.

In the second step, the source actively demonstrates an attitude change by modifying their behavior towards the attitude object. By observing this altered attitude and behavior from the source, the target undergoes a corresponding attitude change through their own behavior. This process resembles imitation or observational learning, where the target mirrors the source's changed attitude as a result of observing and modeling their behavior. Thus, the two-step process involves establishing identification between the source and target, followed by the target adopting the source's changed attitude through behavioral imitation.

Consider the following example of two-step attitude change. Radha was told by her friend that a particular soft drink that she enjoys is extremely harmful. But Radha sees that her favourite television star has been advertising the same soft drink. She has identified herself with the television star, and would like to imitate her/him. Now, suppose the television star wishes to change people’s attitude towards this soft drink from positive to negative. The television star must first show positive feelings for her/ his fans, and then actually change her/his own habit of consuming that soft drink (Step I) — perhaps by substituting it with a health drink. If the television staractually changes her/his behaviour, it is very likely that now Radha will also change her attitude and behaviour, and stop consuming the harmful soft drink (Step II).