5. Explain the dual-mediation hypothesis. What are the implications for affecting consumers’ brand attitudes? Marketers can use a variety of techniques to change consumers’

attitudes when motivation, ability, and opportunity (MAO)

are low and consumers use little effort to process information, make decisions, or engage in behavior. Often consumers form attitudes unconsciously, without being aware of how or why they have done so. Two unconscious influences in low-effort situations are thin-slice judgments and body feedback. When attitudes of low MAO consumers are based on cognitive processing, the message should affect their beliefs, which may be formed by simple inferences, attributions, or heuristics. Marketers can also affect the salience, strength, or favorability of consumers’

beliefs on which attitudes are based. Source credibility, information consistent with the offering category, the number of message arguments, simple arguments, and repetition can all influence beliefs.