Attitudes———>Opinions———->Beliefs——–> Values
Attitudes are based on a number of charecteristics:
- Personal/ Past Experiences
- Cultural
- Educational
- Familial/Family Relationships
- Religious
- Social Class
You cannot change people beliefs or values, but you can alter people attitudes.
Henry Cantrill’s Six Laws of Public opinion.
- Opinion is highly sensitive to important events
- Events are more important then words
- A critical times, people think about leadership
- A persons self-interest will slow a change in public opinion
- People have stronger opinions about goals than Methods
- In an educated populations that has accesses to all info, then their public opinions would be common sense.
My Thoughts: Public Opinion takes years to acquire, but only a few seconds to destroy it. Look at the recent events with the BP oil spill. Honestly before the spill I didn’t have a opinion either way about BP, I supposed I would’ve pumped gas there with no problem, today I would actually go out of my way not to pump gas at a BP.
In class we discussed how difficult it is to come back from an event like this. We talked about how its pretty hard to get people to form an opinion, but once we do, its very hard to change it. In this case my opinion/feelings about BP are quite strong and I dont see them changing anytime soon.
mellis210
Your example for Cantrill’s Six Laws of Public Opinion is very good because many people feel this way about the BP oil spill. After learning about crisis image resotration I think BP has implemented a good plan to get themselves back into good stands with those affected by the oil spill. During the crisis BP made large mistakes but their steps post spill has started for some Americans to see their company in a slightly better light.
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It is interesting that we can not change a person’s beliefs or values but we can change their attitudes. I say this because attitudes usually reflect our beliefs and values as they are the manifestation of the two. It makes me wonder if PR actually can change a person’s beliefs or values.