Accessible vs. inaccessible attitudes
According to Fazio (1990), attitudes often influence behaviour through a spontaneous process. Effects of attitudes can occur quickly, but only for people whose attitude is accessible (easy to retrieve). When attitudes are accessible, they come to mind instantly when we see the attitude object. The attitude then influences how we behave towards the object. If the attitude is less accessible, it doesn’t come to mind, and so it doesn’t influence our behaviour.For example, suppose you are walking by an ice cream seller. You may spontaneously recall your passion for ice cream, and this attitude may motivate a decision to buy some. But if you don’t spontaneously recall your attitude (because it is inaccessible – perhaps you are distracted by a more pressing thought at the time you walk past the ice cream seller), it will lie dormant and not elicit the decision to buy. Indeed, there’s a great deal of evidence that attitudes do exert a stronger influence on behaviour when they are accessible than when they are difficult to retrieve (Fazio, 2000).
According to Fazio (1990), attitudes often influence behaviour through a spontaneous process. Effects of attitudes can occur quickly, but only for people whose attitude is accessible (easy to retrieve). When attitudes are accessible, they come to mind instantly when we see the attitude object. The attitude then influences how we behave towards the object. If the attitude is less accessible, it doesn’t come to mind, and so it doesn’t influence our behaviour.For example, suppose you are walking by an ice cream seller. You may spontaneously recall your passion for ice cream, and this attitude may motivate a decision to buy some. But if you don’t spontaneously recall your attitude (because it is inaccessible – perhaps you are distracted by a more pressing thought at the time you walk past the ice cream seller), it will lie dormant and not elicit the decision to buy. Indeed, there’s a great deal of evidence that attitudes do exert a stronger influence on behaviour when they are accessible than when they are difficult to retrieve (Fazio, 2000).
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