Attitude formation online - How the consumer's need for cognition affects the relationship between attitude towards the website and attitude towards the brand

This paper applies traditional models of attitude formation, based on the elaboration likelihood model, to the internet. Specifically, the dual mediation hypothesis and the affect transfer hypothesis are tested on an interactive website. The paper also considers whether the consumer's inherent need to think about things (need for cognition) impacts on which model applies. Findings suggest that the traditional model dominant offline (dual mediation hypothesis) is not dominant online, unless the consumer has an intrinsic tendency to think. The implications of the findings on transferring offline models to the interactive environment online, and on website design, are discussed.