#elaboration likelihood model

[learningeverest]

All You Need to Know About the Elaboration Likelihood Model

Understanding the Elaboration Likelihood Model The elaboration likelihood model, as mentioned, is a framework for crafting persuasive commu

[ejagonkresky]

Routes and Destinations

I never want to meet any of the celebrities I like. I am always afraid that they will never meet up to my expectations.

So when I read about the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and the use of celebrity endorsements by marketers to influence their audiences' attitudes through the peripheral route, I questioned the tactic. I also asked how this might differ from the two-step flow theory, where the celebrity endorser acts as the opinion leader.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model postulates that there are two routes when it comes to persuasive communication. The central route relies on the audience members' prior experiences and knowledge. Knowing that the audience might not have previous exposure to their product, they might depend on a celebrity endorsement to deliver the message.

Textbook Figure of Elaboration Likelihood Model

In my last blog post, I mentioned The West Wing. After 9/11, Washington DC's tourism industry suffered. The city's tourism leaders enlisted the help of the cast of The West Wing to promote DC as a safe tourist destination. The ad campaign featured several cast members, including Martin Sheen, who portrays the show's president.

The campaign spoke to me through the central route as I completed my undergraduate studies in DC. The campaign also worked on the peripheral route as I admire the actor (though I still don't want to meet him) and like the fictitious president he portrayed. ELM asserts that the central and peripheral routes are not mutually exclusive. This ad served as a practical example of ELM. The model holds up well, especially for those individuals like me who find the messages relevant.

I tried to find a video clip on YouTube, but the campaign predates this day and age when most everything lives somewhere on the internet.

I am amazed at how well the internet, notably Google and Facebook, serves up ads in my searches or feeds. Today's media practitioners have many tools available to expand their reach directly and enlist their loyal consumers to help advocate for their brand. They can also target those that have traveled to that destination or a similar one in the past. They can even serve up ads based on sites the users have previously visited.

The screenshot above is a Facebook ad that I find in my feed regularly. I assume that Facebook already knows I am a Marriott elite loyalty member. Even if I was not actively looking to book a hotel stay, the ad works on my subconscious (or periphery) as the images serve as aspirations of possible vacation destinations.

If I were that media practitioner, I would take full advantage of technological tools such as targeted ads. Targeted ads demonstrates the central route as the recipient of the ad has some knowledge or at least affinity for the product. Depending on the product, service or cause, I might consider a celebrity endorsement as long as the budget allows. Just as long as it's not Martin Sheen. I don't want to chance meeting him.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

What is the subject of your thesis/dissertation? :)

These people found that fictional stories persuade people through character identification, vividness, and perceptual decoupling.  These people showed that that kind of effect works through setting up expectations and tapping cultural archetypes (and they used Buffy to do it).  These people found that the extent to which readers are influenced by rhetorical features of argument strength (as opposed to surface features of a message) depends on personal involvement with the issue being discussed. 

These people argue that the two types of persuasion have nothing to do with each other.  I disagree. 

[consumerpsych561-blog]

The Peripheral Route and Cialdini's Principles

For the purposes of this blog, we focus on the peripheral route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model as it describes how our feelings can influence our attitudes and consumer preferences. Cialdini's (2007) five principles of persuasion help explain how the peripheral route takes place.

5 Principles of Persuasion:

Liking- people like those who like them

Reciprocity- people like to return the favor

Consistency/Commitment- people align with their clear commitments

Authority- people defer to experts

Scarcity- people want more of what’s less

Reference: Cialdini, R. B. (1993). Influence : the psychology of persuasion (Rev. ed.). New York: Morrow.

[consumerpsych561-blog]

Elaboration Likelihood Model: Two routes to persuasion

Did you know there's a model describing how persuasion can change what we know and believe by manipulating how we feel? According to the elaboration likelihood model there are two routes to persuasion: Central and Peripheral

Central Route: we change our attitudes based on reasoning and arguments

Peripheral Route: we change our attitudes based on how we're feeling and mere associations

[drunkenkeith]

Elaboration Likelihood Model

[cognitiveplay-blog]

What influences our decisions?

There are several frameworks and theories that formulate how we make decisions and the processes and variables that are in play. One theory that I prescribe to as a solid foundation for explaining our decision making process is Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). ELM postulates that we have a dual process system to process information. These two routes are: 

1. Central route 

Central route processes require careful thought and consideration on the merits of the information presented. This route represents a relatively highly engaged thought process and a deep focus on the central features of the issue, person, or message. People carefully evaluate arguments and scrutinize other relevant information. 

Imagine going to the grocery store to buy a jar of spaghetti sauce. You look at the shelf and concentrate on several key piece of information: sodium content, price, organic or not organic.. analyzing all of these details, weighing and considering which are most important to you to come to a final decision. 

2. Peripheral route

The other, peripheral route, is more likely to occur as a result of a simple cue in the persuasion context without evaluating the merits of the information. This mental shortcut process accepts or rejects a message based on irrelevant cues, such as likability, appearance, reward, status, color, and so on. 

So again imagine you went to the store to buy a jar of spaghetti sauce. You look at the shelf and see a sauce by Mario Batalli. You think to yourself, "Mario Batalli is a great chef, I bet this is good." The decision was based on an association and using a peripheral cue.

Which route we take depends on the relative importance of the decision, our motivation and ability to process critical information, and how information is presented. I'll discuss persuasion in context and how to influence central vs. peripheral routes in a later post. 

[startoverrr]

Elaboration Likelihood Model

People think either through the central route (logic, analytical thinking)  or heuristic route (quick judgement) when making decisions. The route that gets processed depends on some key motivational factors.