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= THE ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL = Michael Butruce, Brianna Dotson, Lauren Greer, Eric Hudes, Tiia Lyons, and Samuel Schoonover **__Overview__** The Elaboration Likelihood Model was developed by social scientists, Richard Petty and John Cacioppo. It provides an understanding of the effectiveness of persuasive communication. Based on the ELM, attitude change may occur via two routes of influence, the central route and the peripheral route. The two alternative routes differ in the amount of thoughtful processing of information or elaboration. Individuals taking the central route think critically about issue-related arguments and scrutinize the merits and relevance of those arguments before forming an attitude about the advertisement or product. Conversely, individuals taking the peripheral route make less cognitive effort and rely on shortcuts such as the number of arguments and physical attractiveness of endorsers when forming an attitude (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Elaboration likelihood is determined by an individual’s motivation and ability to elaborate. Motivation, in this  sense, is defined as the individual’s personal relevance to the persuasive message. Ability is defined as the individual’s cognitive competence or prior expertise with the attitude object. All individuals will in their ability and motivation. Petty and Wegener suggest that individuals in high elaboration likelihood state are more likely to engage in thoughtful processing of information and are also more likely to be persuaded by argument quality. People in low elaboration state tend to base their attitude change on peripheral cues. Elaboration likelihood moderates the effects of argument quality and peripheral cues on attitude change. __**The Central Route **__ In the process of persuasion, the first step is known as the central route. An important part of the central route is message elaboration. During an argument, message elaboration is what the person in the argument is thinking about. Central Route persuasion is when a subject considers an idea logically. Central route processes require a lot of thought. Within this process, Petty and Cacioppo found two processes of elaboration. The first is objective elaboration which is the likelihood that the message will be elaborated in the minds of the person being persuaded. Social theorists usually define object elaboration as often times being not clear or unfair. The second kind of elaboration is known as biased thinking. With biased thinking, formed predetermined conclusions underline all the data, which is usually hidden in the argument. It reinforces ideas and information that have already been collected by the listener.

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__**The Peripheral Route **__ The other method of persuasion is known as the peripheral route. This is when the message just “clicks”. The listener does not have to invest any extensive cognitive thought processes into evaluating which side of the argument sounds correct. Their decision is usually based off environmental characteristics of the message, such as sound of the talker’s voice, credibility of the source, or the way the information was presented. Within the route, Petty and Cacioppo found six cues that relate to the peripheral route and the process of persuading. These cues include, authority, reciprocation, scarcity, social proof, liking and consistency. The authority cue is the power to persuade in an argument, like the phrase, “because I say so.” The reciprocation cue is used to persuade by making the other person feel that they owe them something. The scarcity cue is usually used at the end of an argument to scare someone into having to agree with them, with phrases like “It’s now, or never.” The social proof cue is used by persuading the other person that because “everybody likes it, so should you.” The fifth cue is the liking cue, which uses how much the other person likes something to persuade them to do something, like the phrase “if you love me, you will love my plan.” Finally, the last cue is the consistency cue. The consistency cue assumes that the plan the person is trying to persuade always has been done the same way. Relying on the six cues, the peripheral route is able to persuade the other in an argument or a conversation. The Elaboration Likelihood Model was discovered in 1979 by R.E. Petty and J.T. Cacioppo. The model addresses how attitudes are formed and changed after a person is exposed to a message with important and meaningful content. It was developed in contrast to the social judgment- involvement theory, which says that high levels of involvement do not invariably decrease persuasion. Although the Elaboration Likelihood Model was just recently developed, the model has become a major focus of persuasion research. According to a recent study at the University of North Carolina, “Recent work to refine and adapt the ELM to digital media such as the Web has proven fruitful. An exploration of the fundamental tenants of the ELM, some criticisms, and recent refinements will help demonstrate its applicability to persuasion in digital media” (Duthler, 2001; Karsen & Korgaomkar, 2001; Singh & Dalal, 1999).
 * __Development Over Time __**

The Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion has two key routes through which messages are processed, the central route and the peripheral route. The central route is very straight forward and requires no actual persuasion. In order for the central route to be effective, the message must be strong and there must be a high level of receiver involvement because they will be singlehandedly decoding the message. A disadvantage posed by this method is that it requires the receiver to have stake in what the message is saying or they will not be affected by it. The central route tends to have more of an effect on the attitude of the receiver. Due to the black and white nature of this method, it tends to be much more permanent in regards to one’s attitude than its counterpart the peripheral route. The peripheral route does not require such an involved receiver as the central route. It is known for working well with low receiver motivation, involvement and with weak messages. For example, when a person has a certain feeling about something (say a product) but can’t put their finger why they feel that way, then it is likely that they were persuaded via the peripheral route. This is a common tactic in marketing, advertising and public relations. Some examples of the peripheral route are catchy tunes in commercial or even celebrity endorsements. It is said that it focuses on virtually everything but the intended message itself. The makeup of this persuasive tactic is much easier than that of the central route because it does not require a strong factual argument. Although it is an easier method to create, it does not possess the same bearing on the receiver’s attitudes and therefore leaves less of an impression and is a less permanent form of persuasion. __**Sample Studies **__ <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Sample Studies are used to make generalizations and inferences on a population based on results of a study of a certain group of people said to be representative of that population. In order to get a better understanding of the ELM, many of these sample studies have been administered. The elaboration likelihood model makes it easier to depict messages that will likely influence their audience and inspire change in their attitudes. Within this model, people endorse one of two routes. They either choose the central route or the peripheral route. Central route followers are involved in the decision making process and are more likely to pay attention to detail than most. Others that follow the peripheral route are not as involved and are easily influenced by their ability to identify with a spokesperson or message ideal rather than the actual message itself. Most sample studies look at this ELM model in some aspect to determine why people react to messages the way they do, and help better understand more effective ways to construct these messages. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">One example of this is from the text Consumer Behavior. Solomon looks at certain researchers who wanted to see how college students would react to cheap beer advertisements. The researchers looked at a sample of the targeted audience and used crucial variables of the ELM to manipulate them. One of these variables was the subject’s involvement with the product. The researchers were able to manipulate their subjects them by promising them different things regarding their ability to actually get the beer. Another aspect that was manipulated in different ways was the level of persuasiveness of the advertisements in regards to their intended audience. Some advertisements focus on how the beer has fewer calories than their competitors, while other advertisements focused on the taste and quality of the beer being just as good as the more expensive beers. Another thing that was also manipulated was the source of the actual message. Theories say that the people that are not very involved in the product look more at external factors such as packaging, images, and the source of the message. People that are highly involved with the product look at strong arguments that distinguish the product.
 * __<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Key Points and How They Relate to Each Other __**

I came across a sample study used following the ELM was one that researchers used to determine the attitudes of teenagers towards HIV prevention. This study took a sample size of a few hundred 8th and 9th graders and exposed to different tapes of a conversation between a concerned parent and HIV positive teen. Each tape varied in the relevancy of the message source which is one of the main factors in ELM. Another aspect of the study that varied was the strength of the actual argument. According the ELM theory, these are important factors to consider when constructing a persuasive message. After hearing the tapes, the students were asked their opinion on different aspects of the message as well as to take a pamphlet to measure their involvement. Those that were more involved were more likely to take the pamphlet. Using the ELM they were able construct an effective message on HIV prevention.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Looking at sample studies I came across some comparing different men colognes. To test and rank these colognes menshealth.com had 200 women smell the colognes then describe them and rank them. Using the ELM theory we can decipher the results using the peripheral route. The cologne by popular music artist Usher ranked high along with one by Dolce and Gabana, a company renowned for luxury products. We see how these two top brand names are automatically associated with upper echelon commodities thus give these colognes instant consumer credibility over the lower ranking colognes such as one from the youthful company AXE. One form of the peripheral route is creating a consensus about something and determining it is the right product. With a hip, young star like Usher the consumer is not going to use much thought in weighing their options because they want to associate with him. Whereas when the central route is applied the persuader is forced to push and elaborate on a certain message to get the audience enticed about the concept.

__**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Analysis **__ <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Using our research articles analyzing the use of the Elaboration Likelihood Model, we have been able to see how it is being applied to advertising and commercial media today. Each of our articles used the two routes of persuasion to see when an individual is being persuaded, if he or she thinks deep into the issue or they make decisions without much thinking. Researchers discovered that by appealing to a popular demand like environmentally friendly products, or products with celebrity endorsements that consumers chose the central route and were persuaded with very little thinking. But when the customers took the peripheral route, they were conducting a large amount of research about the product on their own, and going through a thorough purchase decision before making any final payments. Through these studies, we were able to see how people are persuaded into making decisions, using the ELM theory. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> With the declining trust in advertising, Word of Mouth has become the most influential communication channel. Polls are taken online and are considered a form of WOM and many results were positive. The consumer reviews on product or company are one of the best predictors of business growth. This is important to know because in a free market it is encouraged to exaggerate in marketing messages, which causes consumers to become skeptical in whether or not the product is trustworthy. Through communication with friends and personal experiences with the products, consumers start to have an opinion on their credibility and begin to know what they want and do not want to purchase. The Elaboration Likelihood Model provides a useful framework for understanding the effectiveness of persuasive communication and it can be inferred that attitude change may occur through routes of influence. This influence causes the consumer to either feel like they can trust in the source or they will become skeptical. Consumers with high skepticism had a tendency to disbelieve certain categories of product information without considering the source credibility, argument quality or number of arguments. Low skepticism customers are more trusting and are prone to be persuaded by peripheral cues such as source credibility and number of arguments. Moreover, knowledge of the consumers’ level of skepticism can guide the Internet marketers and software developers and help them to design material that will influence online shoppers effectively.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Another article we studied showed us the effectiveness of a good-looking celebrity endorser of a product on the consumer. What researchers discovered was the attitudes of the consumer and their intent to purchase changed with the physical attractiveness of the celebrity endorser. The elaboration likelihood theory was used in the study in order to measure the amount of change in the attitude of the consumer via two ways, the “central route” which is high consumer involvement and the “peripheral route” which is low involvement. The researchers predicted two things using the elaboration likelihood theory. The first hypothesis was that the likeability of the celebrity and the consumer influence would correlate under low involvement (i.e. magazine articles) and secondly that the attractiveness would correlate positively with consumer influence. What they learned was the people liked the product more when there was an attractive celebrity endorsing it. Also, brand recognition was higher for companies when there was an attractive celebrity endorser.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> In the third article, researchers wanted to evaluate the effect of adding environmental information to marketing products to see if it persuaded the consumers to buy the product more or less. Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model theory, researchers also tried to see if by adding the environmental information, did consumers choose either the central route or peripheral route when making their decisions. They found that when marketers add not only environmental information but also a third party verification to the product, consumers tend to lean towards the central route. They are persuaded by the fact that someone else is willing to put their reputation on the line in defense of the product. By adding the unique feature to the product like environmental process, consumers tended to want to get more involved with the product like hybrid cars, and recyclable toilet papers. This article showed us that consumers do not always choose the peripheral route and make quick decisions without looking deep into products. So it is important to understand that there is no general statement to be made about adding environmental information, and marketers must analyze their use of this on a case-by-case basis.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> In the fourth article, we learned about the psychology of on-line shopping and how the Elaboration Likelihood Method theory explains the decision making of those who partake in such transactions. Individuals with greater agreeableness are good-natured, gentle, friendly, and generous and these characteristics can create more positive cognitive responses to the other party. The consumer’s approach behavior toward online shopping is almost fully explained by the shopper’s beliefs about the contents of the website and if the ratings are trustworthy. The perceived values of the website which consequently result in a positive attitude toward, and trust of, online shopping help highlight the approach, too. So, similar to the environmental information study, no generalizing statements can be made about the consumer and online shopping, so companies must evaluate online selling situations on a case-by-case basis.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Next, we learned about ways Public Service Announcement companies try and persuade certain demographics to become aware about issues. In this case, the researchers looked into the African American youth and the best methods of informing them about the dangers of HIV and AIDS. Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model, they tested both high involvement messages and low involvement messages, complete with using celebrities, and non-celebrities in their PSA commercials to see how the African American youth would respond. Researchers found that the message content was not a factor but the celebrity status was the factor that persuaded change in African American youth. They found that when they put a celebrity in the PSA commercials, people chose the central route and wanted to find out more about HIV/AIDS issues. The study showed us that applying popular celebrities to the PSA messages would help persuade African American youth to look more into the issues of HIV and AIDS.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Finally, we learned by using the ELM strategies to diagnose Kirk Hallahan’s study Need for Cognition as Motivation to Process Publicity and Advertising (NFC) we were able to better understand the two categories of subjects, high and low NFC, by applying the central and peripheral routes. Those with lower NFC’s have a tendency to embrace media for entertainment or escape purposes, which means that they take the central route. Those who have a higher NFC decipher messages with careful scrutiny, and are harder to persuade to the credibility of the source, the overall presentation, or a catchy slogan, are in the peripheral route. It is important for advertisers to know these different psychological aspects when creating a message. They must be prepared to reach those in both the central and peripheral routes, and if they are not they are doomed to fail.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Petty and Caccioppo’s ELM has proven to be highly successful in determining how human beings can be persuaded. Even though it was developed 30 years ago, it has not changed much as the theory is pretty simple in its content. When looking over a process that requires a great deal of thought, and involves scrutiny of a persuasive type of communication like an advertisement or a speech, we will take the ELM’s Central Route to determine the merits of the arguments. On the cont﻿rary, if we do not care much or do not have the resources to process the information, we will still take the Peripheral Route. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">We have learned that variables in ELM routes can serve multiple roles in a persuasive setting depending on other relative factors, and the most recent adaptations of the ELM have added a new role - self-validation. This newest role determines that variables can affect the extent that a person has confidence in, and therefore trusts, their own thoughts in response to a message.
 * __<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Assessment __**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Unfortunately, the ELM does not account for all people all the time. For example, studies conducted for the development model were mainly conducted on college-educated adults, and therefore misrepresent adults with lower levels of education. They might not have the knowledge to process anything on the central route, which is one of the vital factors one must have to process along this route. However, despite its shortcomings, the Elaboration Likelihood Model will continue to be used to understand persuasive communication.



<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Caciopo, J. T. & Petty, R. E. (1986). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology: The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. (Vol. 19, p. 123-162). Academic Press. Retrieved Oct. 7, 2010, from [|http://psychology.uchicago.edu/people/faculty/cacioppo/jtcreprints/pc86.part1.pdf.] Duthler, Kirk. The Elaboration Likelihood Model and Web Based Persuasion. Retrieved Oct. 1, 2010, from http://www.encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6596/The-Elaboration-Likelihood-Model-and-Web-Based-Persuasion.com
 * __<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">References __**

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman','new york',times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"> Montoro-Rios, Francisco Javier; Luque-MartÍnez, Teodoro; RodrÍguez-Molina, Miguel-Angel. Journal of Advertising Research, Dec2008, Vol. 48 Issue 4, p 547-563.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Sher, Peter J., and Sheng-Hsien Lee. "CONSUMER SKEPTICISM AND ONLINE REVIEWS: AN ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL PERSPECTIVE." Social Behavior & Personality 37 (2009): 137-44. Print.

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