Andy

It’s the peripheral route that I want to emphasize here. For several years I’ve been aching to go skydiving. My parents, especially my mom, were adamantly opposed. However, two years ago my dream came true. It was near the beginning of the summer and I had just graduated from high school. I was really working on my mom to allow me to go. I’d be turning 18 in a month, so the only thing stopping me was the okay from the parents. I tried everything—literature, brochures, movies—everything I knew about skydiving I shared with them. But no matter what I tried, the answer kept coming back “NO.” Then things changed in my favor. A new employee started at the daycare where my mom worked, and she was an avid skydiver. She was 20 years old and had been jumping for several years. Thanks to her I was able to go. My mom wouldn’t listen to reason, she wouldn’t read any of the literature that I brought home (the central route), but she listened to this girl she worked with (peripheral route: likeness). I have to admit that the girl at the daycare probably knew less about skydiving than I did, but because my mom liked her, and she felt it was safe, my mom decided it would be okay for me to go. (Of course, now she says I’ll never get to go again, but I’m working on it.)