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Elaboration Likelihood Model
Richard Petty & John Cacippio

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: INFLUENCE

Chapter 15
 Social Judgment Theory
Cognitive Dissonance 
Chapter 15
 Social Judgment Theory
Cognitive Dissonance 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. The central route and the peripheral routes to persuasion. 
    1. Richard Petty and John Cacioppo posit two basic routes for persuasion.
    2. The central route involves message elaboration, defined as the extent to which a person carefully thinks about issue-relevant arguments contained in a persuasive communication.
    3. The peripheral route processes the message without any active thinking about the attributes of the issue or the object of consideration.
      1. Recipients rely on a variety of cues to make quick decisions.
      2. Robert Cialdini has identified six such cues:
        1. Reciprocation
        2. Consistency
        3. Social proof
        4. Liking
        5. Authority
        6. Scarcity
    4. Although Petty and Cacioppo’s model seems to suggest that the routes are mutually exclusive, they stress that the central route and the peripheral route are poles on a cognitive processing continuum that shows the degree of mental effort a person exerts when evaluating a message.
    5. The more listeners work to evaluate a message, the less they will be influenced by content-irrelevant factors; the greater the effect of content-irrelevant factors, the less impact the message carries.
  2. Motivation for elaboration: Is it worth the effort?
    1. People are motivated to hold correct attitudes.
    2. Yet the number of ideas a person can scrutinize is limited, so we tend to focus on issues that are personally relevant.
    3. Personally relevant issues are more likely to be processed on the central route; issues with little relevance take the peripheral route (credibility cues take on greater importance).
    4. Certain individuals have a need for cognitive clarity, regardless of the issue; these people will work through many of the ideas and arguments they hear.
  3. Ability for elaboration: Can they do it?
    1. Elaboration requires intelligence and concentration.
    2. Distraction disrupts elaboration.
    3. Repetition may increase the possibility of elaboration, but too much repetition causes people to resort to the peripheral route.
  4. Type of elaboration: Objective vs. biased thinking.
    1. Biased elaboration (top-down thinking) occurs when predetermined conclusions color the supporting data underneath.
    2. Objective evaluation (bottom-up thinking) considers the facts on their own merit.
  5. Elaborated messages: Strong, weak, and neutral.
    1. Objective elaboration examines the perceived strength of an argument.
      1. Petty and Cacioppo have no absolute standard for differentiating between cogent and specious arguments.
      2. They define a strong message as one that generates favorable thoughts.
    2. Thoughtful consideration of strong arguments will produce positive shifts in attitude.
      1. The change is persistent over time.
      2. It resists counterpersuasion.
      3. It predicts future behavior.
    3. Thoughtful consideration of weak arguments can lead to negative boomerang effects paralleling the positive effects of strong arguments (but in the opposite direction).
    4. Mixed or neutral messages won’t change attitudes and in fact reinforce original attitudes. 
  6. Peripheral cues: An alternative route of influence.
    1. Most messages are processed through the peripheral route, bringing attitude changes without issue-relevant thinking.
    2. The most obvious cues for the peripheral route are tangible rewards.
    3. Source credibility is also important.
      1. The principal components of source credibility are likability and expertise.
      2. Source credibility is salient for those unmotivated or unable to elaborate.
    4. Peripheral route change can be either positive or negative, but it won’t have the impact of message elaboration.
  7. Pushing the limits of peripheral power.
    1. Celebrity endorsements constitute some of the most effective peripheral cues, yet the change can be short-lived.
    2. Penner and Fritzshe’s study of Magic Johnson’s HIV announcement suggests that the effect of even powerful peripheral cues is short-lived.
    3. Although most ELM research has measured the effects of peripheral cues by studying credibility, a speaker’s competence or character could also be a stimulus to effortful message elaboration.
    4. It’s impossible to make a list of cues that are strictly peripheral; cues that make a listener scrutinize a message are no longer mindless.
  8. Choosing a route: Practical advice for the persuader.
    1. If listeners are motivated and able to elaborate a message, rely on factual arguments—i.e., favor the central route.
    2. When using the central route, however, weak arguments can backfire.
    3. If listeners are unable or unwilling to elaborate a message, rely on packaging rather than content—i.e., favor peripheral route.
    4. When using the peripheral route, however, the effects will probably be fragile.
  9. Ethical reflection: Nilsen’s significant choice.
    1. Nilsen proposes that persuasive speech is ethical to the extent that it maximizes people’s ability to exercise free choice.
    2. Philosophers and rhetoricians have compared persuasion to a lover making fervent appeals to his beloved—wooing an audience, for example.
    3. For Nilsen, true love can’t be coerced; it must be freely given.
    4. Nilsen would approve of persuasive appeals that encourage message elaboration through ELM’s central route.
  10. Critique: Elaborating the mode.
    1. ELM has been a leading theory of persuasion and attitude change for the last twenty years, and its initial model has been very influential.
    2. Petty and Cacioppo have elaborated ELM to make it more complex, less predictive, and less practical, which makes it problematic as a scientific theory.
    3. As Paul Mongeau and James Stiff have charged, the theory cannot be adequately tested and falsified, particularly in terms of what makes a strong or weak argument.
    4. Despite these limitations, the theory synthesizes many diverse aspects of persuasion.

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TEXT COMPARE

Archived chapters (PDF)
from previous editions
are available in
Resources by Type.
See list

New to Theory
Resources?
Find out more in this short
video overview (3:01).


Elaboration Likelihood Model
Richard Petty & John Cacippio

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: INFLUENCE

Chapter 15
 Social Judgment Theory
Cognitive Dissonance 
Chapter 15
 Social Judgment Theory
Cognitive Dissonance 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. The central route and the peripheral routes to persuasion. 
    1. Richard Petty and John Cacioppo posit two basic routes for persuasion.
    2. The central route involves message elaboration, defined as the extent to which a person carefully thinks about issue-relevant arguments contained in a persuasive communication.
    3. The peripheral route processes the message without any active thinking about the attributes of the issue or the object of consideration.
      1. Recipients rely on a variety of cues to make quick decisions.
      2. Robert Cialdini has identified six such cues:
        1. Reciprocation
        2. Consistency
        3. Social proof
        4. Liking
        5. Authority
        6. Scarcity
    4. Although Petty and Cacioppo’s model seems to suggest that the routes are mutually exclusive, they stress that the central route and the peripheral route are poles on a cognitive processing continuum that shows the degree of mental effort a person exerts when evaluating a message.
    5. The more listeners work to evaluate a message, the less they will be influenced by content-irrelevant factors; the greater the effect of content-irrelevant factors, the less impact the message carries.
  2. Motivation for elaboration: Is it worth the effort?
    1. People are motivated to hold correct attitudes.
    2. Yet the number of ideas a person can scrutinize is limited, so we tend to focus on issues that are personally relevant.
    3. Personally relevant issues are more likely to be processed on the central route; issues with little relevance take the peripheral route (credibility cues take on greater importance).
    4. Certain individuals have a need for cognitive clarity, regardless of the issue; these people will work through many of the ideas and arguments they hear.
  3. Ability for elaboration: Can they do it?
    1. Elaboration requires intelligence and concentration.
    2. Distraction disrupts elaboration.
    3. Repetition may increase the possibility of elaboration, but too much repetition causes people to resort to the peripheral route.
  4. Type of elaboration: Objective vs. biased thinking.
    1. Biased elaboration (top-down thinking) occurs when predetermined conclusions color the supporting data underneath.
    2. Objective evaluation (bottom-up thinking) considers the facts on their own merit.
  5. Elaborated messages: Strong, weak, and neutral.
    1. Objective elaboration examines the perceived strength of an argument.
      1. Petty and Cacioppo have no absolute standard for differentiating between cogent and specious arguments.
      2. They define a strong message as one that generates favorable thoughts.
    2. Thoughtful consideration of strong arguments will produce positive shifts in attitude.
      1. The change is persistent over time.
      2. It resists counterpersuasion.
      3. It predicts future behavior.
    3. Thoughtful consideration of weak arguments can lead to negative boomerang effects paralleling the positive effects of strong arguments (but in the opposite direction).
    4. Mixed or neutral messages won’t change attitudes and in fact reinforce original attitudes. 
  6. Peripheral cues: An alternative route of influence.
    1. Most messages are processed through the peripheral route, bringing attitude changes without issue-relevant thinking.
    2. The most obvious cues for the peripheral route are tangible rewards.
    3. Source credibility is also important.
      1. The principal components of source credibility are likability and expertise.
      2. Source credibility is salient for those unmotivated or unable to elaborate.
    4. Peripheral route change can be either positive or negative, but it won’t have the impact of message elaboration.
  7. Pushing the limits of peripheral power.
    1. Celebrity endorsements constitute some of the most effective peripheral cues, yet the change can be short-lived.
    2. Penner and Fritzshe’s study of Magic Johnson’s HIV announcement suggests that the effect of even powerful peripheral cues is short-lived.
    3. Although most ELM research has measured the effects of peripheral cues by studying credibility, a speaker’s competence or character could also be a stimulus to effortful message elaboration.
    4. It’s impossible to make a list of cues that are strictly peripheral; cues that make a listener scrutinize a message are no longer mindless.
  8. Choosing a route: Practical advice for the persuader.
    1. If listeners are motivated and able to elaborate a message, rely on factual arguments—i.e., favor the central route.
    2. When using the central route, however, weak arguments can backfire.
    3. If listeners are unable or unwilling to elaborate a message, rely on packaging rather than content—i.e., favor peripheral route.
    4. When using the peripheral route, however, the effects will probably be fragile.
  9. Ethical reflection: Nilsen’s significant choice.
    1. Nilsen proposes that persuasive speech is ethical to the extent that it maximizes people’s ability to exercise free choice.
    2. Philosophers and rhetoricians have compared persuasion to a lover making fervent appeals to his beloved—wooing an audience, for example.
    3. For Nilsen, true love can’t be coerced; it must be freely given.
    4. Nilsen would approve of persuasive appeals that encourage message elaboration through ELM’s central route.
  10. Critique: Elaborating the mode.
    1. ELM has been a leading theory of persuasion and attitude change for the last twenty years, and its initial model has been very influential.
    2. Petty and Cacioppo have elaborated ELM to make it more complex, less predictive, and less practical, which makes it problematic as a scientific theory.
    3. As Paul Mongeau and James Stiff have charged, the theory cannot be adequately tested and falsified, particularly in terms of what makes a strong or weak argument.
    4. Despite these limitations, the theory synthesizes many diverse aspects of persuasion.

 
 
 
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