CHAPTER 15
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL
Outline
I. The central route and the peripheral routes to persuasion.
A. Richard Petty and John Cacioppo posit two basic mental routes for attitude change.
B. 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.
C. 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:
a. Reciprocation
b. Consistency
c. Social proof
d. Liking
e. Authority
f. Scarcity
D. Although Petty and Cacioppo’s model seems to suggest that the routes are mutually
exclusive, the theorists stress 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.
E. 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.
II. Motivation for elaboration: Is it worth the effort?
A. People are motivated to hold correct attitudes.
B. Yet the number of ideas a person can scrutinize is limited, so we tend to focus on
issues that are personally relevant.
C. Personally relevant issues are more likely to be processed on the central route;
issues with little relevance take the peripheral route, where credibility and other
content free cues take on greater importance).
D. 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.
III. Ability for elaboration: Can they do it?
A. Elaboration requires intelligence and concentration.
IV. Type of elaboration: Objective vs. biased thinking.
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A. Biased elaboration (top-down thinking) occurs when predetermined conclusions color
the supporting data underneath.
B. Objective evaluation (bottom-up thinking) considers the facts on their own merit.
V. Elaborated messages: Strong, weak, and neutral.
A. Objective elaboration examines the perceived strength of an argument.
2. They define a strong message as one that generates favorable thoughts.
B. Thoughtful consideration of strong arguments will produce positive shifts in attitude.
2. It resists counterpersuasion.
3. It predicts future behavior.
C. Thoughtful consideration of weak arguments can lead to negative boomerang effects
paralleling the positive effects of strong arguments (but in the opposite direction).
VI. Peripheral cues: An alternative route of influence.
A. Most messages are processed through the peripheral route, bringing attitude
changes without issue-relevant thinking.
B. The most obvious cues for the peripheral route are tangible rewards.
C. Source credibility is also important.
2. Source credibility is salient for those unmotivated or unable to elaborate.
D. Peripheral route change can be either positive or negative, but it won’t have the
impact of message elaboration.
VII. Pushing the limits of peripheral power.
A. Penner and Fritzshe’s study of Magic Johnson’s HIV announcement suggests that the
effect of even powerful peripheral cues is short-lived.
B. 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.
C. Petty and Cacioppo emphasize that it’s impossible to compile a list of cues that are
strictly peripheral.
D. Lee and Koo argue that there are times when source credibility is processed through
the central route rather than functioning as a peripheral cue.
E. This is particularly true when there’s a close match between an advertised product
VIII. Choosing a route: Practical advice for the persuader.
A. If listeners are motivated and able to elaborate a message, rely on factual
arguments—i.e., appeal through the central route.
B. When listeners are willing and able to elaborate a message, avoid using weak
arguments; they will backfire.
IX. Ethical reflection: Nilsen’s significant choice.
A. Nilsen proposes that persuasive speech is ethical to the extent that it maximizes
people’s ability to exercise free choice.
B. Philosophers and rhetoricians have compared persuasion to a lover making fervent
appeals to his beloved—wooing an audience, for example.
C. For Nilsen, true love can’t be coerced; it must be freely given.
D. Nilsen would regard persuasive appeals that encourage message elaboration
through ELM’s central route as ethical
X. Critique: Elaborating the model.
A. ELM has been a leading theory of persuasion and attitude change for the last twenty–
five years, and Petty and Cacioppo’s initial model has been very influential.
B. These theorists have elaborated ELM to make it more complex, less predictive, and
less practical, which makes it problematic as a scientific theory.
C. 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.
D. Despite these limitations, the theory synthesizes many diverse aspects of
persuasion.
Key Names and Terms
Richard Petty and John Cacioppo
Psychologists from Ohio State University and the University of Chicago respectively, who
created the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion.
Central route
Message elaboration; the path of cognitive processing that involves scrutiny of
message content.
Peripheral route
Message elaboration
The extent to which a person carefully thinks about the issue-relevant arguments
contained in a persuasive communication.
Need for cognition
Desire for cognitive clarity; an enjoyment of thinking through ideas even when they
aren’t personally relevant.
Biased elaboration
Top-down thinking, in which predetermined conclusions color the supporting data.
Objective elaboration
Bottom-up thinking, in which the facts are scrutinized without bias; seeking truth
wherever it might lead.
Strong arguments
Claims that generate favorable thoughts when examined.
Source credibility
Audience perception of the message source’s expertise, character, and dynamism;
typically a peripheral cue.
Paul Mongeau and James Stiff
Principal Changes
This chapter has been edited for clarity. In addition, the section on the power of a
celebrity as an endorser has been revised and updated. We now know that the sway of a
celebrity endorsement may not be entirely based on peripheral thinking, but may be processed
on the central route if the product being advertised is perceived as both highly important and
contributes to the endorser’s success or fame. Recent research is cited to support this
addendum.
Kick-off Questions & Interaction Starters
• How many persuasive appeals do you actually dwell on carefully?
• Can you do both routes of persuasion simultaneously or is it one of the other?
• Does the perceived importance of an issue affect how a listener, viewer, or reader will
process a message intended to persuade.
• Can you think of an example where you now have a strong brand loyalty, but first tried it
on the basis of a peripheral cue?
Suggestions for Discussion
A strict line between the central and peripheral routes?
When discussing this chapter, I believe it is important to stress the notion of the two
routes as poles on a cognitive processing continuum. Drawing a bold line between the
“extensive cognitive work” of the central route and the “automatic pilot” of the peripheral route
is theoretically clean and elegant, yet as Petty and Cacioppo stressed, it may not be true to the
complex reality of influence. I often discuss, for example, how Cialdini’s six cues for the
peripheral route may not always indicate a complete void of cognitive processing. This point is
made in the chapter as well (in regards to celebrity endorsements). For another example, the
argument from precedent, which lies at the heart of legal reasoning, eliminates the need to
reconsider a former case. Our judiciary depends upon the practice of marshaling earlier cases
as guideposts for present decisions and operating in a consistent manner.
Social proof may seem mindless at the outset. It is very similar to the rhetorician’s
bandwagon fallacy, yet its central mechanism is far from illogical. In the midst of tough
decisions about policy, wise college administrators often research how other schools have
handled the same issue. Many times, the trends that other institutions have established
encourages a president or dean to follow suit. For example, recently our institution, like so
Emotional appeals
Petty and Cacioppo’s reason-based approach does not put much stock in appeals to
the emotions of the audience. It may be useful to challenge your students to imagine
instances when such appeals may be the most appropriate available, even with a motivated
audience capable of elaboration. For example, campaigns to save polar bears or stray cats
and dogs have been based primarily on establishing affection for these creatures. One of the
strongest arguments in favor of the death penalty is based on vindicating or avenging the
bringing the person of the researcher, her body, her emotions, and dare one say, her soul, into
the work” (“Feminist Methods of Research in the History of Rhetoric: What Difference Do They
Make?” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 30 (Fall 2000), 16.
Which is central and which is peripheral?
Peter Andersen, professor emeritus from San Diego State University provided a very
intriguing critique of ELM. He argued that the two routes are misnamed. The central route,
because it is seldom used in public discourse, should really be labeled peripheral. Likewise,
the peripheral route, because it is the more common road to persuasion, should be considered
central. Try this out on your students.
Biased and objective elaboration
Your students should scrutinize the difference between biased and objective
elaboration carefully. Social judgment theory suggests that our evaluation of arguments is
inherently based on our own opinions. Is it therefore even possible to receive an objective
hearing from a motivated audience? Would an elaboration continuum be more appropriate
than a binary opposition here? It’s also important that students expose the potentially circular
reasoning that underlies Petty and Cacioppo’s definition of strong arguments. A useful
Cialdini’s programmed responses
You may want to devote some time to unpacking Cialdini’s programmed response cues
with your students. As mentioned in the text, these cues form an automatic response when
faced with an influence attempt—they allow for a snap decision. But, be sure to note for your
students that Cialdini’s responses do not suggest that we have no cognition about the
decision, only that they are already preprogrammed, much like the buttons on a car radio.
After the user has tuned their dial and saved it to memory, they can be used again without
having to think through the listening choices anew. Bringing back the issue of ethics in
persuasion, you might want to ask students if utilizing on one of these “presets” is ethical.
Heuristic Systematic Model
It might be worth discussing, even briefly, the Heuristic Systematic Model (Eagly &
Chaiken, 1993). Developed at roughly the same time as ELM, it has not received as much
research attention, but is also focused on dual-processing. A few notable differences exist
between the two. HSM is less reticent to accept true dual processing; cues and decisions rules
that guide decisions when processed heuristically (akin to peripheral in ELM) may help shape a
thorough investigation or processing of an argument. Thus, both routes may be utilized at
different points as part of issue-relevant thinking and decision-making. In another point of
departure from ELM, HSM assumes a sufficiency principle; a decision-maker will take in only
Sample Application Log
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
Exercises and Activities
Constructing an argument
The chapter’s discussion of Rita’s crusade aptly exemplifies ELM in action, but it may
be useful to assign for homework or to discuss in class other situations in which the two routes
toward persuasion can be appropriately utilized. I’ve asked students to imagine that they are
development officers putting together a capital campaign for the college. How would they craft
their message to encourage alumni to give generously? If your institution is currently involved
in a persuasive effort of another sort, it may also serve as a useful case study for ELM. It may
say ‘no’”), as opposed to advocating them to do something or adopt prescribed behaviors (i.e.
give money, donate blood).
Another path? When you don’t think about it
Recently, my students and I have been debating if the two-path explanation provided by
ELM is adequate. As noted both here and in the text of the chapter, the central path is equated
to issue-relevant thinking and while the peripheral path doesn’t tackle the arguments head-on,
it does involve cognitive effort. You’re thinking—just not about the issue at hand. But perhaps
there are situations where people truly act mindlessly and are not cognitively active. My
students have given examples about posts made to social media and pictures exchanged via
Revising the flowchart
No doubt you’ve noticed that the figure in the chapter is incomplete. As you work down
the central route, there is no line showing the path of biased elaboration or “top-down
thinking,” which Petty and Cacioppo believe simply boosts the audience’s original beliefs. You
may enjoy working with your class to revise the chart to account for biased elaboration.
Richard Perloff offers a somewhat more complex chart in The Dynamics of Persuasion.
#Metoo and other forms of hashtag activism
Towards the end of 2017, the #MeToo movement was building steam. On an almost
daily basis, a new story was breaking about sexual harassment and new allegations raised by
victims. I would strongly urge you to tackle these subjects head-on when covering ELM.
Foreshadowing things to come with McLuhan (ch. 25), examine the medium over the
message. Like other viral campaigns before it, the #MeToo movement caught fire on social
media as people used the hashtag to connect their account to the stories of other victims. At
one level, this seems a contemporary, digital example of the power of social proof. Just the
A colleague of mine at Wheaton uses tweets marked with #crimingwhilewhite when he
teaches on structural violence and racism. Provide students with tweets with this hashtag and
they’ll see people boasting of crimes and misdemeanors they’ve gotten away with because
they are white and not a person of color. It is digital accounts of white privilege and exhibits of
a conscious awareness of racism—a sober but effective example. Returning to ELM, ask your
students which routes of persuasion are used in the messages themselves and by using this
strategy. Given that the motives of the tweeters are not always obvious, you might ask
students how the posts engage them to think on the issues (thus triggering central processing)
or how the tweets provide shortcuts (including social proof, liking/humor, authority) for
peripheral-only engagement.
Feature film examples
As noted in the chapter on social judgment theory, the film Little Miss Sunshine
provides some interesting source material. I often base a quiz question on the same diner
scene mentioned in chapter 14 of this manual. As the family embarks on their roadtrip in order
for Olive to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, they stop for breakfast at a
diner. After learning the “à la mode” means it comes with ice cream, Olive proceeds to order
waffles à la mode much to the consternation of her father. When he begins to comment on the
Further Resources
For a brief history of social influence research, see William D. Crano, “Milestones in the
Psychological Analysis of Social Influence,” Group Dynamics, Vol. 4, 2000, pp. 68–80.
Applied contexts of ELM
Allison Lazard and Lucy Atkinson, “Putting Environmental Infographics Center Stage: The Role
of Visuals at the Elaboration Likelihood Model’s Critical Point of Persuasion,” Science
Communication, Vol. 37, 2015, pp. 6-33.
Organizational and Health Communication applications
Thomas H. Allison, Blakley C. Davis, Justin W. Webb, Jeremy C. Short, “Persuasion in
crowdfunding: An elaboration likelihood model of crowdfunding performance,” Journal
of Business Venturing, Vol. 32, 2017, pp. 707-725.
Nilesh S. Bhutada, Brent L. Rollins, and Matthew Perri III, “Impact of Animated Spokes-
Characters in Print Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising: An Elaboration
Likelihood Model Approach,” Health Communication, Vol. 32, 2017, pp. 391-400.
Amy Bleakley, Amy B. Jordan, Michael Hennessy, Karen Glanz, Andrew Strasser, and Sarah
Vaala, “Do Emotional Appeals in Public Service Advertisements Influence Adolescents’
Intention to Reduce Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages?,” Journal of Health
214.
Computer-mediated and Hashtag activism
Lanier Frush Holt, “Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Explain to Whom ‘#Black Lives
Matter’…and to Whom it Does Not,” Journalism Practice, Vol. 12, 2018, pp. 146-161.
Hyang-Sook Kim and Mun-Young Chung, “It Matters Who Shares and Who Reads: Persuasive
Outcomes of Location Check-ins on Facebook,” International Journal of Mobile
Communications, Vol. 16, 2018, pp. 135-152.
Theoretical concerns and comparisons
Jaehwan Kwon and Dhananjay Nayakankuppam, “Strength without Elaboration: The Role of
Implicit Self-Theories in Forming and Accessing Attitudes,” Journal of Consumer
Other relevant articles by Richard Petty or Cacioppo
Pablo Briñol, Richard E. Petty, Geoffrey R. O. Durso, and Derek D. Rucker, “Power and
Persuasion: Processes by Which Perceived Power Can Influence Evaluative
Judgments,” Review of General Psychology, Vol. 21, 2017, 223-241.
John T. Cacioppo, Stephanie Cacioppo, and Richard E. Petty, “The Neuroscience of Persuasion:
A Review with an Emphasis on Issues and Opportunities,” Social Neuroscience, Vol. 13,
2018, pp. 129-172.
Javier Horcajo, Pablo Briñol, and Richard E. Petty, “Majority Versus Minority Source Status and
Persuasion: Processes of Primary and Secondary Cognition,” in Majority and Minority
Influence: Societal Meaning and Cognitive Elaboration, Stamos Papastamou, Antonis
Gardikiotis, and Gerasimos Prodromitis (eds.), Routledge/Taylor & Francis, New York,
2017, pp. 98-116.
Emotions in persuasion
David DeSteno, Richard E. Petty, Derek D. Rucker, Duane T. Wegener, and Julia Braverman,
“Discrete Emotions and Persuasion: The Role of Emotion-Induced Expectancies,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 86, 2004, pp. 43–56.
Jonathan Hasford, David M. Hardesty, and Blair Kidwell, “More Than a Feeling: Emotional
Ethical reflections
For the classical source for the analogy between the lover and the persuader, see Plato’s
Phaedrus.