The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion: Implications for trial advocacy

Abstract

The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion includes two possible routes of persuasion or attitude change: the central and peripheral. The central route of persuasion entails careful evaluations of the merits of an advocated message. Thus, people who have a ‘need for cognition’ are more likely to be in the ‘central route’ and will evaluate a message based solely upon its merits. Conversely, the peripheral route of persuasion entails evaluation of an advocated message based not on its merits, but tangential information surrounding the message. For example, a person evaluating an advocated message based solely on the attractiveness of the person giving the message is more likely to be in the ‘peripheral route’ (Petty and Cacioppo 1986). A few theoretical and research articles have assessed the utility of using variables