Elaboration Likeihood

Elaboration Likelihood 2

Introduction

Recently the nation was bombarded with political ad campaigns of all shapes and sizes. There were the ads for and against succession, the ads that attempted to show Gray Davis as someone who could actually run the state of California, and the ads that didn't really seem to have any purpose at all. It is obvious that each of these campaigns was focused on a specific target audience. What may not have been so obvious was that each of the ad campaigns was also based upon the involvement or interest of the voters (Perloff, 1993). This involvement or interest is a component of the Elaboration Likelihood Model. This theory helps advertising consultants decide what elections are important to voters and what elections have no relevance to anyone but lawmakers (Perloff, 1993). Important elections, such as the gubernatorial race will have strong arguments and depth while not so significant elections, such as the clean water initiative will rely on cues that are undemanding in terms of the amount of brain power used (Perloff, 1993).

The application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model to political campaigns is just one of the many practical uses of this theory. But before it is possible to examine other possible applications of the ELM, one must understand the basic ideas and factors that make it work. After a clear understanding of the ELM is devolved it will be shown in relation to the specific communication perspective that it fits into, and then used to evaluate a real life situation. Subsequent to the evaluation of the practical application the ELM will be scrutinized and summed up, but first the basics.

Description of Theory

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The elaboration likelihood theory was created by two social scientists, Richard Petty and John Cacioppo, who sought to create a model of persuasion that was more inclusive in terms of the range and depth in which the theory covered (Perloff, 1993). Petty and Cacioppo's theory is a culmination of their research in the area of "cognitive responses to persuasion" and theories of attitude change (Perloff, 1993, p. 118). The ELM is a theory of persuasion with a central premise that seeks to explain how deeply an individual will elaborate the arguments of a persuasive message by examining the individual's attitude towards the subject matter in relation to the amount of personal involvement he or she has with the topic (Sereno, 2002). The ELM defines two distinct methods of elaboration that are based on the content and personal significance of the message (Sereno, 2002). Before the factors of elaboration are defined it is essential to understand what elaboration is and the role that it plays within the theory.

Perloff states that the concept of elaboration "refers to the extent to which a person thinks about the issue-relevant arguments contained in a message" (Perloff, 1993, p. 118). If elaboration were calculated on a scale, one side would represent profound deliberation, while the other would represent an almost complete lack of thought and careful insight. These opposite sides of the scale represent what Petty and Cacioppo call the "two distinct routes to attitude change;" the central route and the peripheral route (Perloff, 1993, p. 119). The central route "consists of thoughtful consideration of the arguments in the message, and occurs only when a receiver possesses both the motivation and ability to think about the message and topic" (Perloff, 1993, p. 121). The peripheral route comes to light "when the receiver lacks ability and/or motivation to engage in much

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thought on the issue" (Stephenson, Benoit, and Tschida, 2001, p. 1). It must be taken into consideration that neither the peripheral, nor central routes are better or worse; they are simply different ways in which persuasive messages are processed.

More specifically, the process of choosing the peripheral or central route begins with the involvement or motivation of the individual and whether or not he or she has the knowledge to process the message accurately (Sereno, 2002). If there is a personal connection or motivation to pay attention to the message, it is probable that the individual will contemplate and reflect deeply upon the arguments within the message (Littlejohn, 2001). For example, the student senate is trying to lower the price of parking passes and since you park in the university parking center it is likely that you will be motivated take action. Changes in attitude that result from central processing tend to last longer and have more profound effects on the manner and behavior of the individual (Sereno, 2002). In the situation where the message holds no value or is beyond the individual's range of knowledge, it is likely that "simple decision tools" will be used such as "the expert is to be believed," or "men are usually right on political issues" (Perloff, 1993, p. 119). These simple decision tools used completely in the peripheral route, mentioned by Perloff (1993), are quick references to past events or common knowledge that allow for an immediate positive or negative assessment of a message without using a large amount of brain power. Changes in attitude that result from peripheral processing are likely to be short-lived and easily swayed because they are based on no more than superficial mental ques and quick references (Sereno, 2002).

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To sum it up, the ELM provides logical reasoning as to why people have such enduring positions regarding such things as war and child abuse, while also justifying how easy it is to switch brands of laundry detergent (Perloff, 1993). Generally speaking, the ELM is an extremely useful tool for explaining the cause and effect relationship between attitude and personal involvement in the ever increasingly pervasive media of today (Sereno, 2002). Aside from the actual definition, another important aspect of the ELM is the perspective that it takes in terms of scientific or humanist, because the category that it falls into will determine exactly how research is done using it.

Identification of Perspective

Because it falls into the category of cognitive theory, the Elaboration Likelihood Model takes the psychological perspective of communication. Within a cognitive theory internal factors are held accountable for the way that recipients conduct themselves in communication situations (Sereno, 2002). Basically, various

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