The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
Abstract
This chapter outlines the two basic routes to persuasion. One route is based on the thoughtful consideration of arguments central to the issue, whereas the other is based on the affective associations or simple inferences tied to peripheral cues in the persuasion context. This chapter discusses a wide variety of variables that proved instrumental in affecting the elaboration likelihood, and thus the route to persuasion. One of the basic postulates of the Elaboration Likelihood Model—that variables may affect persuasion by increasing or decreasing scrutiny of message arguments—has been highly useful in accounting for the effects of a seemingly diverse list of variables. The reviewers of the attitude change literature have been disappointed with the many conflicting effects observed, even for ostensibly simple variables. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) attempts to place these many conflicting results and theories under one conceptual umbrella by specifying the major processes underlying persuasion and indicating the way many of the traditionally studied variables and theories relate to these basic processes. The ELM may prove useful in providing a guiding set of postulates from which to interpret previous work and in suggesting new hypotheses to be explored in future research.
Copyright © 1986 Academic Press Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
... Ilmalhaq et al. (2024) and Mohammad et al. (2020), through the SOR framework, investigate the influence of electronic word of mouth on mindful consumption behaviour, with consumer engagement and, attitude as a processor. At the same time, along with SOR theory, Mohammad et al. (2020), by utilising the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), also elucidates how people form their attitudes, and behaviour based on how they process the information (Petty and Cacioppo 1986). The SOBC theory extends the SOR model by adding C, the consequence of behavioural action (Davis and Luthans 1980). ...
The upsurge of consumerism and materialism worldwide has elevated environmental, and societal concerns. Encouraging mindful consumption may aid in resolving these issues and achieving a few sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, the elaborated insights on mindful consumption have not yet been comprehensively revealed. This study demands the contemplation of the mindful consumption concept to reveal inclusive knowledge in the existing literature. This study adopts a systematic literature review using the PRISMA technique. Articles on mindful consumption were thoroughly examined to uncover the themes, methodological and theoretical insights, and future avenues. Findings reveal the elements that promote and hinder mindful consumption practice, grouped into the following categories: socio-cultural, psychological, technological, marketing, environmental , and economical. This study also proposes a conceptual framework utilising a Stimulus-Organism-Behaviour-Consequences model depicting the mindful consumption process for its holistic understanding. This study solicits value and enhances the current literature by comprehensively reviewing relevant articles on mindful consumption and unveiling useful insights by delving into research gaps, future directions, and potential outcomes aligning with a few SDGs. Businesses, marketers, policymakers, communities, and governments can use this study to develop strategies that mitigate the adverse effects of consumption and prioritise the world's well-being by contributing to various SDGs.
... In this sense, and as practical examples of this integration, the potential application of AI and Big Data in the Elaboration Probability Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) is identified. This theory argues that the level of information processing of each person depends on various factors such as motivation, opportunities or skills. ...
Introduction: Public health campaigns have begun to employ various emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data for their design, implementation, and evaluation. These technologies offer new opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of health communication strategies by enabling more precise audience segmentation, personalized messaging, and real-time impact assessment. However, despite their potential, their application in public health campaigns remains a relatively new field of study. This systematic review aims to identify and analyze the scientific literature that examines the role of these tools in optimizing communication strategies aimed at promoting healthy behaviors and attitudes among the population. Methods: Following the PRISMA methodology, 129 potentially relevant articles were initially identified from the search in the WOS, Scopus and PubMed databases. However, only 18 met the established inclusion criteria. Results: We identified a scarcity of scientific articles focused on presenting findings on the application of emerging technologies in public health campaigns. Most of the research focused on the use of these tools for audience segmentation and impact assessment, while their use in campaign design was a minority. Conclusions: This study supports the usefulness of the application of these technologies at any stage of the campaign implementation process, and presents some limitations that can help optimize this approach and improve the reach and effectiveness of public health communication strategies.
... Attitude ( (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), the scale measures the perceived ability, opportunity, and resources to invest to meet sustainability objectives. ...
Purpose
A fundamental research question is what leads some organizations, but not others, to be sustainable in their procurement operations. Extant theoretical frameworks, while valuable, do not fully reflect the nuances of decision-making in procurement operations. We aim to illuminate the role of individual attitudes, capabilities, and behavioral intentions in actualizing sustainable procurement.
Design/methodology/approach
We develop a framework by adapting the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to the context of sustainable procurement. We test the framework with a sample of 465 procurement professionals based in the EU through partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
We find that sustainable purchasing behavior is predominantly shaped by behavioral intention, that is, willingness to pay for sustainability. This behavioral intention is significantly influenced by individual attitudes and capabilities in addition to awareness of consequences and perceived corporate social responsibility engagement but, interestingly, not by individual subjective norms.
Originality/value
The TPB is one of the most influential models for predicting behavior. However, the application of the theory in operations management is hitherto limited. The present study contributes to understanding individual-level antecedents of operations management practices and offers suggestions to practitioners engaged in fostering sustainable procurement.
... Investigating the psychological mechanisms underlying consumer responses to deceptive advertising, such as cognitive dissonance and information manipulation, can further deepen our comprehension of how and why consumers react to different types of deceptive practices (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986;McCornack, 1992). Future research should also explore the effectiveness of public health campaigns in counteracting the effects of deceptive advertising. ...
This study investigates the perception of Austrian university students regarding deceptive energy drink advertisements and its impact on their consumption behaviour. Using a quantitative research approach, data were collected from 125 students through a structured questionnaire. The study examines several hypotheses to understand the correlation between general liking of advertisements, specific attitudes towards energy drink advertisements, perceived deception, and consumption intentions. Key findings reveal that positive attitudes towards energy drink advertisements significantly enhance consumption, while perceived deception and anticipated health risks reduce consumption intentions. These results align with Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Information Manipulation Theory, highlighting the psychological and informational mechanisms at play in deceptive advertising. The study underscores the need for ethical advertising practices and robust regulatory frameworks to protect consumers and foster trust in the marketplace. Insights from this research contribute to the broader discourse on advertising ethics and consumer behaviour, offering practical recommendations for marketers and policymakers to enhance transparency and consumer protection in the energy drink industry.
Keywords: Deceptive Advertising, Consumer Behavior, Consumer Trust
... Investigating the psychological mechanisms underlying consumer responses to deceptive advertising, such as cognitive dissonance and information manipulation, can further deepen our comprehension of how and why consumers react to different types of deceptive practices (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986;McCornack, 1992). Future research should also explore the effectiveness of public health campaigns in counteracting the effects of deceptive advertising. ...
... Several theoretical explanations merit consideration. First, this could reflect unconscious processing mechanisms, where participants respond to structural features of the environment without consciously processing them, aligning with dual-process theories of attitude change (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986;Chaiken, 2014). Second, our post-hoc perception measures might not capture the dynamic nature of how perceptions evolved during the interaction period. ...
Online social networks have dramatically altered the landscape of public discourse, creating both opportunities for enhanced civic participation and risks of deepening social divisions. Prevalent approaches to studying online polarization have been limited by a methodological disconnect: mathematical models excel at formal analysis but lack linguistic realism, while language model-based simulations capture natural discourse but often sacrifice analytical precision. This paper introduces an innovative computational framework that synthesizes these approaches by embedding formal opinion dynamics principles within LLM-based artificial agents, enabling both rigorous mathematical analysis and naturalistic social interactions. We validate our framework through comprehensive offline testing and experimental evaluation with 122 human participants engaging in a controlled social network environment. The results demonstrate our ability to systematically investigate polarization mechanisms while preserving ecological validity. Our findings reveal how polarized environments shape user perceptions and behavior: participants exposed to polarized discussions showed markedly increased sensitivity to emotional content and group affiliations, while perceiving reduced uncertainty in the agents' positions. By combining mathematical precision with natural language capabilities, our framework opens new avenues for investigating social media phenomena through controlled experimentation. This methodological advancement allows researchers to bridge the gap between theoretical models and empirical observations, offering unprecedented opportunities to study the causal mechanisms underlying online opinion dynamics.
Purpose-This study aims to investigate how two different types of brand-to-brand dialogues-"roasting" versus "toasting"-impact consumers' brand perceptions, particularly perceived entertainment, and influence brand attitudes. Design/methodology/approach-The research design comprises four studies. The preliminary study involves Web scraping to gauge consumer perception about the two communication approaches followed by two well-known brands. Study 1 involves an online experiment to compare these communication types within each brand tested in the pilot study and examines the mediation effect of perceived entertainment. Study 2, also an online experiment, investigates the role of message neutralization, demonstrating that "roasting" can be acceptable when the humor is neutralized. Study 3 further tests the effects of neutralized "roasting" at different levels of brand familiarity and personality. Findings-Roasting can lead to more favorable consumer perceptions than toasting. The effect can be explained by roasting's higher level of perceived entertainment. However, this positive outcome is contingent on the successful neutralization of the aggressive humor in the "roasting" messages. When it comes to brand familiarity and personality, familiar brands benefit more from neutralized "roasting," whereas brand personality does not have a strong influence. Research limitations/implications-The findings suggest that "roasting" can be effective when messages are neutralized, and "toasting" works best when spontaneous and genuine. It highlights how brand familiarity and personality influence consumer reactions, thus, offering strategic insights for both established and lesser-known brands. The study also prompts further research to examine other brand traits, cultural factors and behavioral dimensions in brand-to-brand dialogue, signifying the complexity and richness of this growing research area. Practical implications-This study advises lesser-known brands to adopt "toasting" strategies to build a positive image, while established brands can try "roasting," ensuring message neutrality to avoid negativity. The research emphasizes the role of brand familiarity and personality in shaping brand dialogues. Marketers must consider these to make humor strategies effective and bolster positive brand image. Originality/value-This research uniquely examines message neutralization through contextual cues as a strategy brands can use to aid their sensitive dialogues with others on social media. The findings provide new insights into how brands can use different types of messages in digital communications to attract consumers and ensure positive reception, offering valuable guidance for academics and practitioners in brand-to-brand dialogue.
In the digital age, unverified news and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) have become pervasive, raising concerns about their influence on customer behavior and decision-making. This research aims to investigate how unverified news affects customer purchase intention and satisfaction, emphasizing the mediating role of brand image within customer relationship management. Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) as the theoretical framework, the study collected the data from 378 undergraduate and postgraduate students in Vietnam. The hypotheses were tested through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS4. There are two significant results. Firstly, unverified news has significantly influenced brand image and trust, leading to customer satisfaction and purchase intention. Secondly, brand image plays a mediating role in the relationship between e-WOM and purchase intention. This research contributes to the marketing literature by demonstrating how unverified news shapes consumer behavior. The findings provide actionable insights for businesses to adapt their marketing strategies, addressing the growing challenges of misinformation to improve brand trust and customer satisfaction in today’s information-driven market.
With the rise of social media and influencer marketing, unboxing videos have become key for connecting with customers. Drawing on the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) and Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study examines how motives for watching unboxing videos influence consumers’ purchase and eWOM intentions, and the mediating role of ad involvement. Analyzing survey data from 499 YouTube viewers, the research finds that information-seeking, entertainment, and interpersonal utility motives significantly affect purchase and eWOM intentions, while pass-time motives do not. The study contributes a novel UGT-ELM-based model with consumer-focused insights and discusses its theoretical and practical implications. The study also offers implications for marketing analytics.
Two experiments were conducted to explore the relationship between the body posture of a message recipient and susceptibility to persuasive influence. In Experiment 1, recipients who were reclining comfortably during exposure to a counterattitudinal message showed more agreement with the message than recipients who were standing during exposure. In Experiment 2, posture (standing or reclining) and the quality of the arguments employed in the counterattitudinal message (cogent or specious) were varied in an effort to assess competing theoretical accounts of the posture effect. An interaction between posture and message quality emerged on the measure of postmessage agreement. Reclining subjects were differentially persuaded by the strong and weak arguments, but standing subjects were not. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that reclining recipients engage in more message-relevant thinking than standing recipients.
Students rated a poem and an editorial believing that they alone were responsible, that they were one of four persons responsible, or that they were one of sixteen persons responsible for evaluating the communications. As predicted, group mem bers reported putting less effort into the assessment than indi viduals, and this diffusion of effort followed an inverse power function. In addition, individuals evaluated the communications more favorably than persons who thought they shared the evalu ation responsibility.
The effects of salience and time upon both positive and negative interpersonal attitudes under conditions of social isolation were investigated. It was predicted that polarization of attitudes would be facilitated by increased salience and time. One hundred twenty Ss interacted with either an insulting or complimenting confederate. Working in isolation, Ss next performed tasks designed to engender high or low salience of the confederate for either 10 seconds, 1 minute, or 4 minutes. Dependent measures reflected affective and cognitive components of attitudes toward the confederate. The results strongly supported the hypothesis that salience positively affects polarization of attitudes in isolation. The effects of time were not as predicted.
This investigation synthesized research from several related areas to produce a model of resistance to persuasion based upon variables not considered by earlier congruity and inoculation models. Support was found for the prediction that the kind of critical response set induced and the target of the criticism are mediators of resistance to persuasion. The more critical acts are focused on arguments presented in a persuasive message, the more likely that the critical act will not be distracting and therefore promote counterarguing which will lead people to be resistant to subsequent persuasive messages arguing on the same side of given attitudinal issue. When criticism is less central to message variables and focuses on speaker and/or delivery characteristics, distraction occurs which decreases the probability of counterarguing and induces people to be vulnerable to forthcoming persuasive messages. This is especially true when negative criticism of speaker characteristics reduces threat to present attitudes and reduces motivation to counterargue to protect privately held beliefs. A completely counterbalanced design employing several manipulation checks was created to rule out competing explanations for differential resistance to persuasion.
Sex differences in influenceability have emerged in the past when discrepant advocacies w ere accompanied by greater expertise in the subject matter by men or Women. Similarly we found that when men and women were asked if they agreed with another person's inaccurate (attitude-discrepant) evaluation, resistance was greater when prior knowledge was high. However, men agreed less than women, regardless of prior knowledge, when the other person's evaluation Was a(curate (attitude-congruent). These results suggest that for attitude-congruent advocacies, gender role influences socially' acceptable levels of agreeableness. Agreement with attitude-discrepant advocacies, however, appears to be more content-based.
College undergraduates were either warned or not warned of the persuasive intent of a communication which was either of direct or only indirect personal relevance to them. Consistent with the hypothesis based on reactance theory (Brehm, 1966), the inhibiting effect of the forewarning (i.e., reduced persuasion, increased counterargumentation, and reduced favorable thoughts) was greater under high than low involvement conditions.
Affective factors play an important role in the development and maintenance of preferences. The representation of affect can take a variety of forms, including motor responses and somatic reactions. This explains why cognitive methods of preference change that are directed at only one form of representation have seldom been effective.
Two experiments are reported identifying the circumstances in which high credibility either facilitates, inhibits, or has no effect on the communicator's persuasiveness in relation to a less credible source. These data provide support for the cognitive response view of information processing and suggest the importance of message recipient's initial opinion as a determinant of persuasion.