Elaboration Likelihood Theory

The Central Route

The central route to persuasion is taken when the recipient is guided by an elaborate amount of critical thinking about what is said in the persuasive message. In the central scenario arguments are considered carefully. The compatibility between the message and the receiver's attitude plays a role in persuasion.

The potency of the message also plays a part. Centrally, the message recipient is identifying weak arguments and is being influenced by strong arguments. When the recipient realizes that the message is significant to his or her life, the likelihood of cognitively elaborating on the message increases. After this increase occurs, attitude changes will likely have a long-lasting behavioral effect.

The amount of critical thinking expended is dependent on two general factors: the receiver's motivation and the receiver's ability, ability meaning being knowledgeable about the issue involved in the persuasive message and not being distracted from the message. At least three components comprise the motivation factor. The first is the relevance of the topic to the receiver; the more relevant the topic, the more likely the receiver will think critically about the issues involved. The second component in the receiver's motivation is the variety of credible sources. When listening to several experts speak about the issue, the receiver will typically tend to centrally process the content. In disagreement with this point, however, Ann Bainbridge Frymier and Marjorie Keeshan Nadler, two persuasion scholars, contend that accountability is a determinant of motivation, not the variety of credible sources.

The third component in the receiver's motivation is the penchant for mulling over arguments. Frymier and Nadler point out that this factor affects motivation, but so does the degree of personal responsibility and incongruent information.

The issue-related message recipient, no matter how motivated, cannot use the central route if the recipient is ignorant of the issue. For example, most college students would probably engage in a high elaboration about an informative speech on downloading music rather than a speech on Beverly Sills.

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