Elaboration Likelihood Model

Definition

The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion is a theory about how attitudes are formed and changed. This theory organizes the many different attitude change processes under a single conceptual umbrella. The ELM was created to provide a framework to help explain the many seemingly inconsistent [Page 281]findings in the persuasion literature. Sometimes a variable (e.g., distracting the person reading a message or associating the message with an attractive source) would enhance persuasion, sometimes it would reduce persuasion, and sometimes it would have no effect. Furthermore, sometimes attitude change would last over time and would predict behavior, but sometimes it would not. The ELM provides a framework to help researchers understand the factors responsible for these conflicting findings.

Elaboration Continuum

The extent to which people elaborate in response to a message is reflected in the extent to which they generate their own thoughts or reactions to the message. The generation and consideration of these thoughts will vary, depending on how much mental effort the person is willing and able to exert. That is, the ELM recognizes that sometimes people think a lot about an issue or message, and sometimes they hardly pay any attention to it at all. Depending on the extent of elaboration, different processes can be responsible for attitude change, often with different outcomes.

Two Routes to Persuasion

The ELM also distinguishes between two routes to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route. Central route processes are those that require a great deal of thought and therefore are likely to occur under conditions that promote high elaboration. Central route processes involve careful examination of a persuasive communication (e.g., a speech, an advertisement) to determine the merits of the evidence presented. Under these conditions, a person's thoughts in response to the communication and their confidence in these thoughts determine the persuasive outcome (i.e., the direction and amount of attitude change). The more positive thoughts people have to a message, such as a proposal to cut taxes (e.g., “I'll make more money if taxes are cut”) and the more confidence they have in these thoughts, the more persuaded they will be by the message. On the other hand, the more negative thoughts that people have to a message (e.g., “the tax cut will hurt poor people”) and the more confidence they have in these thoughts, the less persuaded they will be by the message.

Because people are carefully assessing the information in a persuasive communication for its merits under the central route, the perceived quality of this evidence is a very important determinant of persuasion. If the evidence for some proposal is seen as strong, a person is more likely to have favorable thoughts about the position and is likely to form a proposal-consistent attitude. If the evidence is seen as weak, however, then the person is likely to have unfavorable thoughts with regard to the message position and may even form an attitude that is opposite to the advocated position. The thoughts that occur in the central route can be relatively objective (fairly evaluating each argument), or they can be biased by other factors (e.g., a sad mood). A number of factors will determine whether people have confidence in the thoughts that they generate, such as how quickly the thoughts come to mind (more easily accessible thoughts are held with more confidence) and the credibility of the person who presents the arguments (people have more confidence in thoughts generated to a credible source).

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