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The Elaboration Likelihood Model: Central and Peripheral routes to Persuasion
Jessica Chadlowe
u7490612
PSYC2001: Social Psychology
Australian National University
31 August, 2023
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THE ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL: CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL
ROUTES TO PERSUASION
Insights into the methodologies of persuasion find a conceptual scaffold in the
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), a theoretical construct that highlights the divergence
between two distinct avenues of attitude change: the central and peripheral routes. The ELM
is described as a “…general framework for organising, categorising, and understanding the
basic processes underlying the effectiveness of persuasive communications” (Petty &
Cacioppo, 1986). Developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in 1986, the ELM
emerged as a response to the need for a more comprehensive framework explaining the
processes of how people are persuaded and how attitudes are formed in response to
persuasive messages (ibid). This led to the identification of the central and peripheral routes,
which are driven by social influences, internal motivations, and characteristics of persuasive
messaging. The central route is used when people have the motivation and ability to pay
attention to the argument. Contrastingly, the peripheral route is taken when people do not pay
attention to the argument, but rather persuaded by surface characteristics. With conceptual
rigor and empirical depth, this essay unearths the inner workings of these routes and the
explicit/implicit factors affecting their use. This is explored through social psychological
research, revealing the strengths and limitations of the theory, and modifications that can be
made to account for limitations.
The process of choosing to take the central or peripheral route to attitude change can
occur either explicitly or implicitly, depending on how the persuasive message is
communicated (Manca et al., 2019). If an individual is heavily invested in a topic, they may
choose to engage with and critically analyse the given information, thus explicitly taking the
central route. Contrastingly, those with limited interest in the topic may base their attitudes
off surface characteristics and social norms, thus taking the peripheral route explicitly.
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However, individuals may default to a certain route based on heuristics, meaning the route
they take to attitude change happens without in-depth research. This can likely occur due to
time constraints, fatigue, or complexity of the message delivered.
The central route, characterised by thorough cognitive processing and in-depth
evaluation of arguments, constitutes a deliberate engagement with the persuasive message
driven by reasoned judgment. When examining the explicit factors contributing to the central
route, one empirical study found the central route is more likely to be taken if there is a
quality, evidence-based argument, meaning the message communicated has high information
reliability and persuasive strength (Ahmad Rizal et al., 2022). One study conducted an
experiment and literature review to understand how social media impacts the route taken in
decision making, specifically related to getting the COVID-19 vaccine or not (ibid). Through
a social media experiment and literature review, findings revealed social media posts based in
evidence, rather than experience, are generally associated with a higher level of information
completeness and accuracy. Subsequently, evidence-based social media posts about the
COVID-19 vaccine encouraged viewers to actively listen and think about its benefits, rather
than basing their decision off speculation and social pressure. These findings support the
existence and operation of the central route, as social media posts rooted in objective logic
and rationality had higher engagement. Another empirical study reasoned with this idea, by
showing that individual decision making is reliant on accurate and complete information to
help distinguish between true and false messages (Filieri & McLeay, 2013).
Contrastingly, several implicit factors including one’s ability, motivations and
personal relevance to the topic can significantly affect the use of the central route. The more
personally relevant a topic is to the individual, the more likely they are to process the
messages centrally. This was supported in one study examining society’s attitudes towards
pro-environmental behaviour, and their subsequent attitudes towards sustainable travel costs
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(Manca et al., 2019). Using a 2x2x2 between subject’s research design (N=160), individuals
with higher pro-social behaviour generally had higher involvement with environmental
sustainability, and therefore implicit attitudes were more positive in the condition of highquality arguments. As a result, these individuals were easier to persuade by messages
including arguments that support travel change. Contrastingly, those with low personal
relevance and concern for sustainability, revealed more influenced by messages presented by
an expert source, such as a scientist. Overall, the study found implicit and explicit attitudes
were not correlated, yet both appeared as significant predictors of behavioural intention, and
the selection of the central route of persuasion (ibid).
Contrastingly, the peripheral route hinges off surface characteristics and social context
which lead individuals to form attitudes quickly without excessive cognitive scrutiny. Often
those who are uninvolved and have little to no prior knowledge of the issue take this route
(Cyr et al., 2018). Whilst these ‘mental shortcuts’ to forming attitudes may be convenient and
save time, they come at the risk of being misinformed. This is because they are often based
on appearance, societal pressure, and norms (ibid). Therefore, whilst the central route is
governed by logic and evidence, the peripheral route is led by emotions, attractiveness, and
experience. This is evident in the earlier study mentioned, examining the effect of social
media posts on the attitudes one has regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, finding social pressure
to be one of the biggest factors in people’s decision to be vaccinated (Ahmad Rizal et al.,
2022). If one society highly values the importance of social distancing, isolation, and mask
wearing, the individual is more likely to make a quick, explicit decision to get vaccinated
without extensively researching. This highlights the impact of social compliance on decision
making, as a new ‘norm’ has been created, thereby non-compliance is seen as a sign of
abnormality.
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Furthermore, if a source is considered ‘credible’ individuals are more likely to take
the peripheral route to attitude formation, seeing little need for an in-depth review of the topic
as the given information is perceived as trustworthy. This was highlighted in a study testing
the impact of different persuasive messages on an individual’s attitude towards mobile
tourism shopping (MTS): Tourism products such as hotels, tours, accommodation, and events
purchased through a website accessible by mobile phone (N=2267) (Kim et al., 2016).
Results showed a statistically significant, positive correlation between MTS source credibility
and its perceived usefulness. This supports the existence of the peripheral route in making
decisions, as further investigation/information scrutiny into MTS was not required for the
participants to form their attitudes. Following this, if individuals are told the source of
information is credible prior to acquiring any knowledge on the topic, they are more likely to
take the peripheral route as they perceive the persuasive message to be more trustworthy. A
study conducted on university students assessing the expertise of their lecturer highlighted
this idea, as participants in the ‘expert lecturer’ condition perceived his expertise as
significantly greater than those in the ‘inexpert lecturer’ condition (p<0.02), despite the
lecturer being the same man (Kruglanski & Thompson, 1999). In summary, the relationship
between source credibility and the peripheral route reveals the perception of trustworthiness
can shape individuals cognitive processing pathways, and ultimately influence their attitudes
and decision-making processes.
Furthermore, individuals may implicitly, or unconsciously choose the peripheral route
as a response to their heuristics. In particular, humans are frequently persuaded purely by the
appearance of something, or its perceived ‘attractiveness’. With this idea in mind, one study
aimed to investigate the role of a websites design elements on determining an individual’s
attitude towards a given business, formed implicitly through the peripheral route (Cyr et al.,
2018). After browsing certain websites, participants were surveyed on the overall usefulness,
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ease-of-use, image and aesthetic appeal, warmth, and sociability of the website (N=403).
Following this, participants were asked about their attitude towards the business. It was
shown those with limited personal relevance and motivation to read about the business had a
more positive attitude towards it if the website had high aesthetic appeal. This provides
evidence of the peripheral route to persuasion, as participants based their opinions on the
websites surface characteristics, without subjecting the business to cognitive scrutiny. The
same idea is often applied to voting. Taking the example of a political vote, those with little to
no knowledge of the politicians plans or ideologies generally vote for the person deemed
most attractive. This was empirically supported by one study, finding attractive candidates
averaged 32% higher in votes from people unaware of their policies than unattractive
candidates (p<0.001) (Efrain & Patterson, 1974).
While the ELM does provide valuable insights into the processes of persuasion and
attitude change, it does have some limitations. Specifically, the model assumes individuals
always assess their cognitive resources and motivation for elaborated processing, neglecting
the impact of other factors such as the effect of cognitive load and time constraints on
choosing a route (J. Kitchen et al., 2014). This oversights real-world scenarios where
individuals may have to rely on peripheral cues due to external factors, despite showing an
interest in the persuasive topic. Moreover, the ELM’s emphasis on information processing
fails to fully consider the role of emotional and psychological factors in attitude change.
Studies show that emotions can significantly influence attitudes and decision-making,
suggesting the models focus on cognitive processing alone may neglect other domains of
psychology (Achar et al., 2016). The most prominent criticism, however, is that the ELM is
oversimplified by categorising cognitive processing into just 2 distinct routes (Kruglanski &
Thompson, 1999). As stated by Kruglanski and Thompson, human cognition is inherently
more complex and fluid, often involving interactions between the central and peripheral
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routes rather than a strict dichotomy. Empirical research has demonstrated cases where
peripheral cues not only influence initial attention but also play a subsequent role in
information processing, blurring the lines between these two routes, suggesting the central
and peripheral routes to persuasion are not always mutually exclusive (ibid).
The integration of the peripheral route and central route within a ‘unimodel’
represents a sophisticated approach to understanding the Elaboration Likelihood Model
(ibid). Kruglanski and Thompson suggest that by combining these two routes, the model
recognises that individuals process persuasive information through a multifaceted cognitive
framework. In this unified perspective, peripheral cues such as attractiveness, credibility, and
social norms are recognised as initial ploy to capture attention that lay the foundation for
engagement. Subsequently, the central route is taken, fostering in-depth cognitive processing
where the strength and quality of the arguments are evaluated. Peripheral cues are still used in
this phase, to identify the relevant information and its persuasive impact. This is supported by
significant findings from particular ‘unimodal’ experiments concluding “…the same
persuasion process takes place irrespective of whether the persuasive evidence is contained in
the message arguments or in the heuristic/cue-related information… the two routes are
functionally equivalent in the persuasive process, both serving as evidence for the evaluative
inferences perceivers draw”(ibid). This notion of using both routes concurrently is more
applicable to real-world persuasion scenarios, as individuals must sift through large quantities
of persuasive messaging to identify the argument they find most interest in. The unimodal
thus portrays attitude change as a fluid, integrative process where the central and peripheral
routes collaborate to shape attitude change, thereby providing a more comprehensive
understanding of the complexities in human decision-making.
Overall, the ELM is an effective framework for understanding the cognitive process
of persuasion and attitude change, as explained through the peripheral/central routes.
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Empirical research has identified a relationship between an individual’s motivation/ability to
pay attention to the argument and the type of route chosen. Whilst the central route involves a
critical analysis of the argument’s information, the peripheral route takes a simpler approach,
forming attitudes based off surface characteristics and heuristics. Whilst the model does have
some flaws, research exists to account for these, such as the acknowledgement of a
‘unimodel’ whereby the central and peripheral route collaborate in decision making. By
comprehensively appreciating the intricate balance between cognitive elaboration and
peripheral cues in the ELM, research gains a deeper understanding of persuasive forces
impacting human perception and judgements, contributing to a comprehensive understanding
of human behaviour.
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