PSYB10H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Elaboration Likelihood Model, Public Service Announcement, Metacognition
Chapter 8: Persuasion
Dual-Process Approaches to Persuasion
• Both the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic- systematic model of
persuasion hypothesize that there are two routes to persuasion
o A perso’s otiatio ad aility to thik arefully and systematically about the
content of a persuasive message determine which route is used
o When using the central (systematic) route to persuasion, people attend carefully
to the message, and they consider relevant evidence and underlying logic in
detail
o People are especially likely to go through this route when motivation is high (the
issue has personal consequences) and ability is high (they have a lot of
knowledge in the domain)
o With the central route, people are sensitive to the quality of the persuasive
arguments, leading them to be more persuaded when the arguments are strong
but not when they are weak
• In the peripheral (heuristic) route to persuasion, people pay attention to superficial
aspects of the message
o They use this route when they have little motivation (the issue has no bearing on
their outcomes) or ability to attend to its deeper meaning (they have little
knowledge or are distracted)
o With this route, people are persuaded by easy-to- process cues, such as the
attractiveness and credibility of the message source, or the mere length of the
persuasive message
The Elements of Persuasion
• The eleets of a persuasie attept are the soure of the essage ho, the
otet of the essage hat, ad the audiee of the essage to ho
• Sources that are attractive, credible, and confident tend to be persuasive
o Although a noncredible source is unlikely to induce immediate attitude change, a
sleeper effect may occur, in which attitude change happens gradually and the
message has become dissociated from its source
o Vivid messages are usually more persuasive than matter- of-fact ones
o An example is the identifiable victim effect, whereby messages with a single
identifiable victim are more compelling than those without such vivid imagery
o Messages that instill fear in the audience can also be effective, as long as they
include information about the courses of action one can take to avoid the feared
outcome
o Advertisements in independent cultures emphasize the individual, and those in
interdependent societies emphasize the collective
• Charateristis of a essage’s audiee affet hether it is persuasie; they ilude the
need for cognition (how deeply people like to think about issues), mood, age, and the
size and diversity of the audience
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