What+is+the+Elaboration+Likelihood+Model?

Many computer applications are developed with the intention of persuading individuals to purchase their products or services, to encourage better health behaviours or even to become more "green" or energy efficient. If your application wishes to influence people's behaviour then an understanding of the process of persuasion, as detailed below, will better assist you in your design.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion is an organising framework developed to understand persuasion and attitude change. It proposes that there are two primary routes to successful persuasion or attitude change. The first route of this dual process model is the “central route”, where attitude or behaviour change is a result of systematic processing of the persuasive message. The second route or "peripheral route" depends on peripheral cues or decision heuristics present rather than a cognitive processing of the persuasive message.

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The ELM continuum describes how the amount of elaboration (consideration) given to a persuasive message varies. The route taken is determined by the motivation and the ability of the individual to process the message. At the high end are highly motivated people, with high ability, who carefully scrutinize the persuasive message relative to the information that they already possess.In this case the individual will focus on the content and quality of the message because it is highly relevant to them. Given that they have both the motivation and ability to process the arguments centrally, they can then arrive at a reasoned and articulate decision. At the opposite end of the scale, when the persuasive message has little relevance to the individual or they do not have the skills or ability to process the message, attitude change is still possible. However results from lower cognitive effort may be dependent on peripheral cues within the persuasive message. It has also been recognised that the ELM can be applied to nearly any situation. In an online context studies have shown that, based on the ELM, both the central and the peripheral routes are viable ways of influencing users. So even if your application is directed towrds people who have a high interest in the area, it is still important NOT to omit the peripheral cues. So the next question is "what are the peripheral cues that individuals rely on when processing a persuasive message?" Robert Cialdini detailed these "weapons of influence" (see fig 2 below) and they are critical components to be aware of when designing computer applications that seek to influence peoples behaviour or attitude. Next: What is Captology?