Introduction
Persuasion is a significant element of everyday lives. People are manipulated either intentionally or not to have perceptions against or for different ideas. The way people believe and judge things become a key factor to influence others. The Elaboration Likelihood Model explains the how different attitudes are made by use of persuasion (Yocco, 2014). Five different ways demonstrate belief; it is a form of communication where people can send out messages to others directly or indirectly. It is used as an attempt of influencing people’s decisions. It is a mode that utilizes more than words. People read deep into the message from the way the message is delivered and how the person presents themselves. Persuasion is not coercion, it only reinforces the attitudes of people (Yocco, 2014).
This paper will explain in detail the Elaborate Likelihood Model. Give different scenario that will depict how decisions made by individuals are based on the effectiveness of the persuasion skills of the person. For example, did being in the public as a Senator make it easy for President Obama to be elected and does it make it easier for anybody else to be elected because people already know who the person is with or without the qualities they need than a person that is new and has all the require?
Description of the Elaboration Likelihood Model
Routes of Persuasion
The Elaborate Likelihood Model Theory takes two routes in an attempt to convince people differently. One of them is the Central route which allows people to make decisions based on keen listening to what is said. The person gets a chance to hear the ideas that the speaker presents and then can be synthesis on it before making a decision on whether or not to follow them. (Long-Crowell, 2016). In most cases this kind of listening is triggered by things that affect people directly. If the person intends to make decisions based on what is said, then they must be keen to understand the speech. There must be two conditions that enable the efforts to understand. The recipient has to be motivated to listen and the general ability to think.
Peripheral route is the other option for persuasion. In this case, people that are listening to the message are swayed by the facts, and instead, they focus on other factors such as fame and attractiveness of the speaker. The method is standard in political scenes where people are not keen to understand what is being said. Particularly for people who are not involved in political action. They, therefore, end up deciding on politicians regarding how they present themselves. This route utilizes the expository condition where the person does not necessarily have to think much (Long-Crowell, 2016).
Studies on persuasion conclude that different guides can be used to explain, the decisions that people make. High relevance condition prompted then students to make a quick decision on the policy without much thought. Those that had low importance, it offers little motivation and therefore they did not vote for the plan since they did not have the effort to think about the system precisely. Therefore, people make a decision regarding the persuasion they are offered by the message. If the situation around it makes it possible for objectivity or superficial decision making.
Fig1: Communication and Persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986).
The diagram gives a flow of the way people perceive messages send to them. Motivation gives the extra push as well as the average ability of the person to want to think more about something. Strong persuasion is a benefit for some people make choices that are not well thought about, but follow the attitude they receive from the message passed.
The Seven Postulates
According to Petty and Cacioppo, attitude is significant in understanding any information passed on (1986). They gave seven postulates to explain the attitudes and perceptions of people. The first postulate was seeking Corrections which explains that people will hold on to what they deem as correct to them. The second is variations in elaboration, where the amount of time that a person takes to think about the message can influence the choice they make. The third multiple- roles that can be given to different variables affect how people perceive different information given to them. The next one states that people are objective towards some messages and will take their time to think about the ideas before they can decide according to superficial views. The fifth is the biased processing postulate which indicates that previous mindsets can influence how people think. However, with the adequate motivation they can change their opinions. In the trade-off postulate, both the central and peripheral aspects are used. An individual may enter a conversation have an instant view of the message but after a while gets ideas that need objective thinking and therefore, have to employ the central process. The final postulate is associated with
Variables That Influence the Direction of Elaboration
An example is given of a woman who has a family history of cancer and specifically breast cancer. She will be keen to listen to messages delivered about cancer of the breast. However, if the situation makes her uncomfortable and raises fear in her, then she will opt not to listen and avoid the whole situation. Other variables that can be used are in case the audience is prepared for the message. When people are told that the information is meant to change their opinion, then they are bound to go against it. However, some people may decide to modify the opinion just as they had been prepared. This changes depend mostly on the attitude that people have on persuasion (Petty, Barden, Christian & Wheller, n.d).
Application of the Theory
Decision Making.
Kyle said that he would vote for Cruz, bearing in mind that he did not have any of the arguments raised at the debate. He made his decision based on the fact that he knew Trump, but he was not as persuasive as he would have wanted and therefore, he chose the person that would seem to articulate the ideas better. Sonia had no decisions as at the time of the debate. She listened eagerly to all the issues that were raised and need time to deliberate on them before making the choice she would vote. Finally, Don, after entering the debate with a preset mind, he still listened to a bit of a discussion and was not contented with what his premed candidate had to say. He kept listening to other ideas and got further torn because he was a Republican and agreed more with Senator Hillary Clinton and would want to change his vote to be a democratic one. From the scenario, it is clear that people make a decision according to the two different routes of persuasion as well as what the message persuades them.
Conclusion
It is important to study persuasion as communication is highly linked to attitudes that are brought forth by the message delivered as well as the presentation of the person. Meta-analysis continues to take place on the model to give the possible explanations to the persuasion theory. Communication habits about the reaction people give have been a challenge for many decades. However, the work by Petty and Cacioppo gave it a start as to what could be the reason. The conclusion being that communication regardless of what is said is aimed at influencing people in one way or another. With the central approach being the effortful explanation and peripheral involving little or no cognitive ability.
References
Long-Crowell, E. (2016). Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion: Central vs. Peripheral Route. Study.com. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/elaboration- likelihood-model-of-persuasion-central-vs-peripheral-route.html
Petty, E.R. & Cacioppo, T. J. (1986). The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. Department of Psychology the University of Missouri.
Petty, E. R., Barden, S. J. & Wheller, C. The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion: Developing Health Promotions for Sustained Behavioral Change. Retrieved from http://jamiebarden.org/uploads/HealthChapter2Galley.pdf
Yocco, V. (2014). Applying the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Design. Retrieved from http://alistapart.com/article/persuasion-applying-the-elaboration-likelihood-model-to- design
