The elaboration likelihood model

Petty and cacioppo 1981 

two routes to persuasion - focus on message itself or other factors.

focus on arguments = central route

focus on message context = peripheral route.

when the audience is likely to pay attention to the strength of the arguments.

Cacioppo and Petty 1982

some people enjoy analysing arguments (high need for cognition) and are more likely to focus on the quality of the argument than the conext of it.

Attitudes changed in this way are lasting and less susceptable to subsequent attempts to change them. 

Support:

Di Balso and Milani 2008 investigated that computer-mediated communication (CMC) was more likely to activate the central route than face-to-face. 

Fewer opinion changes in the CMC group of students. face-to-face group were swayed by the sources credibility. CMC hadn't been affected by the context of the message and therefore stuck to their guns. 

Fiske and Taylor 1984

most human beings are cognitive misers in that they frequently rely on simple and time-effective strategies when evaluatin info and making decisions. 

Individuals by contextual cues (such as celebrity endorsement or the mood created). Messages processed in this way tend to be less personally important and attitude change more transient. 

need for cognition- Haugtvedt et al 1992 supported the claim that the central route for persuasion is better for those with high NC. Attitude change in high NC-ers was based more on evaluation of product attributes than the ad. for low NC individuals simple pherical cues were most important for shaping attitude.

real life application- vidrine et al 2007 health campeigns. 

students exposed to either a fact-based (central) or emotion based (pherical) smoking risk campeign.

higher NC more influenced by fact based message.