Woah…you clicked! That was the first step so I’m feeling pretty good right now. Now, I beg you…stay here just for long enough to help me understand how I can persuade you. You might be asking, ‘what is she trying to persuade me to do?’ and the answer is simple. What I want to do is persuade you into telling me how I can persuade you. It’s THAT simple. Perhaps if I explain a little bit further, you’ll be able to understand…
So, this week I learned a lot about the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). This just got more confusing, didn’t it? Let me explain. The Elaboration Likelihood Model is a theory of persuasion that suggests that there are two different ways people can be persuaded of something, depending on how invested they are in a topic. Now…I’m invested in a whole lot of topics and know immediately which route I take in making decisions and thus, which route would be required to persuade me.
Central Route
This route is an overthinkers DREAM, but it doesn’t require overthinking. The central route of processing is research and fact based. Let’s use reading this blog and trusting anything in it as the example. In order to persuade someone who errs towards the central route processing, I’m going to need to have some credibility. So, in this case if I am trying to convince you to read this blog, I would likely assume that your fact-finding mind would want to know the following:
· I am a graduate student learning about ELM, and thus have a variety of credible sources that I’ve pulled my information from.
· I am offering you a clear explanation of what the Elaboration Likelihood Model is
· This blog is relevant, and you are motivated to read it!
Peripheral Route
First, let me start off by saying, I am a little jealous of that tend to go the peripheral route. It feels freeing! Why? Well, because by going the peripheral route, you’re almost just going with what you like. To persuade those with a tendency to go the peripheral route, my job would be to make the messaging be shiny or appealing. For example, if I wanted to persuade you to read this blog, I would likely assume in your ‘what outside elements might draw me in?’ brain would look at the following:
· Oh! You’re a sports fan? Tim Tebow played for the school that I attend. You should totally read my blog that I write for my class at UF!
· Is my blog visually appealing to you?
· She references Beyonce a lot in her other articles, and I like Beyonce.
Still don’t get it?
Let’s take a quick look at this video that breaks it down a bit further. Full disclosure, I chose this above all videos because of the fun British accent. Did I just take the peripheral route?!
4.3 Central v Peripheral persuasion routes — YouTube
There it is…central and peripheral processing! I tend to think that our personalities process things a certain way a majority of the time; however, I undeniably lean towards the central route for most decisions, with the occasional peripheral route for things that hold less importance to me. In the advertising world, there is undoubtedly a need for both and ideally, figuring out a perfect blend to incorporate both into a campaign seems like it would be the ‘sweet spot’. Now that I have successfully persuaded you to read this blog all the way through, do you feel you tend to take the central route or the peripheral route? Let me know in the comments so this central processing gal can turn your answers into a fact-based figure!
