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Elaboration Likelihood Model: a Missing Intrinsic Emotional Implication Jon D Elaboration likelihood model: A missing intrinsic emotional implication Jon D. Morris is a professor in the Department of Advertising, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida. He began teaching at the university in 1984. Previous to his academic positions, he worked in the advertising agency business. He began his advertising career in 1968, and has worked for several agencies, including Nicholson-Morris, Louisville, KY, and Doyle Dane Bernbach and Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, New York, NY. He earned his PhD from the University of Florida. His research has appeared in the Journal of Advertising Research, Educational Technology,theInternational Journal of Instructional Media,andintheProceedings of the American Academy of Advertising, among others. Over the past few years, he has been developing a model (AdSAM) for analysing emotional response to marketing communications. ChongMoo Woo is a doctoral student majoring in advertising in the Department of Advertising at the University of Florida. He received a BA and MA, both in advertising and public relations from the Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea, and an MA in advertising from the University of Florida. During the programme of study, he has completed course work toward an MA in statistics and has published in the Journal of Advertising Research,theJournal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Advances in Consumer Research, and others. A. J. Singh completed his BA in Commerce in 1994 at the University of Mumbai and then obtained an MA in economics from the same university in 1997. He received his MA in mass communication with a specialisation in advertising in May 2003 from the University of Florida. He is currently employed in Delhi, India, as Account Manager and Producer for the Online and Interactive Department of the Discovery Channel. Abstract The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), developed by Petty and Cacioppo, proposed two routes to attitude change: central and peripheral. The central route emphasises a high relevance of the message to the individual. In the peripheral route, the individual concentrates on heuristic cues like attractive expert sources and number rather than the content of arguments employed by the message to process the message. If these cues produce an attitude change, this change is likely to be shorter lasting and unpredictable of that individual’s behaviour. Hence, the cognitive (central) aspect of the ELM overshadows its affective (peripheral) aspect, and the underlying suggestion of this model is that an attitude change is mostly reached through cognition as opposed to emotion. This study attempts to show that the emotional aspect is as important as the cognitive aspect. The basis for this conclusion is that even as an individual processes a message cognitively, that cognition has an emotional core. In addition, there is a possibility that content processing (elaboration) gives rise to emotions and that this leads to a longer-lasting change in attitudes. Keywords: Elaboration Likelihood Model, cognition, emotion, structural equation Jon D. Morris University of Florida modelling, consumer behaviour, Self-Assessment Manikin, PAD College of Journalism and (pleasure-arousal-dominance) Communications PO Box 118400 Gainesville, FL 32611-8400 USA INTRODUCTION human history. It was approximately Tel: ϩ1 (352) 219 6000; ϩ1 (352) 392 0443; The roots of persuasion are embedded 2,400 years ago that Aristotle clearly E-mail: jonmorris@ufl.edu deeply in the human psyche as well as in identified the three main aspects of the ᭧ Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1479-1862/05 $30.00 Vol. 14, 1, 79–98 Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing 79 Morris, Woo and Singh persuasion situation: source, audience and ‘the most distinctive and indispensable message content. concept in contemporary social Given this support for the long history psychology’8 is that of a variable known of persuasive processes, it is surprising as attitude. The importance of the that it was only 60 years ago that any attitude concept stems from the fact that sort of systematic research attention was it is believed to be a mediating variable applied to the study of persuasion. Carl for knowledge acquisition as well as Hovland, a Yale psychologist, has been behavioural change.9 attributed with the creating ‘the modern Given the importance of attitude and experimental study of persuasion’.1 attitude change in mediating behaviour, Systematic persuasion research, however, many social psychologists and sociologists can be linked to media effects research have tried to define attitude.Asaresult, that began with Walter Lippmann2 and there are a multitude of definitions of Harold Lasswell.3 this term.10,11 Social psychologists, The problem with this research was however, reached a sort of consensus that that it was based on anecdotal evidence the term should be used to refer to ‘a and not empirical research.4 Then, in the general and enduring positive or negative 1940s and 1950s, there was a shift in feeling about some person, object or researchers’ thinking, as evidence issue’.12,13 The study of attitude change increasingly pointed to an indirect effects has become a source of great debate and model of persuasion. Hyman and assumed primary focus for persuasion Sheatsely5 suggested that a mere increase researchers. in message flow could not achieve A change in affect (negative or persuasion and that effective message positive) as a result of a change in dissemination requires consideration of commercial stimuli has recently been specific psychological barriers. This led to showntobelinkedtobehaviourand the idea of a ‘two-step’flow of behavioural changes,14 contradicting a communication as suggested by Katz and previous number of studies that Lazarsfeld,6 who argued that the media questioned the ability of affect to predict tend to influence opinion leaders, who in behaviour.15 In fact, the mid-1970s were turn influence the public. filled with disillusionment towards the The persuasion debate was then affective attitude concept. As a result, in brought to another level by the research that period, there was a sharp decline in of Hovland et al.,7 who documented the the study of attitudes by social importance of different factors in psychologists,16 even though Fishbein and persuading people to accept a Ajzen17–20 have been able to conclude, proposition. Subsequent research on with confidence, that attitude and persuasion has focused on the moderating behaviours are strongly linked. variables, such as knowledge and beliefs, According to Fishbein and Ajzen, to develop contemporary models of what distinguishes attitude from other persuasion. concepts is its strongly affective nature As with any important human process, and that ‘affect is the most essential part the presence of both affect (or feelings) of the attitude concept’.21 A strong link as well as information processing can be between attitudes and subsequent felt permeating the research on behaviour had already been examined, persuasion. Although persuasion albeit cognitively, by Petty and Cacioppo researchers are split into the camps of in their Elaboration Likelihood Model cognition and affect, they all agree that (ELM).22 80 Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing Vol. 14, 1, 79–98 ᭧ Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1479-1862/05 $30.00 Elaboration likelihood model This lack of support for affect as a undertaken to examine the central route dominant figure in the creation of to persuasion and the role of affect versus persuasion most likely led to the assertion cognition. The basis for this conclusion is in the ELM23 that there are two routes that even as an individual processes a to attitude change: central and peripheral. message cognitively, the cognition has an The central route emphasises high emotional core. relevance of the message to the individual. The greater the relevance and the more interest that the individual CONCEPTUALISATION shows in the subject of the message, usually a product, the higher the chances Emotion: The affective neuroscience that they will think or elaborate on the The role of emotion was largely ignored message. Another aspect of the central until the 1970s; indeed, there was a route is that it deals with the message prevailing opinion that emotions, for the content — text, words, written material most part, ‘disrupt and disorganise used in the message — as opposed to the behaviour and are primarily a source of peripheral route that deals with the human problems’.28 Naturally, there were message cues — colour use, scientists who opposed the prevailing people/lifestyle depiction, visuals, etc.24 view regarding emotions and supported This thinking seems to eliminate the the idea that emotions played a central possibility that emotional processing may role in behavioural changes that were be as important in the central route as in said to represent learning.29 Despite this the peripheral route. Why does cognitive support, emotion remained an absent processing have to be void of emotional entity in the classic works of cognitive influence? science and cognitive neuroscience.30 The peripheral route is said to be the Recent research conducted in the field path taken when the message had little of affective neuroscience elevated or no relevance to its receiver.25 The emotions from the status of mere individual concentrates on heuristic cues physiological responses, by identifying such as attractive expert sources and regions of the brain — specifically, the numbers rather than the content of amygdala, ventromedial prefrontal, arguments employed by the message in brain-stem nuclei, hypothalamus and order to process it. According to the basal forebrain — as areas responsible for ELM, if these cues produce an attitude processing different emotions to varying change, this change is likely to be shorter degrees.31 Most of these regions are lasting and unpredictable of that subcortical, referring to their location individual’s behaviour.26 Hence, the below the cerebral cortex, an area that is information processing (central) aspect of of primary importance to cognitive the ELM overshadows the affective neuroscientists.
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