Elaboration Likelihood Model

Link to the advertisement for this blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMU1OKFluQQ

As ridiculous as it might be, this Disney advertisement is one of my favorite ads ever. I love anything Disney whatsoever and this commercial is like every kid’s fairy tale. It makes me cry every time I watch it (pathetic I know!). Clearly, the commercial evokes some strong emotions in me and is very effective. It makes me want to drop everything and go to Disney World right that second! The powerful persuasion behind this can be explained by Richard Petty and John Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986).

The ELM proposes that there are two paths to persuasion: the central and peripheral route (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The central route is when people think carefully through the contents of the message, so they are persuaded by the strength and quality of the information (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The peripheral route is when a person is not motivated to critically analyze the information; instead they focus on superficial cues (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The route that we take depends on our motivation (our involvement or personal relevance) and ability to process the information (cognitive load, knowledge, time) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Persuasive communication also comes from three factors: the source (who), the message (content), and the audience (to whom) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986).

Specifically in this Disney advertisement, the message is the main factor of persuasion. The advertisement provokes strong positive emotions, which induce a change in attitude (Schwarz et al., 1991). Research shows that people are easier to persuade when they are in a good mood (Schwarz et al., 1991). A study by Janis et al. (1965) found that people are more likely to agree with a controversial argument when they are given snacks and drinks, putting them in a good mood. Another study by Mathur and Chattopadhyay (1991) discovered that people liked TV advertisements better when they were during a happy TV show than when they were during a sad TV show. When we are happy, we become more sociable, more optimistic in our outlook, and we make decisions more quickly and with little consideration (Isen, 1984). Therefore, positive feelings can activate the peripheral route to persuasion so that superficial cues have more influence (Isen, 1984). In the case of this Disney advertisement, the positive emotions put the audience in a better mood, so they are easily persuaded into wanting to visit Disney World. If only I could actually go!

References:

Isen, A. M. (1984). Toward understanding the role of affect in cognition. In R. S. Wyer & T. K. Srull (Eds.), Handbook of social cognition (Vol. 3, pp. 179-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Janis, I. L., Kaye, D., & Kirschner, P. (1965). Facilitating effects of “eating while reading” on responsiveness to persuasive communications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 181-186.

Mathur, M., & Chattopadhyay, A. (1991). The impact of moods generated by TV programs on responses to advertising. Psychology and Marketing, 8, 59-77.

Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Schwarz, N., Bless, H., & Bohner, G. (1991). Mood and persuasion: Affective states influence the processing of persuasive communications. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 24, pp. 161-199). New York: Academic Press.

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