How Would a Mobile Phone Business Use the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Sell Their Products

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In opposition of the deterministic Hovland-Yale model, where everyone follows one route when being persuaded by media, Petty and Cacioppo (1981) suggested two different routes to persuasive communication. These two routes depended on whether the audience is likely to focus on the advert or not. The central route is taken if the audience believe the message to be personally relevant and pay more attention to this message. The peripheral route is taken if the advert is not personally engaging and attention is placed on the context of the message i.e. how attractive it is. However, the elaboration-likelihood model also accounts for the fact we are often cognitive misers (or avoid thinking too much) and includes a component; need for cognition. This is an individual difference that reflects the extent to which people enjoy and engage in effortful cognitive activities. Those with high NC think through the message carefully, weigh up arguments, enjoy cognitive challenges and therefore use the central route. Those with low NC don’t think too much about the message, and instead are more impulsive; forming opinions on attractiveness of the speaker, face-value credibility or context- therefore taking the peripheral route. Attitudes changed through the central route tend to be more resilient and long-lasting to those formed through the peripheral route. Mobile phone marketers need to be marketing for both high NC and low NC customers. Vidrine, Simmons and Brandon (2007) conducted a study on Need for cognition and attitude persuasion to smoking. 227 student smoking were measured for NC and then exposed to one of three leaflets: a fact-based leaflet, an emotion-based leaflet and a control condition. Those students with high NC responded to the fact-based leaflet better (suggesting digestion of facts and consideration of arguments, using central processing route) and those

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