Sample+Studies

Many studies have been conducted to better understand the elaboration likelihood model. By understanding the ELM, one can know how to construct their message to have the most effect on their audience. People who subscribe to the central route are highly involved in the decision-making process and are more likely to pay attention to details. Others who follow the peripheral route aren’t as involved and are easily persuaded by environmental cues, like a celebrity endorsers and the aesthetics of the message. There are also some studies that look at the ELM to understand why some people behave the way they do. The ELM model is also being used to better develop messages to be more effective. The following is a description of several studies conducted using the elaboration likelihood model. In Solomon’s //Consumer Behavior//, the author takes a look at a study where researchers wanted to know how college students would react to an advertisement for a low-alcohol beer. The researchers manipulated several variables crucial to the ELM. The subject’s involvement with the product was manipulated at the beginning of the research by promising gifts of the beer and availability of the product in their area in the near future to some and no beer and no availability to others. There were several versions of the ad where the level of persuasiveness was manipulated. One version of the ad promised fewer calories and another claimed it was just as good as any other beer. The source of the message also varied by changing the attractiveness of the couple drinking the beer in the ad. The study supports the idea that highly involved consumers look at strong, rational arguments and the less involved are more effected by external factors such as images, packaging, and the source of the message.
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A blogger, Thom Holwerda, was interested in knowing why normal computer users refused to switch from the Windows operating system to one of the better operating systems on the market. Holwerda looked at motivation and ability variables of the ELM to understand why users won’t make the switch. Normal computer users usually don’t make the shift to a better operating system because they lack the motivation and they lack the ability to interpret the message on the central route. When advocates of a better operating system try to appeal to the central route by giving the quantitative advantages, the normal computer user simply doesn’t care enough to be persuaded otherwise. This supports the ELM by showing that detailed, descriptive messages often will have a temporary to no effect on the less involved.

In another interesting study, researches wanted to know attitudes of adolescents towards HIV prevention. The study took almost 300 eighth and ninth grade students and randomly exposed each of them to one of four tapes where the relevancy of the message source varied between an HIV positive teen and a parent concerned about infection. The strength of the argument was varied as well, while controlling for the processing style. Afterwards, the researchers asked the subjects to score their opinion on several aspects of the message. Involvement was measured by asking the teens to take a pamphlet after testing. Those whore were effected by the message took a pamphlet and those not as effected left without one. This study provided a great first step in better constructing an HIV prevention message by utilizing the elaboration likelihood model.

