Central and peripheral routes to persuasion

 

Persuasion is the process of changing attitudes in such a way that allows for the promotion of a scenario where the individual involved is able to ensure that the audience takes his side of an argument. This is especially the case when one considers the manner through which persuasion is a basic aspect of human society. There is a lot of information concerning persuasion and this can be understood through the use of the elaboration likelihood model. This model makes the proposal that there are two routes of persuasion, namely the central and the peripheral (Yalch & Elmore-Yalch, 1984). This paper seeks to develop an understanding of the central and peripheral routes of communication and the role of the communicator, message, and the audience, in the process.

The central route of persuasion is one that involves the thoughtful consideration of the arguments made in the message. This is especially the case when one considers that there is the need to ensure that the ideas and content of the message have to be well thought out and included prior to the message being presented (Di Blasio & Milani, 2008). It is also necessary to note that when a receiver is undertaking central processing, they are actually being an active participant in the persuasion process. There are two prerequisites when it comes to central processing namely the motivation and the ability to think about the message that is to be given. The importance of this step comes about through a consideration of the way that the audience can be persuaded to pay attention to the message that is being given and how best to make sure that there is the promotion of a scenario where there is the advancement of message effectiveness. Thus, if the audience does not understand or is not interested in the message, it is likely that he lacks the ability to undertake central processing.

The peripheral route, on the other hand, is based on the decision by the listener to either agree or disagree with the message based on other factors apart from the strength of the arguments made. An example of such circumstances is where a listener may make the decision to ensure that he listens to the argument and agree with it based on the attractiveness of the presenter of the message (Petty & Cacioppo, 1984). Another aspect of the peripheral route is that the listener could end up being persuaded based on the consideration of the many arguments that a message might have, but does not have the motivation to think of the arguments individually. In this way, peripheral considerations rather than the credibility of the message end up having a greater impact on the persuasion process. However, it is essential to consider that there are instances where individuals will choose to agree with a message based on the seeming knowledge of the source. This occurs in cases where the audience is not willing to think too much on the message and prefers to trust in the word of the source. Because of this, the receivers of the message using the peripheral route will most likely be more passive concerning the message than is the case with the central route.

Therefore, when it comes to persuasion, it matters whether the audience is willing to take on the central or peripheral route. Under such circumstances, the persuasion that takes place from a central route will have different effects from that taking place from the peripheral route (Pöyry, Parvinen, & McFarland, 2017). Thus, attitude changes that come about because of the processing of arguments that are relevant to issues will often show greater temporal persistence, greater behavior prediction, and greater resistance when it comes to counters to the persuasion that are based on peripheral cues. In most cases, persuaders will often seek to ensure that their message and its impact lasts longer in the minds of the audience, but while this may be the case, it is pertinent to note that there are instances where peripheral routes have a more lasting effect. However, it is important to consider that while the central route is the most preferred one when it comes to persuasion because of the length of its duration in the minds of audiences, both the central and peripheral routes should be well understood because they occur to receivers in the regular social circumstances.

There is a focus on the duration of the message when considering the central route. This is significant because of the desire to understand how best to influence the audience through the persuasiveness and the number of times that they are exposed to the message. In this route of persuasion, there is the active engagement of the audience to such an extent that they end up believing the message that they are being told or shown (O'Keefe, 2016). If the content being shown is directly related or near to the audience, the person is more likely to be influenced by the message to change their behavior to the one desired by the communicator. This is because the central route is one that makes use of credibility, arguments, facts, and expertise in order to ensure that the attention of the audience is gained. This process therefore ensures that there is the establishment of an environment where the audience is more likely to trust in the information being presented to them.

The peripheral route of persuasion is based on the message promoting popularity and fame. The latter comes about through the way that messages end up being used as a means of persuading the audience based on the attractiveness of the individual giving the message rather than the message itself (Algarni, 2019). There are no elaborations to the message and instead, there is the promotion of a scenario where the audience is passive. Mental shortcuts are used to enhance the persuasion process, which ensures that there is the creation of an environment within which individuals are persuaded temporarily and because of the euphoric feelings that they might have, accept the message as fact. However, change in attitudes through this route is always temporary and in the end, the audience can be persuaded otherwise quickly.

An example of the workings of persuasive routes is that of advertisements. When advertisements are shown, the message that is given is often one that seeks to ensure that the audience is attracted to it (Allison, Davis, Webb, & Short, 2017). In this way, the audience can be persuaded to either change his behavior or agree with the message being given. In this way, different attitudes are formed and changed through the use of the advertisement. The process of persuasion in this way is one that considers the different types of audiences. The first of these are those individuals that are easily influenced due to their gullibility. The second are those that are highly argumentative and skeptical, meaning that they cannot be influenced easily. The third are those individuals who have bad communication skills yet have firm beliefs. The fourth and final category is those individuals that are not only leaders, but also trust others to ensure that they follow their ideas and thinking while using their charisma to ensure that they are followed by others. Therefore, the way that most individuals in society behave fall into one of the categories that have been mentioned.

The communicator has the role of making sure that they are not only credible, but also highly persuasive. This is an important aspect of the peripheral persuasion route because the perception of the individuals involved is one that should be viewed as not only trustworthy, but also competent as a means of achieving the goal of persuading the audience (Guyer, Briñol, Petty, & Horcajo, 2019). Moreover, it is essential to consider that the individuals involved have to be knowledgeable concerning their message in a manner that allows them to not only gain the trust of the audience, but also enable them to change the views of the audience in a way that persuades them that he has nothing to gain personally. The likeability of the communicator is also critical because it allows for more to be accomplished through the peripheral route in a manner that ensures that there is the promotion of similarity with the audience as well as the use of their physical attributes, such as beauty, to enhance the effectiveness of the message. In this way, the communicator is able to play a highly significant role in bringing about the enhancement of the message through his presence and the attitude that he generates from the audience towards him.

The message is also an important aspect of persuasion and it plays a significant role when it comes to the central route. This route is one that requires that the message can be more persuasive through the promotion of a positive mood among the audience (Wood, Kallgren, & Preisler, 1985). Furthermore, it is a means through which to ensure that there is the enhancement of a positive attitude from the audience in such a way that allows for the attainment of the goal of persuading them to accept it. The message has to be tailored in a way that ensures that there is the use of credible information as well as an effective means of promoting the interests of the audience so that they can be persuaded to listen. In a scenario where a message of a threat is being given, it becomes necessary to also include information concerning how to best handle the threat in order to overcome the fear that comes with it. Moreover, the message can be presented as a two-sided argument that allows the audience to consider the options involved and make the decision that best suits them.

The audience plays the role of listening to the message being transmitted. Therefore, there should be a consideration of the way that they can be persuaded so that the message can be tailored to their attitudes. Furthermore, there should be a process where they are able to both contrast and assimilate the message so that they can be able to not only handle the diversity of issues being presented, but also come to a decision concerning their position on the matter. Moreover, it is critical for the audience to be allowed to assimilate messages through the opinions being presented in the said messages being presented as being similar to their own position than they really are; essentially persuading them to take on the position that is desired by the communicator.

The people that are persuaded by the peripheral route tend to be passive unlike the central route because of their unwillingness to think through the message being presented. This is unlike those persuaded by the central route, which will often end up seeking to ensure that the message they get is authentic and based on facts. Moreover, the attitude changes that come about from the attraction of attention is a basic aspect of the peripheral route and because of this, it is based on populism. The latter is especially prevalent in the peripheral route of persuasion, which make use of unsubstantiated claims, unlike in the central route, which is used in informative programs to educate the audience. The discussion above has also shown that central route persuasion tends to last longer than that of the peripheral route, which shows the manner through which individuals in society will often end up in a scenario where they are swiftly persuaded by populist ideas only to forget about it within a short time. thus, while the audience is deeply involved in the processing of messages using the central route, the same cannot be said of peripheral routes, which they show low involvement in.