Persuasion

Persuasion, a process that changes attitudes, can occur in two different ways. When we are motivated to analyze and elaborate, or think carefully and scrutinize persuasive information, we take the central route to persuasion (Greenwald, 1968; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). In the central route, the strength and quality of the argument matters most (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The other route I'll come back to later. A strong predictor that people will take the central route is their level of involvement in the subject (Petty & Cacioppo, 1984). For example, if someone is buying a car, he or she is more likely to evaluate important issues such as gas mileage, crash test ratings, number of seats, etc. However, if that same someone brings a friend along, the friend is more likely to consider more trivial issues such as which car is prettier, which brand has the best color of red paint, how many beer cases can fit in the back seat, etc. The friend's route to persuasion is called the peripheral route in which the message is not important, but the external cues are (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986).

A time when my attitudes were persuaded via the central route is when I decided to transfer schools. The persuader was my boyfriend who off-handedly mentioned how nice it would be to go to the same school our last night together at home before we left for spring semester. I had never thought of transferring before, and started to think about it quite seriously by looking up statistics and facts and opinions of others online. And as I thought about my first semester in which I wrote no papers, got a 4.0 without working harder than in high school, etc. it started to become a better and better idea. Before I knew it I was filling out an application, then scheduling and interview, then looking at financial aid offers, then ta-da. This situation included a lot of personal involvement considering it could decide my future, so I took the central route of persuasion.

A time when my attitudes were persuaded by the peripheral route is whenever I pick out a shampoo. Though I am personally involved, the issue simply isn't very important to me, so I am not motivated to elaborate on it very much. Whenever I go buy shampoo, I go to the store and just look at all of the different shampoo bottles. I let cues like brand, color, bottle, scent, etc. influence my decision rather than turning over every bottle and looking at the ingredients then looking up what the ingredient is supposed to do online ... blah blah blah. I end up picking the on in the prettiest bottle with the best smell despite whether it will give my hair the most volume or curl (neither of which I need). Because I rely on cues instead of the content of the argument to choose shampoo, I am using the peripheral route.

Greenwald, A. G. (1968). Cognitive learning, cognitive responses to persuasion, an attitude change. In A. Greenwald, T. Brock, & T. Ostrom (Eds.), Psychological foundations of attidudes (pp.147-170). New York: Academic Press.

Petty, R. E., Cacioppo, J. T. (1984). The effects of involvement on response to argument quantity and quality: Central and peripheral routes to persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 69-81.

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