The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion proposes two routes to persuasion. Name them, define them and describe how they are different.

The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion proposes two routes to persuasion. Name them, define them and describe how they are different.

Central route to persuasion: persuasion that occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

Peripheral Route Persuasion: persuasion that occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as the speaker's attractiveness.

As we can see from the figure above, when we are listening to a particular message, such as the one made by this political candidate, there are two ways in which we can be persuaded. If we take a central route, which is most likely if we are involved in the topic or we find it somehow interesting, we will focus on the arguments being presented. If the arguments are strong, then we will be convinced and be more likely to vote for this candidate. If the arguments are weak, we will be less convinced and less likely to vote for them.

This is important: to take the central route, targets must be both a) motivated, and b) able to process the message. The smartest person in the world might be able to process a message, but if they are bored or uninterested, the central merits of an argument won't be carefully attended to.

If we are not interested in the message, or if we are unable to understand it (e.g., too much jargon), we will trend toward the peripheral route. This means that we will tend to focus on peripheral cues as we process the information. These cues might include the attractiveness of the speaker, or the confidence with which they speak (which might have nothing to do with the quality of what they are saying!).