Routes of Persuasion

How someone can be persuaded to change their attitude towards another person, idea, or object depends on a number of key factors, including the source—who the information comes from—and the content of the message.

For instance, trusted sources, like experts with sound arguments or evidence, are typically more persuasive. People are more likely to buy into their communication due to the triad of trustworthiness—possessing any or all of following three characteristics: authority of expertise, honesty, and likeability.

However, expert sources and high-quality information do not simply lead to successful persuasion.

Sometimes, individuals are motivated to pay close attention to a topic and process the content at a higher level of involvement, known as high elaboration. In this case, the objective details, such as statistics, can be more persuasive than the person delivering the message.

Other times, people may not be motivated to carefully think about the evidence, especially if the subject matter seems unfamiliar or irrelevant. With such reduced involvement, called low elaboration, the targeted individual may rely more on professional impressions than well-crafted arguments for persuasion.

These examples illustrate different ways of processing stimuli—centrally and peripherally—and their outcomes on attitude change.

Using the central route of persuasion, people are more likely to pay attention to the specific content: they’re the relevant demographic that’s familiar with what’s important to them. They don’t necessarily care about the name brand or need celebrity endorsement.

In contrast, when the item in question is not particularly relevant—they’re not that familiar with the product since they are shopping for a friend—processing occurs via the peripheral route of persuasion. The consumer will tend to rely on qualified testimonials and bypass the fine print.

In the end, successful persuasion depends on the context, like knowing the audience, and messengers can deliberately apply this knowledge to favorably promote their goods and services.