MOTIVATION FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION

yes no

ABLE TO PROCESS INFORMATION? PASSIVE PROCESSING

yes no

Figure 2.19 Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

(Adapted from: Belch & Belch, 2004: 159; Tellis, 2004: 113; Vidal, 1998)

Whenever a consumer has the motivation to elaborate (process) the message of the advertisement, he or she will follow either a central route of persuasion or a peripheral

route of persuasion. This will depend on the consumer having the ability to process the advertisement’s message or not (Tellis, 2004: 114).

The central route will be followed when the consumer is cable of processing the advertisement’s message. By following this route the consumer will be persuaded by

“strong” arguments. A strong argument has the ability to persuade the consumer by appealing to reason and relying on evidence (Belch & Belch, 2004: 159; Tellis, 2004: 112;

Vidal, 1998). The consumer will then cognitively process the advertisement’s message where, if the argument is favoured, a positive attitude towards the advertisement will be formed. This advertisement will then typically exhibit a persuasive nature. Conversely, when the consumer is not in favour of the advertisement’s message, a negative attitude towards the advertisement will be formed. The advertisement therefore did not succeed in its persuasiveness (Belch & Belch, 2004: 159).

The peripheral route will be followed when the consumer lacks the ability to process the advertisements’ message (Tellis, 2004: 113). As the consumer follows this route he or she will be more responsive to cues associated with the information provided by the advertisement. Examples of persuasive cues that can be used in the peripheral route are the structure of the advertisement, presence and fame of endorsers, the costliness of the advertisement, music or imagery used, and the number of arguments included (as opposed to the strength of the argument observed in the central route) (Belch & Belch, 2004: 160). Such positive cues may result in a consumer forming a positive attitude towards the brand of the product advertised even though he or she is unable to process the information of the advertisement. Opposing this are negative cues (for example, low-budget advertising, endorsers lacking credibility, or advocating extreme positions or beliefs) which may result in the consumer rejecting the advertisement without even considering the information provided by it (Belch & Belch, 2004: 160; Tellis, 2004: 113;

Vidal, 1998).

In a situation where the consumer is not motivated to process the advertisement’s information as well as not being able to do so, the consumer will enter into a passive state of receptivity (passive processing) to the advertisement or he or she will not attend to it.

In such a state advertisers can use drama or humour in the advertisement to gain the consumer’s attention (Belch & Belch, 2004: 160; Tellis, 2004: 113). However, Tellis (2004: 120) suggested that factors such as ‘mere exposure’ and the use of soft-sell messages have a very effective role in attracting the consumer’s attention. Mere exposure refers to the repetitive exposure of a stimulus which can lead to the preference of it, even if not remembered. In advertising such stimuli can, for example, be a certain jingle, slogan, or logo. When a consumer is repeatedly exposed to advertisements containing such stimuli, he or she may start liking the stimuli thereby being more favourable towards the advertisement (Tellis, 2004: 118). Soft-sell messages are messages which are subtle in nature. Subtle messages will allow consumers to interpret advertisements differently or can result in the advertisement being suggestive by means of persuasion. Advertisements that employ soft-sell messages do not make direct requests for action or change (Tellis, 2004: 120).

According to Tellis (2004: 113) the ELM model shows that consumers are not always thoughtful nor are they always mindless when making decisions and forming opinions about advertisements. This model is a valuable tool in identifying reasons for the inclusion of certain components such as humour, photographs of celebrities, or certain logos or slogans in advertisements.

2.5.3 Emotion in advertising

Persuasion is also concerned with emotions (Wells, et al., 1995: 280). Emotion is a mental activity which is defined as a state of arousal, a feeling of any kind – hate, jealousy, fear, anger, joy, and love. The James-Lange theory of emotion stated that emotion results from physiological reactions to certain events (Van Wagner, 2007). A person’s feelings about a product, brand or service may be just as important as what he or she knows about it (Wells, et al., 1995: 280). It is an effective and powerful marketing tool used as a persuasive communicator in advertising. Although being distinct from thought, it is aroused through a sequence of thoughts triggered by certain stimuli such as a sad letter resulting in a feeling of sadness (Tellis, 2004: 147).

Emotion is also employed in pharmaceutical advertising. In her study, Direct-to-consumer advertising: Healthy education or corporate spin?, Melissa Raven (2004: 9) identified the following powerful emotional factors employed in DTC advertisements:

• value of health (peoples’ own health or that of their loved ones);

• fear of disability and death;

• responsibility of a person to take care of his or her own health and that of their loved ones;

• self-consciousness, vanity, and shame; and

• vulnerability of people who, for example, are ageing or ailing.

2.5.3.1 Modes of persuasion by emotion

Advertisements can employ various stimuli to evoke emotion, for example, humour, pictures, and a sequence of events. When a consumer becomes aroused as a result of reacting to such stimuli, he or she will take action by means of one of the following modes (Tellis, 2004: 148):

(i) Associative mode

Tellis (2004: 148) describes the associative mode as a method in which emotions are aroused by means of stimuli which are only “tangentially related” to a product advertised.

This means that an advertisement can present, for example in a picture, a scenario that arouses a certain emotion without stating the benefits of the advertised product. Such a method attracts the consumer’s attention as well as associating the company’s name with that emotion. Tellis (2004: 149) stated that the associative mode causes persuasion through a better recall ability of the name of the brand as well as its association with a specific emotion, rather than with the attributes of the brand. Figure 2.20 illustrates how this mode causes persuasion by means of the arousal of an emotion.