Question

One brand of peanut butter advertises its product by describing its taste and nutritional value. It is hoping to persuade customers through ___ route processing. In ads for a competing brand, a popular actor happily eats the product-but does not describe it. This approach hopes to persuade customers through ___ route processing.

Short answer

The first brand uses central route processing, while the second brand uses peripheral route processing.

Step-by-step solution

Identifying persuasion routes in Brand 1

The brand articulates the taste and nutritional value of the peanut butter. This implies that the brand wants the potential customers to consider these solid reasons while making a purchasing decision. This process involves elaborate thinking and is therefore part of the central route processing.

Identifying persuasion routes in Brand 2

In contrast, the second brand uses a famous actor to endorse the product without elaborating on its features. The brand hopes that consumers associate the positive image of the actor with their product, which would influence their purchasing decision. This is the peripheral route processing as it involves less analytical thought.

Key concepts

Central route processing

When it comes to making decisions, especially about what products to buy, our brains can take different paths. Central route processing involves a lot of thinking and careful consideration. Imagine you're in the store, looking at a jar of peanut butter. The label goes into great detail about how it's made with quality ingredients, its health benefits, and why it's better than other brands. If you find yourself reading all this and thinking it over, you're using the central route to be persuaded. This type of processing is all about the content and the arguments presented.

People are more likely to use central route processing when they're really interested in the topic or when the decision they're making is important to them. For example, if you're trying to eat healthily, you might pay more attention to the nutritional information. It's because you're motivated to make the best choice for your health.

Peripheral route processing

On the other side of decision making, we have Peripheral route processing. This is like taking a shortcut when trying to decide if you like something or not. You might see an ad where a celebrity is having a great time while eating a particular brand of peanut butter. They're not saying anything about the product itself—they're just there, looking happy. If that image alone makes you think, 'I'd like to be that happy with my snack,' and you choose to buy it, then you've been influenced by the peripheral route. This route relies on surface-level cues like attractiveness, celebrity endorsement, or catchy music in an ad.

Peripheral processing often happens when we don't care too much about the decision or we're not very knowledgeable about the product. It's the way our brains save energy by not delving into deep thought and instead rely on simple, sometimes emotional cues to make a choice.

Consumer decision making

Making choices about what to buy can be complex. We call this Consumer decision making. It's like having a conversation in your head about the pros and cons of a product before you decide to buy it. Each of us has different things we look for when making these decisions. You might prioritize price, while someone else might think taste is more important. Companies try to figure out what matters to us and they tailor their advertisements accordingly.

Consumer decision making involves a few steps. First, you recognize that you need something, like realizing you're out of peanut butter. Then, you search for information about different brands and types. Next, you evaluate all this information, weigh your options, and finally make your purchase. After buying, you'll decide if you made the right choice based on your experience with the product. This process can be influenced by central or peripheral route processing, depending on how much thought and effort you put into each step.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

Now, let's talk about a theory that explains how these two routes of persuasion work. It's called the Elaboration Likelihood Model, or ELM for short. Picture your mind like a road with two lanes: the central route and the peripheral route. ELM suggests that which lane you take depends on how willing and able you are to think about the message you're getting.

If you're motivated and have the ability to think about the message, you'll likely take the central route—remember, that's the one where you carefully think about the details. But if you're not that interested or you don't have enough information to think deeply, you'll probably cruise down the peripheral route and be influenced by simpler cues. The model suggests that attitudes formed via the central route are usually stronger and more lasting, while those formed via the peripheral route might change more easily. Understanding ELM can help us see why sometimes we're swayed by facts and evidence, while other times it's the superficial elements that catch our attention.