Towles-Schwein,1999). However to conform to availability of resources
demand, the arguments containedin the messageneedto be salient and of high
quality, otherwisethe consumermightwant to takecareof the arguments but
cannot(Woodet al., 1985;Areni,2003).The quality of arguments is shownto
be a necessary precondition to process informationif the targetedconsumeris
motivated to process information following the central route. Therefore
wheneverrisksare communicated, considerablecareshould be taken to design
these highquality arguments.
Motivatingconsumers to followthe centralroute of processing
In this chapterwe will focuson motivationof consumers ratherthan on the effect
of messagequality. So wheneverthereis a highrelevanceof the informationand
the informationitself is well structured,the arguments will be weighed and used
by the consumer.So to achievethe centralprocessingof informationand the
accompanyinglastingattitudechange, it wouldbe useful to be able to motivate
consumers and,of course,to knowhowto supplythe information. One way of
motivatingpeopleto process informationis by increasing theirlevelof fear
(Kruglanski and Freund, 1983).Althoughresearch withfear as motivator has
beenconducted, in general littleresearch on the relationbetween emotionsand
persuasionattempts following dual-process modelshas beenconducted. The use
of fear mightlead to someunforeseen side effects,as we will discussat the end of
the followingsection on peripheral processingof information.
Peripheralprocessing of information
Whenthe informationis of low relevance, thereis no intrinsicmotivationto
process the arguments elaborately.McGuire(1985)has reportedthat the extent
to whicha source is perceivedto possessexpertisemayact as a cue that
increases the likelihoodof persuasionoccurring. In thesecases the impactof the
arguments are probablymediatedby peripheralcues.Factorssuchas expertise
mayact as sucha referentialcue as to the quality of the arguments. So if the
informationis derivedfroman expert source, and the conclusionsare takeninto
account withoutgoingintothe actualarguments, a changein attitudemight
follow.Trustin the informationsource providingthe informationmayalso act
as a peripheral cue as to the meritsof the messages contained(Petty and
Cacioppo, 1986).There is, however, some evidence that, in the case of
communication aboutmicrobial foodsafety, information source characteristics
are lessinfluential than messagerelevance in influencing risk perceptions
associatedwithfoodpoisoning (Freweret al., 1997).
Anotherprocess that followsperipheral ratherthen centralprocesses mightbe
called the affectheuristic(Finucaneet al., 2000).This emotion-related heuristic
implies that when one is feelinggood, risk perception will be perceived as far
lowerand benefits as higher,so a goodmoodprobablyinfersthe use of positive
ratherthennegative information.Alternativelya bad moodshould enforcethe
processingof negative information,which mightbe one of the specificfunctions
of fear in persuasion(Lerner and Keltner, 2001). The exacteffects of emotion
110 Handbookof hygiene controlin the foodindustry