80 CHAPTER 3 HOW MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS WORKruns out of Danette, the consumer does not have the opportunity to buy it. A consumer may
be motivated to process the information of a particular ad, but if the phone rings, he or she
does not have the opportunity to pay attention to it. Also, when the ad contains little or no
information, it does not provide the opportunity to elaborate on it.
The effects of the MAO factors on attitude formation and marketing communications
processing are presented in the Elaboration Likelihood model (ELM) (Figure 3.3).^20 If motiva-
tion, ability and opportunity are all high, the elaboration likelihood is said to be high and
consumers are expected to engage in central-route processing. This means that they are willing
to elaborate on the information, to evaluate the arguments and find out what the information
really has to offer. Depending on the quality and credibility of the arguments, consumers will
react by producing counter-, support or neutral arguments, which induce a negative, positive
or no attitude change, respectively. For example, when thinking of McDonald’s consumers
might think of how good McDonald’s burgers and fries taste: a support argument. On the
other hand, consumers might also think of how unhealthy fast food is: a counter-argument.
Furthermore, consumers might just think of the red and yellow colours of a McDonald’s
restaurant: in effect, a neutral argument. Attitudes formed via the central route prove to be
good predictors of later behaviour and are fairly resistant to other persuasive messages.
On the other hand, if one or more of the MAO factors is/are low, consumers are more
likely to process the information peripherally. The result of the latter is no real informationFigure 3.3 The Elaboration Likelihood model
Source: Based on Petty, R.E. and Cacioppo, J.T. (1986), ‘The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion’, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 123–205.M03_PELS3221_05_SE_C03.indd 80 6/5/13 3:03 PM