Advertising analysis in relation to the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). PDF

Preview

Summary

This essay examines two adverts, from PakNSav and DB Export, and examines them through the lens of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). ...

Description

Ainsley Harris 19037461 This essay will compare and contrast two adverts, Proudly Owned By Pak’NSave, and Drinking It For You by DB Export in relation to the Elaboration Likelihood Model. I will explain the history and function of the ELM, before describing both adverts and the persuasion paths the audience is likely to take when viewing them.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) developed in 1986 by Richard Petty and John Cacioppo, is a dual process approach to information processing and persuasion. The theory explains that there are two paths to persuasion, the central route and the peripheral route. Elaboration is described as engaging in issue-relevant thinking and is affected by motivation and ability factors (O’Keefe, 2002). The degree of elaboration forms a continuum in which the points are determined by how motivated and able a person is to assess and elaborate upon the information that they are presented. Depending on the degree of elaboration, either the central or peripheral process may be engaged. When elaboration is high, the central route is used. The central route is based on extensive and effortful information processing (Petty and Wegener, 1999) where scrutiny of the message takes place as well as issue-relevant considerations (O’Keefe, 2002). When elaboration is low, the peripheral route takes place. The peripheral route is based on information processing that requires less cognitive effort (Petty and Wegener, 1999). Receivers may rely on peripheral cues to guide their attitude, instead of making issue-relevant considerations. Peripheral cues include communication strategies such as positive association, expert appeal, and contrast (Oregon State University, n.d.).

An individual’s likelihood of elaboration is determined by their motivation and ability to evaluate the persuasive message. Motivation is mainly influenced by personal relevance (Te’eniHarari, Lampert, & Lehman-Wilzig, 2007), and the need to be correct. If a given issue is more relevant to the receiver, their motivation for engaging in issue relevant thinking increases. The ELM assumes that people want to hold opinions that are correct (Petty and Wegener, 1999). If someone is motivated to hold correct opinions, they will engage in issue relevant thinking to process the information, and make arguments with the ideas presented in order to achieve their personal correctness. Ability factors affecting the degree of elaboration include distraction, prior

Ainsley Harris 19037461 knowledge and time pressure. The presence of some distraction stimulus may disrupt the the receiver’s thoughts, and affect their ability to engage in issue relevant thinking (O’Keefe, 2002). The more extensive an individual’s prior knowledge on the persuasive topic, the more they are able to engage with the information presented. Furthermore, the absence of time pressure increases the receiver’s ability to engage in issue relevant thinking.

Proudly New Zealand Owned is a short 15 second advert by Pak’NSave, a New Zealand supermarket chain. The ad depicts a stickman walking in a paddock, wearing gumboots all set in a yellow background with simple line drawing. There is a male voiceover explaining how Pak’NSave supports all things New Zealand, and includes a joke, “Not many people know I was made from 100% Kiwi number eight wire,”. The advert finishes with the voiceover explaining that Pak’NSave is proudly New Zealand owned. The advertisers are primarily relying on viewers taking the peripheral route of information processing and persuasion. The first example of this is the length of the advert. The advert is only 15 seconds long, which has been designed for for people with little to no motivation or ability to engage with issue-relevant thinking. As time pressure is present, elaboration is lower, therefore the advertisers are using peripheral cues to convey their message. Paul Ego is a New Zealand comedian who has voiced Pak’NSave’s stickman for over 10 years (Devereux, 2019). The advertisers may be using celebrity appeal as a peripheral cue to persuade viewers. As Paul Ego is a trusted New Zealander, and his stickman character has been around for over 10 years, his familiar voice may act as a peripheral cue, and have influence on temporary attitude change or message elaboration (Oregon State Univeristy, n.d.). The advert also relies on aesthetic cues to convey its message and keep brand consistency. The advert made up by simple stickman drawings with a yellow background and black lines. These brand colours and low-budget advertising style keep the audience’s attitude towards Pak’NSave - a low price supermarket - consistent. The advertisers also create a persuasive advert by communicating ideas that are already present in society. The ‘Proudly New Zealand Owned’ and ‘Number 8 Wire’ ideas are already present and understood in New Zealand society, therefore require little ability for viewers to process. These ideas relate to genuineness and trustworthiness, and by as-

Ainsley Harris 19037461 sociating these notions with Pak’NSave, allows those same notions to be associated with the company. The advertisers are primarily relying on their audiences taking the peripheral route to persuasion by creating a short advert with positive associations, a celebrity voice and consistent aesthetic brand representation.

I’m Drinking it For You is an advert from DB Breweries, advertising their new low-carb beer. The advert is long, 3.47 minutes in total and was released as a full song and music video. The advert encourages New Zealand couples to turn the simple act of choosing low-carb beer into a romantic gesture (Newsroom, 2019). The advert depicts a Kiwi couple, in many different scenes of the music video drinking a DB Export Beer in one had, and freely completing another activity whilst doing so. Each scene of the video challenges social norms, and new ideas and arguments are presented. For example, the video starts with the man cooking dinner whilst drinking the beer, another scene shows the woman drinking the beer whilst gardening, another of the two of them exercising whilst holding a beer, and even a nana drinking a beer whilst washing her car. These ideas presented in the advert are challenging normative associations of beer drinking which is usually considered more common for men and consumed with other men either in a pub or home setting. The advertisers are primarily relying on audiences engaging in the central route of information processing and persuasion. The time length of the advertisement means that viewers will have to be motivated and able to watch the advert in its entirety. By presenting ideas that challenge normative views, the advertisers are relying on viewers motivated enough to engage in issue-relevant thinking to accept or challenge the messages presented. The goal of this advert is not only for the viewer to be persuaded by the product, but to change their attitude towards the consumption of beer. The advertisers are also relying on the viewer to have some sort of personal relevance to the topic, in order to have the ability to be persuaded by it. Personal relevance could include being a beer drinker, or someone who is looking for a low-carb alcoholic beverage option. The audience is likely to take the central route to processing with DB’s advert. However, the advertisers do also rely on some peripheral cues for persuasion. In many scenes of the music video styled advert, nudity and romance make a feature, as well as health and exercise. By making the associations of health and romance with their product, ad-

Ainsley Harris 19037461 vertisers are relying on the peripheral route of persuasion to be taken by some viewers to pick up these cues. As the advert is long, after some time motivation may decrease and central route processing can no longer take place. The music in the advert offers repetition, assists during the peripheral route of processing to reinforce information. Whilst the advert primarily relies on central route processing, there are elements of the peripheral route.

Both adverts rely on the audience to use the peripheral route of processing in some way. Pak’NSave’s Proudly New Zealand Owned primarily draws on the peripheral route of processing. The advert is short, uses ideas already present in society, and celebrity voice to convey its message. In contrast, I’m Drinking It for You draws primarily on the central route of processing. Whilst there are some peripheral cues present, such as the associations of health and romance, the majority of the advert relies on central route viewers who are actively engaging in issue-relevant thinking to process their message. DB Export constantly pushes the boundaries by challenging what most people consider ‘normal’ when it comes to drinking beer. The lengthy music video style advert attempts to persuade the viewer, as well as change the viewer’s attitude towards beer drinking. In contrast, Pak’NSave reinforces strong ideas that are prevalent in New Zealand culture and society, and makes these associations with their brand. Through the lens of the Elaboration Likelihood model, both adverts showcase different ways viewers process information according to their motivation and ability. High elaboration occurs when motivation and ability are high, as seen with DB Export’s I’m Drinking it For You. Low elaboration occurs when motivation and ability are low, and Pak’NSave designed an advert to work with these types of viewers.

References

Ainsley Harris 19037461 Devereux, C. (2019, November 20). The man, the stick, the legend; Behind the legacy of Pak'nSave's Stickman. Retrieved from https://stoppress.co.nz/news/the-man-the-stick-the-legend-behind-the-legacy-of-paknsaves-stickman/

Newsroom. (2019, February 11). DB Export and Colenso BBDO Make Song and Dance Over New Extra Low Carb Beer. Retrieved March 21, 2020, from https://fabnews.live/db-export-andcolenso-bbdo-make-song-and-dance-over-new-extra-low-carb-beer/

Oregon State University. (n.d.). Elaboration Likelihood Model. Retrieved March 21, 2020, from https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/theory/elm.html O'Keefe, D. (2002). Persuasion: Theory and Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Petty, R. E., & Wegener, D. T. (1999). The Elaboration Likelihood Model: Current status and controversies. In S. Chaiken & Y Trope (Eds.) Dual process theories in social psychology (pp 41-72). New York: Guilford Press.

Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. In Communication and persuasion (pp. 1-24). Springer, New York, NY.

Te’eni-Harari, T., Lampert, S. I., & Lehman-Wilzig, S. (2007). Information Processing of Advertising among Young People: The Elaboration Likelihood Model as Applied to Youth. Journal of Advertising Research, 47(3), 326–340. https://doi.org/10.2501/S0021849907070341...