Elaboration theory – not half as complex as it sounds
The Elaboration Likelihood Model is one of the best theoretical bases that we have for the argument that direct mail and email to your existing customers should be different from direct mail and email to people who have never bought from you before and who may have negative views on your company or your product.
The original model set out in the 1980s is fairly limited in its approach and had nothing to say on direct mail. Here I have attempted to take it a stage further and see its implications for direct mail. In doing this we find that the model fits exactly with the three fundamental laws of direct mail.
In essence, the model suggests that there are two ways in which a person is persuaded to take a particular course of action through an advert: the central path and the peripheral path – one suitable for the motivated reader (i.e. the past customer) and one for the unmotivated or negative recipient of your message..
Advertising works in different ways according to whether the person getting the message is motivated or not – this theory takes that awareness in a new direction.
Elaboration theory says that the “central path” is the path to use when the recipient of the advertisement is motivated to think about the message. In my most common examples – if you talk to me about Arsenal FC or Bob Dylan I listen, because they are favourite topics of mine; talk to me about the relative qualities of various wine vintages that cost £100 a bottle and you lose me after 5 seconds and you are going to have to approach me in a quite different way.
If I care about the issue then I will myself elaborate on the message by thinking more about it, for example, by thinking of the tactical implications of my favourite football team buying a new player, or whether I can cancel a dental appointment in order to get to the Bob Dylan concert.
If I think positively about the issue raised in the message, and churn the matter over and over in my head, then I elaborate on the message I have received in a positive way. So in this way all that has to be presented to me are the opportunities – the possibilities – and my mind does the rest.
But a boomerang effect can occur if I think unfavourable thoughts about the message – so if you try to put this central path approach to a person who has negative feelings about your product or service, all that happens is that those negative feelings are enhanced..
Also, if I am not that motivated to take note of the core message that the advertiser is putting across then I might start looking for what are known as “peripheral cues” which leads us to the peripheral pathway. In looking at the peripheral cues my brain might try to link the advertising message with things I already have a positive idea about – the obvious examples being chocolate, sex, money, food, drink, having fun, having the company of good friends, being popular, feeling secure and so on.
In short, what I need to be given are benefits that directly relate to my position in life.
So, the argument here is if the reader is already motivated and will elaborate on the message then the central route is best. But if the person getting the advertisement is unlikely to elaborate the message, or if the available arguments are weak, then the peripheral route to persuasion should be used. Forget the product or service for a moment, and focus on the benefits of use by a non-believer.
This is just one example of the way in which we approach marketing for companies that are part of our Velocity campaign programme. If you would like to talk about this, do call 01536 399 000 or alternatively take a look at www.velocity.ac
Tony Attwood