Petty and Cacioppo (1986) propose that there are two basic ways of trying to persuade people, or two “routes” to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route.
Central route
A route to persuasion where people think carefully and deliberately about the content of a persuasive message, attending to its logic and the strength of its arguments, as well as to related evidence and principles.
Peripheral route
A route to persuasion wherein people attend to relatively easy-to-process, superficial cues related to a persuasive message, such as its length or the expertise or attractiveness of the source of the message.
Motivation and ability determines whether we will engage in central or peripheral processing in response to a persuasive message.
For persuasion to occur via the central route, we have to be both motivated and able to engage in more in-depth processing. If either (or both) is lacking, persuasion generally relies on peripheral cues. For long-lasting attitude change, persuasion through the central route is preferable.
The internet makes it much easier for both the central and peripheral routes to be used in advertising: if the consumer need something right now, he is less inclined to think logically about it and compare brands, versus if it's something that the consumer can’t wait.
Anytime someone engages with media as a way to look up specific information, purchase a specific item or product, or communicate with someone, they are engaging in the central route of persuasion. Conversely, when the consumer engage with the advertisements that pop up while he is’ online and end up purchasing something from those advertisements, he is engaging in the peripheral route of persuasion.
Example: use of influencer marketing.
The central route involves targeting consumers that are generally more motivated and have the ability to think critically about a product. For this type of marketing the marketers would target the specific customer segment using social media influencers that review and promote products on Instagram and Facebook. For example, if someone wanted to sell more running shoes, she would have influential YouTube fitness gurus market a pair of shoes. The types of consumers that watch these videos are the one's who think critically and look at the evidence surrounding the claims of a product.
The peripheral route of the ELM model would focus more on the source of the message, rather than the message itself. The marketers would target these consumers by using social media but in this case she would want to use someone who is much more well known in their industry or pop culture in general. Using the same example of selling a running shoe, she would try and get someone like Kim Kardashian to post a video or picture of her wearing the shoes. This would reach a larger audience that would be inclined to buy the shoes simply because Kim Kardashian is wearing them.
