It has been over 10 years since we initiated work on our first series of collaborative experiments. As graduate students, we had great fun planning, conducting, and writing this research (Petty & Cacioppo, 1977). We enjoyed arguing with each other at our initial meeting in 1973 and have sub­ sequently become best friends, but neither of us suspected at the time that we would or could actively maintain a research collaboration over the next decade, or that we would now find ourselves in a position to write this monograph. As we note in Chapter 1, we began our studies of persuasion at a time when social psychology was in "crisis," and interest in research on attitude change in particular was declining. As we write this, we are aware of six new volumes on persuasion that are in press or in preparation and that should appear over the next few years. In retrospect, it is not so surprising that research on attitudes and persuasion would reemerge as a central concern of social psychology. We believe that human feelings, beliefs, and behaviors, whether in the domain of interpersonal relations (e. g. , marriage, aggression), politics (e. g. , voting, revolution), health (e. g. , following a medical regimen), or economics (e. g. , consumer purchases) are greatly influenced by the evaluations people have of other people, objects, and issues. Furthermore, evaluations (attitudes) are influenced by affect, cognition, and behavior.

Inhalt

1. The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion.- Postulates of the ELM.- Postulate on Underlying Motivation.- Postulate on Variations in Elaboration.- Postulate on How Variables Affect Persuasion.- Postulates on Relatively Objective and Relatively.- Biased Elaboration.- Postulate on Elaboration Versus Peripheral Cues.- Postulate on Consequences of Elaboration.- Retrospective.- 2. Methodological Factors in the ELM.- Assessing Attitudes and Persuasion.- Initial Attitude Changes.- Attitude Change Over Time.- Assessing the Basic Constructs in the ELM.- Argument Quality.- Peripheral Cues.- Message Elaboration.- Need for Cognition: Assessing Elaboration Likelihood via Individual Differences.- Retrospective.- 3. The Ability to Elaborate in a Relatively Objective Manner.- Factors Affecting the Ability to Elaborate Objectively.- Effects of Distraction on Message Elaboration and Persuasion.- Effects of Moderate Message Repetition on Message Elaboration and Persuasion.- Effects of Recipient Posture on Message Elaboration and Persuasion.- Other Variables Affecting Ability to Process Objectively.- Retrospective.- 4. The Motivation to Elaborate in a Relatively Objective Manner.- Factors Affecting the Motivation to Elaborate Objectively.- Effects of Personal Relevance on Message Elaboration and Persuasion.- Effects of Personal Responsibility on Message Elaboration and Persuasion.- Effects of Number of Message Sources on Message Elaboration and Persuasion.- Effects of Need for Cognition on Message Elaboration and Persuasion.- Retrospective.- 5. Biased Elaboration.- Ability Variables That Bias Elaboration: Focus on Prior Knowledge.- Effects of Schemata on Processing One-Sided Messages.- Effects of Schemata on Processing Two-Sided Messages.- Motivational Variables That Bias Elaboration: Focus on Forewarning.- Forewarning of Message Content.- Forewarning of Persuasive Intent.- Other Variables That Bias Message Elaboration.- Bogus Personality Feedback.- High Levels of Message Repetition.- Hemispheric Asymmetry.- Audience Expressions of Approval or Disapproval.- Biased Processing or Peripheral Cues?.- Retrospective.- 6. Message Elaboration Versus Peripheral Cues.- Objective Processing Versus Peripheral Cues.- Personal Relevance and the Operation of Peripheral Cues.- Additional Moderators of Cue Use: Distraction, Need for Cognition, and Others.- Biased Processing Versus Peripheral Cues.- Effects of Schemata on the Use of Peripheral Cues.- Testing the ELM Analysis of Prior Knowledge.- Retrospective.- 7. Consequences of the Route to Persuasion.- Persistence of Persuasion.- Enhanced Thinking Produces Persistence.- Testing the ELM Analysis of Persistence.- Alternative Models of Attitude Persistence.- Attitude-Behavior Link.- Enhanced Thinking Produces Attitude-Behavior Consistency.- Testing the ELM Analysis of Attitude-Behavior Consistency.- Resistance to Counterpersuasion.- Enhanced Thinking Produces Resistance.- Testing the ELM Resistance Predictions.- Retrospective.- 8. Intricacies of the Elaboration Likelihood Model.- Variables With Multiple Effects on Elaboration.- Variables That Enhance and Reduce Message Processing.- Shifting Processing From Objective to Biased.- Variables That Affect Message Processing and Serve as Peripheral Cues.- Multiple Effects of Source Expertise and Attractiveness.- Other Variables With Multiple Effects.- Processing When No Message or Both Sides Are Presented.- Retrospective.- 9. Epilogue.- Determinants of Elaboration Likelihood.- Integrative Potential of the ELM.- Conclusions.- References.- Author Index.