Application Of Elaboration Likelihood Management
To Election 2000

The Presidential Election for 2000 is at hand. This is a great way to apply the Elaboration Likelihood Management Theory to real life.

Central Route

To do this you must think of yourself a voter! And as a voter you tend to listen to issues that personally involve or affect you. If an issue personally affects you or you have strong beliefs about an issue you are then going to listen to a candidate using the Central Route of Elaboration Likelihood.

For Example George W. Bush could be speaking about his plans for education reform on CSPAN, and if you are a teacher, or you have children in school you would be personally affected by his speech and would be listening to him out of shear interest. You would be listening for all the facts that he has on this subject, and what he plans to do to reform our education system today.

On the other hand, if George W. Bush is knowledge able about what is going on and presents his education reform assertively as well as his other proposals and you agree with these then you will probably be persuaded to vote for him. This is an example of a strong message.

If George W. Bush is speaking on CSPAN one night and you listen to what he has to say and don't feel as though he has displayed no real knowledge during his speech, and you find him offending then you find him unpersuasive, and would be more opt to oppose him more vigorously this is an example of a Weak message.

Also if George W. Bush would be speaking on issues such as Education reform, and Campaign Funding reform and some of the facts he presented were valid to you, but some of them were not so valid. You would not be persuaded one way or the other. This would be an example of a Neutral message.


Peripheral Route

Now that we have finished up with the Central Route. Elaboration Likelihood Management also encompasses the Peripheral Route. This is the most widely used route in the world of politics. Picture yourself as a non active voter. You really have no political ideologies, and feel nothing toward any of the issues facing America today. The way that the candidates would go about getting your attention to vote for them would be by using the Peripheral route of Elaboration Likelihood.

One way they would go about doing this would be by using attractive campaign commercials on television. Picture yourself sitting in front of the television one night and a commercial comes on with trendy colors, and things that appeal to the eye, along with the candidates name flashing all over the screen. You are not interested in the issues this candidate identifies with, but that his commercial was cool!!! This is only one way politicians use the peripheral route to catch your attention.

Also studies have proven that if a candidate has an attractive or common name then they are more likely to attract the no decisive voters. Last night I was watching the primaries on the news. They interviewed someone about why they voted the way they did. The person responded that he didn't know anything about the guy except that he likes his name. This is another example of the peripheral route.

Also a third example of the way politicians use the peripheral route is physical attractiveness. If a candidate is attractive, or looks wholesome and trustworthy then they are also more opt to get the indecisive vote. For example my roommates say that they will vote for a certain candidate for president just because he looks like he is honest, and he is handsome!!!! So it helps to be a good looking guy!!!!

Unfortunately politicians use countless peripheral route tactics to gain voter approval. So some advice for the upcoming election is don't be suckered into something through the peripheral route of Elaboration Likelihood. Use good judgment and make thoughtful decisions. This is the Central Route of Elaboration Likelihood and it is the one aspect that is carefully contemplated, and not made of superficial snap judgments!!

Click here to go a site dedicated to Agenda-Setting Theory. This theory relates to Elaboration Likelihood Management Theory becasue it illustrates another example of communicating through means of mass communications.

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