Academic Writing – Page 2

Cacioppo and Petty intended ELM to be a generic theory on persuasion and attitude change. The theory is based on two assumptions about attitudes. The first is that there are people who hold correct attitudes. Correct attitudes are based on rational thought and help people in their daily functions. The second form of attitudes are based less on personal thought and more on external influences— especially on subject matter authorities. The two mental strategies that ELM poses based on these assumptions are central and peripheral routes of processing persuasive messaging.

Central route processing requires involvement by the subject when evaluating persuasive messaging. During central route processing, messaging is actively compared to prior knowledge of the matter and finally integrated or rejected based on mindful evaluation. In the peripheral processing route, participants are less motivated to self-analyze information and are influenced by peripheral cues based on source credibility or attractiveness. People cannot be categorically bucketed as central or peripheral information processes, so it is understood that people use both cues, perhaps one more than the other, in certain situations.

The chapter is more focused on how people react to political messaging and suggests that those who use more central processing are “elite” information processors compared to information “non-elites” , who are thought to be easily influenced by popularity or popular consensus. In other words, information elites do not only depend on the media to form political opinions, whereas nonelites use media as the only source when it comes to forming opinions.

“The effects of Online Reviews …” explores how online reviews are used by males and females using the ELM models of persuasion. Here, based on prior research on gender and online behavior, paying attention to the quality of reviews is thought to be indicative of central processing (elite), whereas being persuaded by the quantity/popularity of the reviews as being indicative of peripheral (non-elite) processing.

The study, conducted in China, found that men displayed central processing when they were purchasing heuristically relevant items and were driven by the quality of the reviews more than women. Women were found to be driven by the number of reviews when basing their purchase decision. The study also found that for purchases driven by hedonic value, neither gender displayed a significance between review quality and quantity.

Being an advertising and marketing professional, I was interested in learning more about how this theory could be applied to e-commerce. The study is not without limitations, but the findings reinforce former findings of how men and women are different when it comes to persuasion processing.

ELM is a very relevant theory for digital marketers. As web and social media analytics tend to gather more and more user data, the room for influencing purchase behavior increases. ELM can be applied to personalize marketing and advertising materials to prospects. For example, users that are identified as better suited for central processing cues can receive advertising content that dives deeper into advanced use cases and configurations of a product while users that are more peripheral driven can receive more celebrity testimonials and “product in-action” type of content.

Furthermore, ELM can be used to identify purchasing behavior and product-research-preferences of users, so advertisers and marketers can serve relevant and compelling advertisements, which in turn will secure a better return on investment for advertisers while providing a more relevant ad experience for prospects.

So, my question to you is, do you think men tend to care about the quality of reviews more than women when they purchase something that serves a heuristic purpose online? The study seems to hint that men tend to care about review quality when it comes to items that are needed for practical purposes whereas they might tend to be less caring when they are purchasing something for fun. According to the study, women tend to be more driven by the number of reviews and less caring about how good the reviews are. Do you as a man or woman find yourself behaving similarly when you purchase something online?

Citation

Luo, Y., & Ye, Q. (2019). The Effects of Online Reviews, Perceived Value, and Gender on Continuance Intention to Use International Online Outshopping Website: An Elaboration Likelihood Model Perspective. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 31(3), 250–269. https://doi-org.libproxy.library.unt.edu/10.1080/08961530.2018.1503987

George Gerbner first introduced the cultivation theory as a macrolevel system of explanation—an alternative to the micro-focused media research of his time. His approach consisted of three components: the media institutions, mass-produced messages, and the effects they cultivated on people. When first introduced, the theory focused, on a macrolevel, on broadscale institutional practices, widespread meanings, and long-term adoption. In essence, it focused on how mass-produced media messages from media institutions, when widely disseminated, shape public knowledge and belief in the long run.

Gerbner’s team was interested in primetime and children’s weekend morning programming as they analyzed entertainment programming for three commercial TV networks. They considered commercial TV as presenting a “total world of interrelated stories (both drama and news) produced to the same set of market specifications.” They also justified their choices stating that those programs had the most extensive viewership. So, in their view, any widespread meanings across the media landscape would be evident in such a sample. However, over time, researchers started to modify or even move away from certain aspects of Gerbner’s theory. The move towards a micro-focused approach is perhaps one of the most noticeable shifts. Another critical change in usage was the shift in focus from the importance of the media’s dominant meanings to constructing cultivation indicators and then testing which indicators closely relate to heavy TV viewing.

“Watching the rich and famous: the cultivation effect of reality television shows and the mediating role of parasocial experiences” by Jahng, M. R (2019), explores the relationship between reality TV exposure and college students’ beliefs on wealth and materialism. The research found that heavy viewers of reality TV consider wealth (as presented on the show) to be more prevalent and attainable than light viewers. The study also revealed that heavy reality TV viewers hold stronger materialistic beliefs than light viewers, supporting the cultivation theory’s genre-specific effects. The study and a growing number of researchers suggest that cultivation effects should be applied to specific genres rather than applying them broadly across television. The article also examines the impact of media migration by studying viewers’ interactions with reality show casts via social media. I found the article to be extremely engaging and interesting. I have never watched a full episode of reality TV. So, it was interesting to understand how reality TV influences the perceptions of heavy viewers. I also found the cultivation theory’s application to be noteworthy as it deviated from the original widespread media institution approach that Gerbner had proposed.

Social media is not just a secondary media consumption medium anymore. For some, it is the primary medium for news and entertainment—perhaps even replacing TV! Twitter allows users to consume unfiltered content from many sources and provides a hyper-focused experience to users who customize their feeds to keep up with their topics of interest. To study social media usage and its effects on people, the cultivation theory could be applied— exploring the relationship between heavy Twitter use and their beliefs on police brutality, for example. This could give journalists and media professionals more insight into how to rethink their TV content to narrow the polarization of information between audiences.

Social media advertising professionals can narrow their targeting because of the highly detailed personal information collected from social media platforms. Understanding public perceptions on social media privacy and being sensitive to those views is perhaps the best way forward for advertisers—as the ability to track and analyze a user across platforms and connected devices will only increase as more aspects of life become digitized. Most social media users are aware of cookies, tracking, and retargeting. Perhaps understanding how media messages about social media privacy affect user behaviors and perceptions could help social media platforms and advertising professionals to create better explanations of how user data is collected and used. Macro and microanalyses of the cultivation theory can help advertising professionals garner how social media users feel about using their personal data.

Do you think heavy Twitter users care more and support the need for social justice movements such as BLM, compared to heavy Facebook users? I could rephrase this question by substituting Facebook users with heavy TV users, but I am more interested in users that have adopted new media over traditional media sources.

Citation:

Jahng, M. R. (2019). Watching the rich and famous: the cultivation effect of reality television shows and the mediating role of parasocial experiences. Media Practice & Education, 20(4), 319–333. https://doi-org.libproxy.library.unt.edu/10.1080/25741136.2018.1556544

Category: Academic Writing

Elaboration Likelihood Model

Cultivation Theory