The Relevance of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) in the Consumer Buying Process in the Context of Persuasive Advertising

The understanding of the consumer’s psyche has always been at the epicentre for targeted, niche-specific marketing. The marketers have used the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) framework to identify the “route” (central or peripheral) for advertising various products and services. This research tries to understand the ELM from multifactorial perspectives. The diverse responses of 300 respondents have been fed to Python 3.8.8 and various analyses have been carried out (Exploratory analysis, ANOVA, Co-relation) to understand the impacts. The outcomes show that gender and place of residence significantly affect the “route” taken by consumers. The analyses have identified and segregated the product and advertisement features that influence consumers taking either “route” while also finding that the ELM holds even in cases where respondents were exposed to persuasive advertising. The study results can help marketers understand their consumers’ psyche and develop more appropriate advertising strategies.