Insights into the Efficiency of the Elaboration Likelihood Model in Shaping the Attitudes toward Face Mask-Wearing: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of public health policymakers shifted towards changing individuals' attitudes to control the spread of the disease. Wearing a face mask emerged as the most frequently recommended strategy. This study assessed the attitude towards face mask-wearing, using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) in a Health Care Social Marketing campaign. The proposed ELM consisted of the central route, characterized by the argument quality, and the peripheral route, which referred to the image attractiveness, social presence, and the usefulness of the information. The sample comprised 162 participants, and the model was elaborated and validated with Structural Equation Modeling. The findings revealed that the model explained 36.5% of the attitude toward face mask-wearing variance, leading to a satisfactory fit. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between the other-focused and the self-focused messages used in the Health Care Social Marketing campaign. These outcomes are useful for healthcare policymakers and other stakeholders interested in potential future health crises.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2025.v.13.n.24.169-188
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Angst, C.M., & Agarwal, R. (2009). Adoption of electronic health records in the presence of privacy concerns: the elaboration likelihood model and individual persuasion. MIS Quarterly, 33(2), 339–370. https://doi.org/10.2307/20650295
Armitage, C. J., & Conner, M. (2000). Attitudinal ambivalence: A test of three key hypotheses. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(11), 1421–1432. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167200263009
Badillo-Goicoechea, E., Chang, T.H., Kim, E., LaRocca, S., Morris, K., Deng, X., Chiu, S., Bradford, A., Garcia, A., Kern, C., Cobb, C., Kreuter, F., Stuart, E.A. (2021). Global trends and predictors of face mask usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 21: 2099. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12175-9.
Betsch, C., Korn, L., Sprengholz, P., Felgendreff, L., Eitze, S., Schmid, P., et al. (2020). Social and behavioral consequences of mask policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117, 21851–21853. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.201167411
Bhattacherjee, A., Sanford, C. (2006). Influence processes for information technology acceptance: an elaboration likelihood model. MIS Quarterly, 30(4), 805-825. https://doi.org/10.2307/25148755.
Brown, T. J., Ham, S. H., & Hughes, M. (2010). Picking up litter: an application of theory-based communication to influence tourist behaviour in protected areas. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(7), 879–900. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669581003721281.
Cherry, T.L., James, A.G., & Murphy, J. (2021). The impact of public health messaging and personal experience on the acceptance of mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 187, 415-430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.04.006.
Cialdini, R.B., & Griskevicius, V. (2010). Social influence. In R.F. Baumeister, & E.J. Finkel (Eds.). Advanced Social Psychology: The state of the science (pp. 385-417), Oxford University Press.
Clifford, S., & Jerit, J. (2013). How words do the work of politics: Moral foundations theory and the debate over stem cell research. The Journal of Politics, 75(3), 659–671. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381613000492
Cyr, D., Hassanein, K., Head, M., & Ivanov, A. (2007). The role of social presence in establishing loyalty in e-service environments. Interacting with Computers, 19(1), 43-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intcom.2006.07.010
Cyr, D., Head, M., Larios, H., Pan, B. (2009). Exploring human images in website design: a multi-method approach? MIS Quarterly, 33(3), 539-566. https://doi.org/10.2307/20650308
De Dominicis, S., Schultz, P.W., & Bonaiuto, M. (2017). Protecting the environment for self-interested reasons: altruism is not the only pathway to sustainability. Frontiers in Psychology, 8:1065. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01065
Epepe, U.D., Okoro, N., Emmanuel, N.O., Gever, V.C. (2023). Attitudes of the audience towards media messages on face mask use regarding the COVID-19 pandemic: From compliance to slacking. Journal of African Media Studies, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00111_1
Esmaeilzadeh, P. (2022). Public concerns and burdens associated with face mask-wearing: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Progress in Disaster Science, 13, 100215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2022.100215
Etikan, J., Musa, S.A., Alkassim, R.S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11
Flaskerud, J.H. (2020). Masks, politics, culture and health. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 41, 846–849. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2020.1779883
Fornell, C. & Larcker, D.F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104.
Goldstein, N.J., & Cialdini, R.B. (2011). Using social norms as a lever of social influence. In A.R. Pratkanis (Ed.). The Science of Social Influence (pp. 167-191). Psychology Press.
Hair Jr, J., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., Kuppelwieser, V. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): An emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2), 106-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-10-2013-0128
Haugtvedt, C.P., & Kasmer, J.A. (2008). Attitude change and persuasion. In C.P., Haugtvedt, P. Herr, F., Kardes (Eds.). The Handbook of Consumer Psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hu, L.T., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Jager, J., Putnick, D.L., Bornstein, M.H. (2017). More than Just Convenient: The Scientific Merits of Homogeneous Convenience Samples. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 82(2), 13-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12296
Jin, J., Yan, X., Li, Y., Li, Y. (2016). How users adopt healthcare information: An empirical study of an online Q&A community. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 86, 91-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2015.11.002.
Jordan, J.J., Yoeli, E. & Rand, D.G. (2021). Don’t get it or don’t spread it: comparing self-interested versus prosocial motivations for COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Scientific Reports, 11, 20222. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97617-5.
Kitchen, P.J., Kerr, G., Schultz, D.E., McColl, R., Pals, H. (2014). The Elaboration Likelihood Model: review, critique and research agenda. European Journal of Marketing, 48 (11-12), 2033-2050. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-12-2011-0776
Kock, N., & Hadaya, P. (2018). Minimum sample size estimation in PLS‐SEM: The inverse square root and gamma‐exponential methods. Information Systems Journal, 28(1), 227–261. https://doi.org./10.1111/isj.12131
Lam, C., Huang, Z., Shen, L. (2022). Infographics and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM): Diffrences between visual and textual health messages. Journal of Health Communication, 27, 737-745. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2022.2157909
Lowry, P.B., Moody, G.D., Vance, A., Jensen, M., Jenkins, J.L., Wells, T.M. (2011). Using an Elaboration Likelihood Approach to Better Understand the Persuasiveness of Website Privacy Assurance Cues for Online Consumers. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(4), 755-766. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21705.
Luttrell, A., & Petty, R. E. (2021). Evaluations of self-focused versus other-focused arguments for social distancing: An extension of moral matching effects. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 12(6), 946–954. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620947853
Martinelli, L., Kopilaš, V., Vidmar, M., Heavin, C., Machado, H., Todorovic, Z., Buzas, N., Pot, M., Prainsack, B., & Gajovic, S. (2021). Face Masks During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Simple Protection Tool With Many Meanings. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 606635. https://doi.org/ 10.3389/fpubh.2020.6066354
Moradi, M., & Zihagh, F. (2022). A meta-analysis of the elaboration likelihood model in the electronic word of mouth literature. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 46(5), 1900–1918. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12814.
Nunnally, J., & Bernstein, I. (1994). Psychometric theory. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Petty, R.E., Brinol, P., & Tormala, Z.L. (2002). Thought confidence as a determinant of persuasion: the self-validation hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(5), 722-741. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/0022-3514.82.5.722.
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1979). Issue involvement can increase or decrease persuasion by enhancing message-relevant cognitive responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(10), 1915–1926. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.37.10.1915
Petty, R.E., Barden, J., Wheeler, S.C. (2009). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion: Developing health promotions for sustained behavioral change. In R.J. DiClemente, R.A. Crosby, M.C. Kegler (Eds.). Emerging theories in health promotion practice and research (pp. 185-214). Jossey-Bass.
Petty, R.E., & Brinol, P. (2011). The Elaboration Likelihood Model. In P.A.M, Van Lange, A.W., Kruglanski, and E.T., Higgins (Eds.). Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology (pp. 224-243), Sage Publications.
Petty, R.E., Brinol, P., Teeny, J., Horcajo, J. (2017). The Elaboration Likelihood Model: changing attitudes toward exercising and beyond. In B. Jackson, J.A. Dimmock, J. Compton (Eds.). Persuasion and communication in sport, exercise, and physical activity (pp. 22-37), Routledge.
Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1984). Source factors and the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Advances in Consumer Research, 11, 668-672.
Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 19(C), 123-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60214-2
Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1990). Involvement and persuasion: tradition versus integration. Psychological Bulletin, 107(3), 367-374. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.3.367
Petty, R.E., Wheeler, S.C., Bizer, G.Y. (1999). Is there one persuasion process or more? Lumping versus splitting in attitude change theories. Psychological Inquiry, 10(2), 156-163. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PL100211
Priester, J.R., & Petty, R.E. (1996). The gradual threshold model of ambivalence: relating the positive and negative bases of attitudes to subjective ambivalence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(3), pp. 431-449. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.3.431.
Rab, S., Javaid, M., Haleem, A., Vaishya, R. (2020). Face masks are new normal after COVID-19 pandemic. Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome, 14(6), 1617-1619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2020.08.021.
Siewe Fodjo, J.N., Pengpid, S., Villela, E.F.M., Van Thang, V., Ahmed, M., Ditekemena, J., Crespo, B.V., Wanyenze, R.K., Dula, J., Watanabe, T., Delgado-Ratto, C., Vanden Driessche, K., Van den Bergh, R., Colebunders, R. (2020). Mass masking as a way to contain COVID-19 and exist lockdown in low- and middle-income countries. Journal of Infection, 81(3), e1-e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.07.015.
Skitka, L.J., Hanson, B.E., Morgan, G.S., Wisneski, D.C. (2021). The psychology of moral conviction. Annual Review of Psychology, 72(1), 347-366. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-063020-030612
Söderlund, M., & Öhman, N. (2005). Assessing behavior before it becomes behavior. An examination of the role of intentions as a link between satisfaction and repatronizing behavior. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 16(2), 169-185. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230510592298.
Srivastava, M. & Saini, G.K. (2022). A bibliometric analysis of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Journal of Consumer Marketing, 39 (7), 726-743. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-12-2021-5049
Susmann, M.W., Xu, M., Clark, J.K., Wallace, L.E., Blankenship, K.L., Philipp-Muller, A.Z., Luttrell, A., Wegener, D.T., Petty, R. E. (2022). Persuasion amidst pandemic: Insights from the Elaboration Likelihood Model. European Review of Social Psychology, 33(2), 323-359. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2021.1964744
Sussman Watts, S., & Siegal, W.S. (2003). Informational influence in organizations: An integrated approach to knowledge adaption. Information Systems Research, 14(1), 47-65. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.14.1.47.14767
van Harreveld, F., van der Pligt, J., de Liver, Y.N. (2009). The agony of ambivalence and ways to resolve it: introducing the MAID model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13(1), 45-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868308324518.
Vedadi, A., & Warkentin, M. (2020). Can Secure Behaviors Be Contagious? A Two-Stage Investigation of the Influence of Herd Behavior on Security Decisions. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00607.
WHO (2020). Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19: Interim guidance. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/332293/WHO-2019-cCov-IPC-Masks-2020.4-engl.pdf
Wolf, L.J., Haddock, G., Manstead, A.S.R., Maio, G.R. (2020). The importance of (shared) human values for containing the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Social Psychology, 59(3), 618-627. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12401
Xu, F., & Warkentin, M. (2020). Integrating elaboration likelihood model and herd theory in information security message persuasiveness. Computers and Security, 98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2020.102009
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Iuliana Raluca Gheorghe
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
International Journal of Marketing, Communication and New Media
ISSN: 2182-9306
DOI: 10.54663/2182-9306
Qualis Periódicos - CAPES: B2
REBIB: Q2
Indexing:
WEB OF SCIENCE (WoS) & JOURNAL CITATION REPORTS (JCR)
QUALIS - GOOGLE SCHOLAR - LATINDEX - REDIB - RCAAP - OAJI - DRJI - MIAR - LIVRE - ERIH PLUS - INDEX COPERNICUS
