ABSTRACT
Social influence occurs when a person changes his or her attitudes or behavior as a result of external pressure. This external pressure may be real or may be in the mind of the person influenced. Generally, within the social influence literature, scholars suggest that there are two types of social influence: persuasion and compliance. Persuasion—the cognitive component of social influence—occurs when people change their attitudes, opinions, and/or beliefs as a result of social influence. Compliance—the behavioral component of social influence—refers to a change in behavior as a result of social influence. In the social psychological literature, there are two conceptually similar models of persuasion that were introduced at the same time: the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and the Heuristic/Systematic Model (HSM). The ELM theorizes two paths to persuasion: central vs. peripheral. The central route to persuasion involves careful consideration of a social influence attempt prior to attitude change.
