Persuasive Communication: A Study of Major Attitude-Behavior Theories in a Social Media Context

Abstract

Although numerous studies on attitude-behavior theories exist in the social media context, few extensive studies have been conducted in reviewing and classifying the extant literature. This study aims to critically review, discuss, and examine five major attitude-behavior theories in the social psychology field. Theory of Planned Behavior, Elaboration Likelihood Model, Heuristic-Systematic Model, Cognitive Dissonance Theory, and Social Judgment Theory have been empirically dissected and reviewed in a systematic manner, after which criticisms and compliments of these theories have been observed and evaluated. The significance of the study is to identify the trend of applying attitude-behavior theories to manifesting practical social media marketing implications. This study found that Elaboration Likelihood Model studies are trending upward among persuasive communication studies in the context of social media.