Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion

Peter Darke

The heuristic-systematic model is a theory of persuasion that suggests attitudes can change in two fundamentally different ways. One way is through systematic processing, whereby people think carefully about any available information when forming an opinion to determine whether the information is accurate or valid. Attitudes are then based on the conclusions from this careful consideration of the facts. However, this kind of thinking takes a lot of effort, and given that people usually only have limited time and ability to think carefully, the heuristic-systematic model suggests that attitudes are often formed in a more simplified manner. This simplified form of attitude judgment is called heuristic processing , and it involves using rules of thumb known as heuristics to decide what one's attitudes should be. This model of persuasion has received a great deal of empirical support in the social psychology research literature and has had a major impact on ...

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