| Summary: | Understanding why consumers fall prey to fraud and scams is a critically important area of research. Yet few comprehensive models of fraud victimization exist. The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) is a possible exception (e.g., Rusch, 1999; Langenderfer & Shimp, 2001; Lea et al., 2009), but the predictions of ELM remain to be empirically tested in a fraud-related decision context. Here, four experiments testing the predictions of ELM in a predatory student lending scenario are presented. Although results only partially supported the predictions of ELM, it is suggested that ELM can continue to serve as a useful framework to better understand consumers’ vulnerability to fraud. With 44 million student loan borrowers in the U.S. today owing a collective $1.48 trillion, it is critical that research continues to focus on better understanding disadvantageous decision-making in this context
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