Recent research investigated the effects of following the central versus peripheral route to persuasion on spontaneous attitude formation, that is, attitude formation that occurs even when consumers are not asked to complete an attitude survey that forces them to think about their attitudes (Cronley, 2000). In contrast, others have suggested that consumers should always form attitudes using simple cues or heuristics (i.e., shortcuts) spontaneously but should form attitudes using the central route to persuasion spontaneously only when consumers are motivated and able to think carefully (Kahneman & Frederick, 2002).