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Cited by 2,205Psychology of Social InfluenceMarketing and Advertising StrategiesDigital Marketing and Social Media

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 138 of the 139 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Persuasiveness of Source Credibility: A Critical Review of Five Decades' Evidence

Pornpitakpan, Chanthika·2004·Journal of Applied Social Psychology
DOI 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02547.x
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Abstract

This paper reviews the empirical evidence of the effect of credibility of the message source on persuasion over a span of 5 decades, primarily to come up with recommendations for practitioners as to when to use a high‐ or a low‐credibility source and secondarily to identify areas for future research. The main effect studies of source credibility on persuasion seem to indicate the superiority of a high‐credibility source over a low‐credibility one. Interaction effect studies, however, show source credibility to be a liability under certain conditions. The variables found to interact with source credibility are categorized into 5 categories: source, message, channel, receiver, and destination variables. The most heavily researched variables have been the message and receiver variables. Implications for marketers/advertisers and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Overview

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02547.x

Cites

138 of 138 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

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  • Based on a well-established body of literature in persuasion, aspects of a message's source can influence the persuasiveness of the message.

    “based on a well-established body of literature in persuasion demonstrating that aspects of a message’s source can influence the persuasiveness of the message (Briñol & Petty, 2009; Kumkale et al., 2010; Pornpitakpan, 2004; Wilson & Sherrell, 1993), the source of a fear appeal communication should be an important moderator for fear appeal effectiveness.”

    From Appealing to fear: A meta-analysis of fear appeal effectiveness and theories (2015) · cites this paper as Pornpitakpan, 2004

  • If incoming information from a person's social network carries no credibility, then it is less likely to be incorporated into the belief of the person.

    “The credibility of information that propagates in a social network is a critical factor that can shape the beliefs: if incoming information from a person's social network carries no credibility, then it is less likely to be incorporated in to the belief of the person (Pornpitakpan, 2004;Heesacker et al., 1983).”

    From Credibility of climate change denial in social media (2019) · cites this paper as Pornpitakpan, 2004

  • People are more likely to be influenced by information about climate change that has higher credibility.

    “Among various information about climate change to which people are exposed to, they are more likely to be influenced by information that have higher credibility.”

    From Credibility of climate change denial in social media (2019) · cites this paper as Pornpitakpan, 2004

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 139 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 23

  1. 10.1037/0021-9010.71.2.203 · DOI
  2. Chen L. C., 1998, The mediating role of prior knowledge and involvement in the response to persuasive appeals, Dissertation Abstracts International: Sciences and Engineering, 58, 39
  3. Czapinski J., 1979, Dynamics of interpersonal attitudes: Positive‐negative asymmetry, Polish Psychological Bulletin, 10, 31
  4. Freeman W., 1957, The big name
  5. Freiden J. B., 1984, October/November, Journal of Advertising Research, 24, 33
  6. Friedman H. H., 1979, October/November, Journal of Advertising Research, 19, 63
  7. Hass R. G., 1977, The effects of source credibility and message structure on persuasion
  8. 10.1037/0022-3514.42.3.412 · DOI
  9. Herron T. L., 1997, The persuasion effects of time pressure and source expertise in an audit setting: An elaboration likelihood application, Dissertation Abstracts International: Humanities and Social Sciences, 57, 44
  10. Hilibrand M., 1964, Source credibility and the persuasive process
  11. Hunt K., 1972, proceedings of the third annual conference of the Association for Consumer Research, 370
  12. Kamen J. ML., 1975, April, Journal of Advertising Research, 15, 17
  13. March B., 1970, Credibility, sequence volition, and discrepancy as determinants of attitude change in a forced‐compliance situation
  14. McGuire W. J., 1978, Behavioral and management sciences in marketing, 156
  15. Mowen J. C., 1981, Advances in consumer research, 437
  16. Petty R. E., 1981, Attitude and persuasion: Classic and contemporary approaches
  17. Petty R. E., 1981, Advances in consumer research, 20
  18. Solomon H., 1972, The effects of multiple exposure, source credibility, and initial opinion on communication effectiveness
  19. Suzuki K., 1978, July, Japanese Psychological Research, 20, 60
  20. Topalova V., 1974, Credibility of information source, Polish Psychological Bulletin, 5, 73
  21. 10.2307/3151253 · DOI
  22. 10.2307/3150562 · DOI
  23. 10.1207/s15327825mcs0103&4_3 · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Pornpitakpan, C.
Affiliations
Monash University Malaysia (MY)
Corresponding author
Pornpitakpan, Chanthika
Venue
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2004-02
Volume
34
Issue
2
Pages
243-281
ISSN
  • 0021-9029 (ISSN-L)
  • 1559-1816
DOI
10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02547.x
OpenAlex
W2157392583
Cited by
2,205
References
139
Citations by year
2026: 180 · 2025: 183 · 2024: 173 · 2023: 184 · 2022: 185 · 2021: 173 · 2020: 187 · 2019: 135 · 2018: 99 · 2017: 119 · 2016: 90 · 2015: 88 · 2014: 84 · 2013: 84 · 2012: 50
FWCI
69.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 911 d)
Locations
Journal of Applied Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychology of Social Influence
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Digital Marketing and Social Media
Keywords
source credibility, persuasion, interaction effects, message characteristics, receiver characteristics, communication channels, advertising, marketing communication

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