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

“emotional or affective reactions to peripheral cues as indicated by the likability, niceness, or expertise of their communicators (Li, 2013; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986; Petty &Wegener, 1998; Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Second, after identifying the core body of reports, we examined their references and those of other relevant reviews to retrieve additional reports (e.g., Cook & Flay, 1978; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953; McGuire, 1968, 1985; Pornpitakpan, 2004; Wilson & Sherrell, 1993).”

“Considerable research attention has been devoted to understanding the effects of source credibility (expertise and trustworthiness) on persuasion (Petty & Wegener, 1998; Pornpitakpan, 2004 ).”

“A wide range of studies show that when an audience’s perception of a candidate differs from the candidate’s true attributes, the perception, and not the reality, determines the extent to which prospective learners believe what they are reading, seeing, or hearing (also see Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“Persuasion research typically refers to source features as characteristics of the creator of a message (e.g. gender, expertise), whereas some other forms of metadata are labeled channel variables (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“This conceptually replicates Guillory and Geraci (2013), despite the different operationalizations of expertise in the two studies, and is also in line with a large body of research from the broader persuasion literature (see Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Thus, messages focusing on image/attractiveness over argumentation are more influential during peripheral processing (Pornpitakpan, 2004; Stiff, 1986).”

“Source as a concept is commonly emphasized in communication and persuasion research (see meta-analyses by Kumkale & Albarracín, 2004; Pornpitakpan, 2004), going back to”

“When the source of information is more credible, stronger persuasion and behavioral change on prospective consumers are induced (Eagly, Wood, & Chaiken, 1978; Petty & Wegener, 1998; Pornpitakpan, 2002).”

“…recipients’ attitude and behavior have been demonstrated to depend often on the attributes of the information source (Kelman 1961, Chaiken 1980, Mackie et al. 1990, Chaiken and Maheswaran 1994, Petty et al. 1998, Menon and Blount 2003, Pornpitakpan 2004, Kang and Herr 2006, Forman et al. 2008).”

“The credibility of a source is most commonly defined as consisting of expertise and trustworthiness (Pornpitakpan, 2004; Selnes, 1998; Smith et al., 1999).”

“Just as trust increases persuasion (Packard, Gershoff, and Wooten 2016), consumers are more likely to like and comment on posts when they feel like the in fl uencer is more trustworthy (i.e., sincere or motivated to provide accurate information; Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“There has been extensive research in social psychology on how the credibility of the message source is related to persuasion, with results indicating that variables like argument quality, extremity of claims, inclusion of refutation, and comprehensibility may affect persuasion (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Furthermore, highly trustworthy or credible information is associated with being strongly persuasive and stimulating behavioral change (Eagly et al., 1978; Pornpitakpan, 2004; Zui et al., 2022).”

“Recruitment message: Organization vs individual The source credibility framework (Eisend, 2004; Pornpitakpan, 2004) not only proposes a main effect of source credibility but also postulates that the communicated message will moderate the effect of source credibility on persuasion.”

“As strong ties are perceived as more credible than weak ties (e.g. Brown et al. 2007; Rogers 1995), receivers are less likely to perceive a message as persuasive (Gotlieb and Sarel 1992; Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“Adding to this, the credibility and trustworthiness of communicators matters (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“We consider source validity to be a more appropriate term, which includes what social psychologists call source credibility (an important factor in persuasive communication that closely relates to trustworthiness; Pornpitakpan, 2006).”

“This is particularly true when the message is congruent with the recipient’s self-interests, the message is complex, or the recipient has a negative attitude toward the message (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Greater source credibility generally results in greater persuasion (Pornpitakpan, 2004) and both institutional and user-generated content is seen as more credible when originating from well-established, authoritative, or reputable sources (Flanagin & Metzger, 2007, 2011).”

“The credibility of a source can be an important determinant of the impact of communication [31, 32], particularly if respondents’ motivation and ability to scrutinize the communication is low [33].”

“Many studies have shown that readers are more likely to believe messages from high-credibility sources relative to identical messages from lowcredibility sources (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Information receivers’ perception of source credibility will influence their intention to use suggestions made by the communicator (Bannister, 1986) and their acceptance or rejection of suggestions from them (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“…theory states that the more credible the source is, the more likely it is that the information brought by the source will be recalled by the receiver and the more probable it is that it will induce persuasion toward the advocacy (for an overview of studies confirming this, Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Communication messages sent by “trusted messengers” (Pornpitakpan, 2004) such as healthcare providers and community leaders might be particularly important in building confidence in the vaccines.”

“…within the sport advertisement sphere (e.g. Erdogan et al., 2001; Koo, Ruihley, & Dittmore, 2012), and previous studies have indicated the trustworthiness and expertise associated with a message sender are the key components of source credibility (McGinnies & Ward, 1980; Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Research has shown that individuals use several attributes to evaluate inter-personal communication: credibility (Pornpitakpan 2004), trustworthiness (Ohanian 1990; Schurr and Ozanne 1985), and dependability (Johnson-George and Swap 1982; Rempel, Holmes, and Zanna 1985).”

“Because people believe competent individuals possess superior judgment, they tend to follow their advice (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“As a credible message is influential, many individuals and brands place a high level of importance on creating and maintaining credibility [32].”

“A comprehensive review by Pornpitakpan (2004) lists fewer than a handful of studies examining the combined effects of”

“Prior research [9] has empirically confirmed that argument strength can positively affect information readers’ perceptions of information credibility.”

“European Journal of Political Research published by JohnWiley&SonsLtd.on behalf ofEuropeanConsortium for PoliticalResearch 1993: 247–250;Lupia 1994;Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“uGC gets its power to influence from the perception that consumers are less biased and more credible sources of information than marketers and advertisers (Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“This suggests that cues about the reputation of the source are relevant not only when processing information (Hovland et al., 1953; Pornpitakpan, 2004) but also at the earlier stage when”

“The persuasiveness of evidence depends on source credibility (Pornpitakpan 2004), and research across multiple streams of literature indicates that different factors affect perceptions of the credibility of non-human sources.”

“Pornpitakpan (2004) also provides a useful review of the credibility literature.”

“…is a commonly used framework in advertising research to categorize and systematize factors that influence communication processes (Cheung & Thadani, 2012; Niemand, Klug, & Gornikel, 2013; Pornpitakpan, 2004; Scholten, 1996) and describes the process of mass communication in a linear step model.”

“Source credibility is an antecedent of the persuasiveness of communication [49], [50] and can be based on how attractive, expert, and”

“We were surprised to find these results, as source credibility has been consistently found to influence both attitudes and intentions toward the advocacy (Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“23,45,46 While credibility involves several subconstructs, trustwor-thiness and expertise are 2 of the most important.”

“…of nonexper-tise lend them a sort of credibility too—credibility that comes from being sincere and similar to the audience to which the review is intended, people who are new to taking digital pictures (see Pornpitakpan, 2004, for an overview of similarity and other components of credibility).”

“Information credibility is defined as the extent to which one perceives the website information to be believable [17, 58, 64].”

“…to classic persuasion research, which suggests that the source of a message can influence the impact of the message on its intended audience (Pornpitakpan, 2004), as well as leadership research which argues that leaders need to establish a shared identity with followers in order to create…”

“Research in psychology indicates that the credibility or reputation of a source influences reactions to a message (Ciancia & Kaplan, 2010; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986; Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“…a function of the timing of source information (Homer & Kahle, 1990; Tormala, Brin˜ol, & Petty, 2007), the credibility of previous messages (Tormala & Clarkson, 2007, 2008), and the strength of arguments (Kaufman, Stasson, & Hart, 1999; for reviews, see Petty & Wegener, 1998; Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Elements of credibility include knowledge, honesty, and impartiality (e.g., McCrocsky & Young, 1981; Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“The components of source credibility that have been commonly identified are trustworthiness and expertise [49].”

“For example, related studies [1, 71] suggest that source credibility is a two-dimensional construct that can be measured by trustworthiness and expertise.”

“Furthermore, research on the level of certainty expressed by an information source (Karmarkar and Tormala 2010, Pornpitakpan 2004) provides compelling evidence of the positive effect on the persuasiveness of information.”

“…credibility of individuals, such as celebrities or spokespersons (e.g., Kelman 1958; McCracken 1989; Ohanian 1990), and the investigation of the credibility of companies, or corporate credibility, has lagged (Haley 1996; Lafferty and Goldsmith 1999; Newell and Goldsmith 2001; Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“The effect of source credibility on responses to persuasion attempts (Petty and Cacioppo 1986) has been shown to be moderated by a wide variety of variables, including dispositional attributes of the receiver (see Pornpitakpan 2004, for a review).”

“The credibility dimensions were also found to have a differing impact based on the product type, endorser, or culture (Eisend and Langner 2010; Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“…(e.g., Brinol & Petty, 2009; Chaiken, 1980; Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953; McGuire, 1985; O’Hara, Netemeyer, & Burton, 1991; Petty & Cacioppo, 1981; Pornpitakpan, 2004—also incorporating direct applied research in advertising, for example, Braunsberger & Munch, 1998; Ohanian, 1991; Wiener &…”

“Although it is often studied as a unidimensional construct, source credibility contains the sub-facets expertise and trustworthiness (Pornpitakpan 2004).”

“Past research has consistently corroborated the positive effect of source credibility on persuasion outcomes (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“Accordingly, the dimensions of source credibility have been commonly identified to consist of expertise and trustworthiness (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“…on the persuasiveness of sources has generally revealed a superiority of high-credibility over low-credibility sources in terms of their effectiveness in changing audience beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors (Albarracín & Vargas, 2010; Hovland & Weiss, 1951; Pornpitakpan, 2004; Stiff & Mongeau, 2016).”

“Past studies demonstrated that perceived source trust was a positive predictor of issue attitudes and behaviors, and that people were more likely to be influenced by messages from trusted sources especially when they lacked sufficient knowledge about the issue (Benin et al., 2006; Kumkale et al., 2010; Pornpitakpan, 2…”

“Four items were rated on a 1-7 scale [59].”

“Getting a picture 30 One possible interpretation of this effect is in terms of source credibility (Hovland & Weiss, 1951; Pornpitakpan, 2004).”

“There are certain differences between the online image of tourist destination on official website and social media (Llodr a-Riera et al., 2015) and the source of online image will influence tourists’ trust (Pornpitakpan, 2004).”