Source credibility context effects

Abstract

This study investigated the influence that speaker characteristics other than dimensions of source credibility may have in the formation of listeners’ impressions of speaker credibility. It was found that the responses followed a simple information averaging model in about 80% of all cases. For the remaining 20% of the listeners, however, there was a significant interaction between traits. This mixed effect suggests caution in the interpretation of results of credibility studies. It was found further that all positive and negative source credibility dimensions can be treated safely as equal in weight, except for the negative pole of the Trustworthiness dimension; an untrustworthy speaker, regardless of his other qualities, was viewed as a questionable message source.