Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Free Access - Register Here

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ziegler, R.
Right arrow Articles by Ruther, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Ziegler, R.
Right arrow Articles by Ruther, A.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 496-508 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167202287007

Multiple Source Characteristics and Persuasion: Source Inconsistency as a Determinant of Message Scrutiny

René Ziegler

Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany, Rene.Ziegler{at}uni-tuebingen.de

Michael Diehl

Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany

Anja Ruther

Klinik Schömberg, Germany

It is argued that previous persuasion research has been concerned predominantly with the role of single source characteristics (e.g., expertise) for attitude change and thus has failed to consider the role of multiple source characteristics. This was done in two experiments that tested the hypothesis that recipients would scrutinize a message more effortfully when the combination of two source characteristics is unexpected (source inconsistency) than when the combination is less surprising (source consistency). In Experiment 1, source likability, source expertise, and argument quality were manipulated. In Experiment 2, honesty instead of likability was manipulated. Results from both experiments provide evidence supporting the predicted effects of source (in)consistency on message scrutiny; that is, argument quality affected attitudes and favorability of message-related thoughts in the case of inconsistent source characteristics but not in the case of consistent source characteristics.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Pers Soc Psychol BullHome page
R. Ziegler, M. Diehl, R. Zigon, and T. Fett
Source Consistency, Distinctiveness, and Consensus: The Three Dimensions of the Kelley ANOVA Model in Persuasion
Pers Soc Psychol Bull, March 1, 2004; 30(3): 352 - 364.
[Abstract] [PDF]